The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1888-08-30
FALLING ON THE STAGE.
An Actress Tells How 1t Is Done-Danger
of Getting Hurt

An Actress Tells How 1t Is Done-Danger
of Getting Hurt.
Want to know how we fall?" said the
beautiful. graceful woman. why, see,
this way. First your knee, and then your
hip. and then your shoulder. and you are
down." and the graceful figure was prone
on the carpet with outstretched arms
Every fold of her lace drapery in the pref
test possible place, not an inch of her
ankle or CLEAN of the snowy skirts was
visible, and the falling has been as noise
less and graceful as n butterfiys dip and
swoop down to the heart of a rose. Then,
with supple grace and quick, agile
spring, she was on her feet in second.
In this way-sideways, you see, and
with dip and curve and sweep of the
lace draperes. down she foated as swift
and noiseless as swallows downward
sweep, and she lay apparently lifeless,
with her face hidden. Another little
spring and she toated backward into
chair so limp and faint that even tho
smile ON her lips hardly treasured you
that 1t wasn't an actual sudden faintness.
I'VE are taught in the schools. and
practice on Il rug at home first. you know
and of course we get many bruises while
learning We fan first to the knee and
-.
OF course we do this very slowly at first
and awllwardly. but we DO it over and
over again until one fall blends into the
other so completely that you cannot dis
tinguish it Oh. yes, it is hard 1T first,
but oil there is to it is to take all the
will out of your body and collapse Make
your muscles involuntary and inspired
with the part you are playing, so that ct
the proper time you will fall almost un
consciously and then you won't be hurt
Our prompter tainted the other night,
and fell and hurt himself very badly.
Now, | could fall in faint hundred
times and not be hurt-you sec my fall is
an unconsciously mechanical action You
go into familiar room in the dark and
your body will uncOnscously take the
right direction to avoid coming in con
tact with the objects III the ROOM SO my
body takes the mechanical curve and
poise requisite to avoid hurt without
my thinking anything about it if make
myself perfectly inert-give myself all
up, you know.
Il have been hurt several times. Those
old fashioned sloping stages were treach-
erous affairs, and very often when play
ing ON an unfamiliar stage we were hurt
l remember going down bang on my nose
once-almost broke it. Everything was
dark for a minute, and then there flashed
out all the consultations known to man,
and several more that haven't been dis
covered, but went on with my part and
no one knew. Then had another fall
that made my hip black all over-thought
that would never get well, for had to
fall on 1t every night, no matter how it
hurt.
'Are we afraid of being hurt? Oh, no.
We are constantly in danger. Great heavy
things are hanging over our heads that.
If some stage carpenter shall blunder or
some piece of machinery break, would
come down and make short work of us.
had heavy iron bar fall not four inches
from my face once, and q man cut my
forehead with dagger, and other people
have accidents, but we don't think any
thing about them after it is over. Like
nervous people on shipboard fancy before
they sail that they are going to think of
their danger all the time, but two days
out they will forget all their fear and feel
as safe as on land. So we throw our
selves down on the boards and roll off
sofas and down terraces and out of chairs,
knowing we might break our bones, but
never thinking of it. No one ever did
oucl d ieditu dangerous tnmB as UnaI
Miss Fetter, though. It seemed strange
the papers didn't speak of it before, for it
just seemed cruei for her to endanger her
her health and even her life just to make
one more funny point in the play
Men say sometimes that women fall
more easily and lightly than they them
selves. This may be true, for women are
supple, 1.-THE and elastic and not so tall
for the fall is just as mechanical. People
only watch the pretty curves and grace
full sweep of a woman's drapery, and do
not see the mechanical studied action
underneath. We float down very grace
fully. but the floating is done as accu-
rately as problem in geometry. New
York Sun.