The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1896-07-28

lated by q London Newspaper.
Plavgoers Of today do not appear to
fall so easily under the influence Of the
power Of the performer or the vlvldness
Of a striking situation as III times gone
by. They do net SO quickly lose their
own identity, so to speak, and become
so absorbed in the drama as to be car
ried away with the interest Of the plot
to such IN extent that they feel them
selves not merely spectators. hut partici-
pants in a real and tangible incident.
But when plays deal more with hCmely
and natural stories aud less with the
fantastic and woman with a past
class Of drama, folks appear to have been
more emotional and enthusiastic. They
forgot the mimic side Of the picture
and only saw before them life i'll minia-
ture, as they understood it. They had
the human note very finely tuned and
developed.
For example, wheh they were play
ing the almost immoral,"Green Bush
cs' at the Adelphi during IL of it's
many revivals, Nine Celeste. in the
character Of Miami, the Indian, had to
shoot her English husband, by whom
she had been deserted. and, after firing
the pistol, q woman started up in the
pit and exclaimed in q loud voice,
"Served him right; it's just like my
monster This explosion of irsulted
w~omanhood, produced by the ~"cunning
of the scene and Nine. Celeste's pow
erful acting, was naturally followed by
q burst Of laughter from all parts Of
the house.
1t is certain that art frequently pos
sesses more sway over u feelings than
nature herself. 1t was at the Oly mpic
theater, in the autumn of 1874, when
the 1.-TWO Orphans" was being acted.
that ii young lady sitting in the stalls
hurled her opera glasses, with the ex-
clamation, "You BEAST at Mrs. Hunt
ley Ola Frochard), who was i'll treating
Mr.. Henry Neville, the crippled Pierre,
in the garnet scene. 1t was certainly a
high compliment to that actress power,
though it was a dangerous way CT send
ing a testimonial.
But it was q critic who uprose, on
the first night Of the late Charles
Reade's drama, Its Never Too Late to
Mend,' at the Princess theater, il
1865, under the management Of George
Vining, and vehemently protested
against the f1ogging business in the Jail
scene, as being inhuman and untrue to
life. However, it was true to life, and
the discussion that ensued in the papers
tended to crowd tho theater nightly for
many months. But audiences did not
always take things too seriously and
were in the habit of expressing them
selves very candidly when occasion
arose.
Even the great Grimaldi could not
invariably rely upon success for his old
wheezes. He was once Kissed at Sadler's
Wells theater after singing his celebrat-
ed comic song (what a dull piece it was
to read, by the way y "Tippitywichet.'
and be appealed to the audience. He
chad nodded" he said, crowned,
sneezed, choked, gasped, cried, grinned,
grimaced, hiccoughed-he had done all
that could le done by brow, chin,
cheeks, eyes, nose and mouth-and what
more did they want?' "Why, we
want" yawned a languid voice from
the pit, 1--WE want a new featured
Sometimes it is the manager who
gives vent to his feelings when sitting
in 'front.' as was the case with Henry
Harris, for many years manager of
Covent Garden theater in the early part
Of the century. He was watching the
performance from the stage box of an
actor of the name of Faulkner, who had
recently arrived from the provinces and
was making his appearance OF the met
ropolitan boards as Octavia in "The
Mountaineers. Faulkner was not quite
up to the mark, and when he exclaimed
in o deep, cultural tone, "Oh, where is
my honor?" Harris exclaimed, Il wish
your honor was back at Newcastle
again, with all my heart"
Macready, of whom many stories
were told, says in his Memoirs :" II
remember on one occasion acting in
Venice Preserved A long and rather
drowsy dying speech Of my poor friend,
Jafier, was dragging its slow length
along, when some one in the gallery,
in a tone Of great impatience, called
out very loudly, All, now die at once!'
when a voice from the other side imme-
diately replied, BE quiet, you black
guard and then turning with a patron
izing tone to the lingering Jaffier, Just
take your time, will you?'"
As an example of how easily the most
acute persons may lose themselves to
some extent in the mimic action Of the
stage, we may recall the story Of an
eminent special pleader who was wit
Messing a performance Of Macbeth" In
the scene where the Thane of Cawdor,
questioning the witches in the cavern,
says, What is't you do?" the answer
Is. "A deed without a name This
phrase struck the ears Of the pleader at
once, and he cried out excitedly: "a
deed without a name: Why, It's void"
london Globe.
Its Draw oack.
II never did like that ~theater," OBJ
served Mrs. Gaswell as they drove home
y 4EA -1nHp