Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-11-09

managers and writers nave married SCI
ence, as it 5.ere, and apply it wherever it
can be used advantageously on the stage.
If this mechanical realism were only we'd
ded to CT coupled with another kind OF
realism, the modern stage would begin its
golden era. This other realism is the
realism of impersonation, which means the
manifestation of mems and women's pur-
poses. motive Srd reas'Eings as palpably
as the raft 8 race and the railway. This
realism of ,..l soul is rare-alas too rare
upon the stage to-day whereas it was fire.
ouent in the agood old times" ] feel bound
to admit.
l have seen Adelaide Nelson weep Bit
terly and faint when, as Pauline, she
parted with Clsude Melnotte in "The Lady
of Lyons" I lave seen her turn pale and
shudder honestly in the potion scene in
aRomeo and Juliet" and / shall never
forget the marvellous realism of her acting
as Julia in "The Hunchback."
1t sent me hune wondering if should
evs- see her like upon the stage again, and
l have not ceased wondering yet, for her
peer in the realism of the soul has not yet
appeared upon our stage since last she
trod it. Of course, we have had Bern
hardt and Hading and Coquelin. But l
do not hesitate to say that Adelaide Neil
son was more capable of soulful, vocal and
facial expression than any of these. When
she played Juliet she imagined she was
Juliet and suffered all Juliet's woes, and
when she was Pauline she loved, lost and
recalled Claude genuinely, because she
felt with Pauline, and realized" her feel
ings.
As an actress she was indeed realist.
So as an actor was Charles Fechter, whom
1 saw frequently when first he came to this
country. / do not believe that this man
in his best days ever played part he did
not ''feel," and therefore thoroughly ''real-
ize" what Don Caesar he was What a
Del Franchi in the "Corsican Brothers" !"
Why, he made one shiver when he faced
Chateau Renaud in the woods, and you
felt that he meant to kill the duelist when
he said that "after me you will be at rest"
The man was realist in every sense, and
could imbue an audience with the ro-
nance of any character he portrayed for
them. He lived his part and played it
to the life.
So did the elder Booth. Tradition has
it that men were afraid to meet him often
in the mimic warfare of the stage lest he
should forget himself and slay them. He
was the personifcation of realism as an
actor, and if he had been placed in scenes
as real as those which l have spoken Of
above, he would have been the duality of
the original of any role he assumed. We
stage to-day. Yet We need them sorely.
And, strange to say, that while we live in
the age of the most perfect realism in all
that goes to make stage complete, we
have everything real but the actors.
think, however, that there is strong
current setting in the direction of realism
of the soul, and that the popular demand
for honest and purposeful acting is bring
ing practical response from the profession.
Our young artists are more ambitious and
more anxious to be educated than were
their Immediate predecessors on the stage.
The establishment of schools of acting
and the large attendance at them proves
that ambition is not dead in the souls of
those who want to embrace the profession.
There may not be another Siddons,
Nelson or Fechter in the whole lot; there
are hundreds who will strive to be as great
as any of the three. There is hope, there
fore, that we shall achieve or arrive at a
fair share of realism of the soul as well as
of realism of the scene.
The author, manager and carpenter
have brought us the latter. Who will
bring US the former?
The French and German schools of act
ing pay marked attention to both real
is1ns; hence the high repute of their the
aters and the skill of their dramatists.
The writers know their plays will be
properly presented in France and Ger
many. In America they are only sure Of
the stage setting.
Verify is the stage carpenter better
ally than the actor.