New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-09-09
SOME STAGE FRIGHTS.
ELLEN TERRY'S EXPERIENCE.

ELLEN TERRY'S EXPERIENCE.
From The London Theatre
Rather painful fright" fell to the lot Of Mrs: Rob
nson whilst PLAYING in "Trip 70 SS of
tina audience, who expressed their dissatisfaction Dy
giving realistic imitation Oh me ees slnm fc sSc
leaving Mrs. Robinson alone N the centre OF H. aH
tslpoT she 20 did e rot know what 10 do fortunately
DUKE of Cumberland TO the front Of MS box anu
they arc hissing' whereupOn the frightened actress
regained her confidence and her speech NJ Tue s"'0
More amusing. and at the same time more em5 Bar
RAISING the accident which happened 70 MiS; 2
dons while playing Queen Katherine, in Henry VIZ.
The chair In which She was seated in Act ~ was SO
small that when she rose 10 make her cxlt II 1C of
actress nearly her customary confidence ana pres
The great John Philip Kemble experienced shock
which he never forgot nor doubtless did ms auugnCe
when he opened in the March Of 1874 at prs CST
Theatre with Macbeth With an eye f9r spcctaeuae
effect Kemble introduced during the cauaIoh Sseno
troupe of children made up as ho1gooddsit Who
those children was other than Edmuu hGaa; ~,
had been playing pantomime mps at several Oh S .
london theatres, and had obtained eputaVon lot
that kind of part. When Kembe, as MaSDetn' % @
the cavern little Edmund upset his neigh9or ana, as
Hawkins says In his life Of the atteT, , ,a Tho
stsge lmmediateiy exhibited of confusion alto
gcther indescribable." Imagine poor hemoieS h'iio'
In after years Kean created another sensation o on
the stage, sensation infinitely gaie0ns incidents IL
Sappened during his performance Of Sir Giles over
reach With such marvellous nuehty qua Inc e P Who
was acting with him, became so ingh6hed uat btT
tainted on the stage ara H pto ieSrs and was
actress, staggered 10 char puFsV lhV' '"'' "
unable 10 continue her part $3.50, rbua rlavfnr at
Macready had severe "i1gn NH VIII" ~ d9 Mt lake
Drury Lane though, to tell the tIut' ~ uu my %
Mace Immediately the stage, but in the pt
c was preparing to Ego on IN pay n tbe
he amused himself by little private IeearsaI 9I LIZ 80
which included among other things 1rag e nut rather
too much energy into his performance OF ue ieSt; V
the gded ont Of bis nan h1HpS. smashed sp it 10 atoms
II Is not altogether surprising to learn at Gu, M
sub:eGueHt Pe rio, ascSsn ne caused ress him.
Terrible must have been the shock 10 those wiz i
mn the ghost IN fun view of the audience Palmer
Vas appearng as the Stranger" In Liverpool WA
brought to him 9i 19e Gea theatre az remained
closed for some short time ON the "a y. LITTER
inc from the effects Of the sad intelligence he endeSv
ored to 60 through his part However W"n ne flic
relate to Steinfor the sad story of his domesuc ana
lions the painful recollection Of the past SUI
him. and uttering the words there Is ico ne fell
better world in an awe-struck tone OF voice. ho ioh
down on the stage corpse. - 49,, ,.,,rc rros
70 come to modern times, Mr. Henry IIys nav nI9
once the victim OF a somewhat serious t1eht WHIT PnS
Ing in 0Faust" In the first scene it VIII ne IeneI ds
bercd he accustomed to disappear en- siding
In company with Faust. The two, seated on sitIe
panel were drawn rapidly upward by tle sag n OF
and vanished the curtain DESCENDED u u t6e repre-
sentative OF MephistOpheles was preparing Ior M
ascent, the apparatus struck him v0enuIb f =" with
head fortunately without serious results Dut Wiz ~
sufficient force to upset his nervous sysde iU civ
remainder Of the evening Mr. Bancro ar once and
most Of our leading actors and actresses nav az Tor
been the victims Of nsadyeniue sc,p nnbc ,nno
&c nj OF serious consequences. 80 ,-,, ,cr ,bop
OF "saso igntso pT profile tS speak on the sub
er thus describes a seizure: You are staIlns' o.
pTSiE oci az n your tongue had become dsocated
and was lying p)werless In your mount Son noel,
begin IN creep downward from the nape Oh YOUR noI
at he
meet in the small Of your back Abont S o0 csr"
feel cenpede all OF WHO'S p ee tbe T roots Of your
hair Your next agreeable sensation Is the beae o
o. cOu somehndT had cnt the muscles at the bach
of your knees; your mouth begins Slowly W Tpnr
MiVus Inclined 10 lump out of your head over the
fo9tlirhts At this period 1t Is as well 10 sov tho
stage as ouicklv as possibeyou are far beyond uls
H hopo OF any human HELM Truly thrilling ana
mTSerions disorder! Not the least curious iea, t,
in connection with it is its liability TO rGcur even sS
public does not to exercise deteIrenI SneSs
Those e once S % nSSTed 'G to lie s attacks after
fresh night brings With facon NTH IGf Oi that nervous
Shrinking which is enormously supposed 70 DC I'M, me
special prerogat!ves Of bidding actos anu Even
carrick was susceptible to its influence we are cod
III ' the great actor walked boldly to the stage with
every sign Of confidence but as soon as no iee NE
audience ne Was oyfsctIy silent unable to utter
single word And Charles Matthews went through !, d
similar
hooting and irreverent outlaws with whlCh ne was
ceived doubt mainly responsible l4p o in
SThe Citizen during the engagement OF MISS tarren
sterward Countess of Derby. Not ONLY vert ns staTV
min lad Added to these drawbacks, too he pos
sesscd very feeble and peculiar voice ana an
tee stag Miss Farren on the other hand, woman
of elegant stage presence and easy ana accOnpiiso
her was so croesque that it tcked the fancy Of the
audience who roared and shouted such comforting ana
recommended Miss Faren 10 hold her breath or she
would puff him off the stage. Little wonder tIlat
s gTe have been seized with stage fright with the
natural result that he first of all remained tOngueted
any Mr. INV William Terriss must be numbered among the
victims of the actors foe but fortunately dSr the Te%
rather than painful Whilst acting at the AoeR 4ag n
When n ran as follows Straight before US like two
stars of hope we see the harb9r lights one ,, even,
original and-from the authors point Of vew-altSo,
gefher unntended meaning by eXclaming: straght
lights In his earlier days Mr. TeTiss played at
the old Gallery Of Illustrations On one occasion ne
influence Of an Of dramatic zeal and an attack
OF nervousness combined. he rendered the simple sen
ter tePc Fl. Strength seM nto saw him painfully wheeling
a strength too heavy for his load an achievement
cited the enthusiasm Of his audience, but which prob
ably conduced merely to their irreverent hilarty.
NJ stage fright / can remember-and that hardly
he called frich-OccuTred to me at the old Prince OF
Waless Theatre. Tottenhamst., in 1869. had been
rlavng for over 100 consecutive nights I'm comedicta
called 4 Winning Hazard and had to commence the
niece with speech OF about SIX lines. one evening
walked on the stage and down TO the fOOtlghtS 10
begin as usual when from some unaccOuntabe ransc
nv memory as far the speech was concerned became
an absolute blank nor could even remember the p!r-
mort 60 rs 10 be able to substitute words. In
an agony OF embarrassment wandered hopeleSslv
about the stage. until Mr.. H. W Montgomery, who was
waiting I'm the wings for 10 give him his TO come
on made some trivial observation and IN second and
like a flash OF lightning; my memory returned was
I'm excellent health at the time and had no anXletes."
Even Homer mods al fines.
To conclude Miss Ellen Terry seized with
fright while appearing In "The Governors Wife.
Int summOning all her strength and what remained
~ her senses she managed TO drag herself of the stage
and 10 seize q book few moments rest enabled her
10 recover when she returned to the stage and con
tlnued her part.