The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-07-19


| are TIE hardest to train They are brainy
and smart and Lave a natural business fac
ulty, but they do not do well In roles of
sentiment. It is the southern girl with her
sensitive temperament, emotional nature
| and dreamy eyes who can move her audi
ence and carry her hearers with her
through all the varying lights and shades Of
domestic life inwrought with unhappiness
and tragedy.
AS TO hight, it is great disadvantage to
be short because, however artistic one may
bee me in adding an assumed night to ones
own stature, the actor can never quite over
come the defect with which nature has
handicapped him. If an actress, She viii
always find thauit is difficult for her to
play stately or commanding parts If she
| is Slight, she can add to her hight by
making conspicuous her litheness and slen-
derne-s.
Vocal quality, vocal expression and pam
| tomimic action must all be taken IN account
in examining the qualifications OF asprants.
Some people have naturally good voice, a
| good walk and an expressive face. Others
have to acquire these. The former are fort
unate while the latter are not, but these
things are wholly aside from the dramatic
instinct. Without this last an actress is
never success, beautifully gifted though
she may be. But give her this instinct aud
she is a success from the beginning, because
she had that which cannot be &C luired and
to which all other things are subserviant.
The brightest girls who ever come to US
are those who have been on the variety
stage. They have been before tho public
| for a year or two and have decided TO learn
those things which will enable them to take
part in the legitimate drama. Nothing
ever disconcerts them; no audience can ever
| throw Ghem out of continuance. They
| come to us to receive the finishing touches
| We have only TO prune and to refine to
| teach them little elegances of manner and
speech which they have not learned. They
are our best pupils
! Ordinarily, with people who lack train
ing or stage experience, expression is c1n-
veyed by the face. At best, the hands are
brought into use, but rarely is the rest of
| the body called upon to perform any Office
other than that Of a vehicle to hold the head
and arms Now this is entirely wrong.
| The body must talk, and one should be able
to show by the movements of the body
whether one is pleased or unhappy, and
whether one is agreeing with the speaker
or disagreeing.
Take the simple sentence, at is not So"
| Think of how many ways there are of say
ing that without uttering sound Let us
| leave out all except the one sequence that
comes with emphasis. To begin with, sup
pose you wish to say simply and as quietly
as possible, at is NOT So" Without speak
| ing word a closing Of the eyelids and a
| slight drooDing of the mouth expresses this
| sentence. We repeat the thought more en-
| phatically. This time the ewes are closed,
the mouth droops. the nose contracts
slightly, very slightly, and the head is
turned to one side. There is q slight closing
Of the hand.
Again, ut is not So" The right hand
sweeps across the body with negative gest-
ure toward the right, the back Of the hand
is uppermost aud the head moves toward
the left with q negative turn that is almost
o shake. Once more, ut is not so.p And
now-ths whole body moves. The htp, shout
! ders and head seem to be turning violently
away as if in utter adherence of the idea,
while the hand sweeps away as if it were
brushing all thought of the object from the
mind.
But one more way remains, without
acsuRl speech, and that is, to rise with all
these negative gestures, to rush from the
room with the long stride that indicates
| grief, disgust, denial and despair.
Lifting the shoulders and lifting the chin
are both strong expressions. They are rare
and should only be used when abandonment
and int Sc emotion are indicated.
| A youngiwoman or young man wishing
to judge of eligibility to school of acting
cannot be his own critic as to points of ex-
J preston The only thing that can be self
| determined is natural fonduess for the
work and the knowledge that one has the
ordinary requisites for the stage, to-wIt:
a fair education, sensitive temperament,
and no serious physical defect. AS to age,
we prefer scholars from % to 30. For
special roles character parts they are eligi-
! bic beyond those years.
An actor should possess many accom-
| p'lshments. He should be able to sing,
dance and fence, have an eye for color and
| form, as IN costuming, an ear for every
shade Of dialect. much business f Guilty and
a mind well stored by observation, study
and experience. The larger ne kno Wedge
Of other arts, the better.
In the old days beginners in acting were
simply apprentices In their dramatic work
shops. Now there are schools. Such has
been the educational advance in the study
OF acting that the dramatic vocation has
become u profession as we'll as trade, de-
mandlng knowledge as well as skill.
Dramatic training first strengthens and
tunes he actors iustruments-th body and
| the voice. 1t educates the mind to fuller
realization of the power and qualities of
action, diction and stage effect than the ex-
perience Of real life afford. Careful trains
ing helps and develops not only the tech-
nlque OF the stage and dramatic effect, but
also the very spirit of the different parts in
the play.
would say to every one who wishes to
go upon the age: Abandon all hopes of
sudden success and devote yourself hon
estly, earnestly and thoughtfully to sys-
tematic drill and training.
FRANKLIN II. SARGENT,
Director Of the American Academy of the
Dramatic Arts.