The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-08-03

| Ian intelligently, but the actor has his
| reward for that strain I'm the conscious
ness that he has made himself felt by the
| audience.
"The most difficult trait in a william
| to portray Is abject cowardice. Depicting
| that trait night after night at the Empire
| Theatre in The Girl l Left Behind Me-
was al most exhausting. IL iet me Qut
| OF playing william altogether for q while.
| The most agreeable type OF william 10
play is the modern gentleman william,
the man of the world, who believes that
| the world owes him a living and makes
| the world give him handsome living
| he Is your william with brains.
I'll tell you a singular thing ABOUT
stage Williams" Mr.. Wheatcroft continued
after pause.
Whats that?"
Outside of New York and the large
cities the audiences simply won't have
the the william they can't tolerate the CHAR
What is true OF actors I'm regard to VIII
lians Is also true Of actresses IN regard
TO the part OF the adventures Of the
stage. In plays Of which Forget Me-
Not" La Belle Russo" and "Zicka" are
well recognized types the adventures
is all pervading, Just as Becky Sharp
Is the most forceful character in Vanity
Fair"
\ leading actress said the other day
that the adequate approximations OF such
unOvable types OF WOmanhOOd yielded a
sense of personal triumph. All leading
ladies are anxious TO try their fortune
IN such parts some time because success
in them almost invariably ranks as
great artistic triumph. They put the emo
tional power of the actress to the severest
test and afford cOrrespOndingly great
opportunities for stirring cllmaxes and
effective stage business. The one great
weakness OF such parts is that they never
attain great popularity.
THE liberation Of the adventures as
the chief character Of a play said a
manager, lis one of the ineXphcable
vagares of the taste Of theatregoers.
The public will often crowd the theatre
TO see a wicked woman portrayed arus-
tcally. and yet IL Is certain as the advent
of pay day that IL Will scarcely ever accept
play i'm which villain Is the chief char
acter. 1t would be folly for playwright
to write n comedy around william, now
ever first class the william might be;
Theatregoers Insist that the hero shall
be noble and lOvable man. The only
theory upon which l have been able to
account for this is that 1t Is simply =
natural prejudice such as we md in real
life. Everybody hates 4 villain and
likes TO see him crushed. There are lew
who have exactly the same feeling Tor
the corresponding personality In the Oppo-
site sex. it seems impossible 10 destroy
the worlds sympathy for a woman even
though she be wicked"
Any analysis OF stage Williams would |
be incomplete without a reference 10 |
the possibilities for success offered 10y |
burlesques Of heavy villains. There Is |
not comedian Of merit on the stage |
here or abroad who would not jump at /
the chance FOR fun making offered by |
the comic villain. 1t IS literally the star
part Of the burlesQue or comic opera,
and the deeper ana more damnable the
villainy is supposed TO be the GUNNER the
portrayal can be made. The more the
villain wades through gore and wicked
ness the more certain and swift his pain
10 success with his audiences.