The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-03-19
PLAYS WITHOUT WORDS.
How Pantomimes Are Made--They Are
Written Like Ordinary Plays.

been on the stage for 80 years, has played
leading parts for 27 years and has never
spoken a single line In play. That Is the
record of Paul Martinetti. who is play
ing at Roster q Bial's New York. IL is
scarcely necessary to say that Mr.. Mar
tinetti is pantomimist. For some rea-
son, pantomime seems not to be appre-
ciated here Audiences seem not to un-
derstand IL. Three attempts were made
TO get New Workers to come 10 see the
beautiful and pathetic "Prodigal Son"
A few understood il, were fascinated with
1t at once, and went TO sees it over and
over again, but there was not enough ol
them, and the house was. seldom more
than half full. Mr. Martinetti's acting
I'm "Robert Macaire" at Roster Il BiaPs
was enjoyed no doubt, but it did not find
the appreciation that it deserved, Ii 10
difficult TO see how any one could SIT and
look at it without feelings of growing
wonder and delight at the actors ability
to. tel a story that was at frst comic,
then thrilling, then pathetic and fIally
heroic, with no means Of conveying the
thought but the lines of his face and
the movements OF his hands, his arms,
his feet and his body. The exactness with
which all must be done, the minuteness
OF detail, the precision OF study and the
finish are no less than marvellous.
The old accounts say that the Italian
pantomimists could mako their audiences
weep by the use of gestures alone, their
faces being masked. The statement is
hard to believe, but it can be Understood
by one who secs Paul Martinetti in
Robert Macaire," or Mile. Pilar-Morin
In "The Prodigal Son." The Italian pam
tomimists of today are worthless lot, Mr.
Martinetti says. They keep up success
sion of random and unintelligible ges-
lures, which might just as well mean
anything else as what they are SUPP fosed
to mean. When MIR. Martinetti moves
his foot or his finger or his eyebrow. 1t
tells something, and the audience, IL it
has any power of apprehension at all,
knows what il is. Mr.. Martinetti does
not despair OF full recognition in New
York, and he says that he hopes some
time to play "the Duel i'm the SNOW"
here. Ii has been done at the London
Empire, and those who have seen it there
say that New Workers have missed good
deal
"Tell us how pautomime is made"
said Tribune reporter to Mr.. Martinetti
The other evening, as he came around
from his dressing room to the front of
the house at the end Uf the performance.
81 write all OF the pantomimes my
sell, said the actor, Except some that
my faher used, Robert Macaire, for in
stance. In the first place 1 have to get
the central idea for my play ana work 1t
out and determine that Ii Is one suitable
for pantomime. OF course, there might
be many a good play with words of such
a nature that 1t could not be expressed
or understood without the words. have
to take care that the plot select can all
be expressed by action. When 4 am sure
that my plot is all right i'm this respect,
i write out sketch of the action, put
ting in the main points of what it to be
done, all the entrances. exits, etc."
something like the scenario Of a
he tah
"Just like that. Then, when ] have
done that satisfactorily, write the play.
/ write 1t just as ii il were to be spoken,
with full dialogue, all the speeches com
plete. After that write he play again
? In Its final form. This time the speeches
are not given in full, but only their pan
tomime words, l may call them. /
mean, of course, the words that can be
acted. Many words can be acted, and
some cannot, of course, and 1 know ex-
actly which ones can. In this way q
speech In the first form of the play might
read You and 1 will go there In the
second form it will read "You-I-
there" These are the words that can be
acted, and when the actor comes to that
speech in the play he will point TO his
companion, then he will point to him
self, and thenhe will point over there.
actor in this way. OF course there must
be many things in the play that cannot
be told by gestures at all and these mostly
have to be told by the face. In these
cases, instead of the 'pantomime words
the actors part has a direction, such 40
with feeling of sorrow. The parts
also have full and complete stage direc-
tions. telling exactly where the actor is to
go and where he is to he at every minute
OF the play.
"1 hen come the rehearsals. 7 have to
teach the rest of the actors to play their
parts. So. as the play goes on, 1 speak
the words of their psrts-the pantomime
words-while they act them. And speak
the last words of each of my own
speeches, so as TO give them their cues.
As the rehearsals go on of course they
are able to get along more and more with
out the words being spoken, and at last
when i give the order, Tomorrow, let
ter perfect as the stage manager of a
spoken drama does, / expect every body to
be able to do everything without word
being spoken. Still, the prompter is al
ways ready at every rehearsal and at every
performance TO set anyone right who
forgets anything"
II often happens i'm Mr. Martinetti's
pantomimes that there are dozen or
more people OH the stage at once, and
tndt tney H1e AL HylnB AROUND ike mems
with their heads cut off. IL looks like
hopeless confusion, but 1t all comes out
straight at the end and everybody is i'm
the right place. The thought of this led
the reporter to inquire IL the rehearsing
was not harder and more elaborate than
that OF spoken play. Certainly" said
Mr.. Martinetti, ait IL much easier TO
learn play in words than i'm action.
Everything must he done with the great
est care, and the greatest precision i'm
every movement must be acquired, 80 that
there may he no false passes. Then some
times the pantomime has special music,
80 that every movement must correspond
To the proper note, or everything will be
thrown into confusion. There was pam
tomime. for instance. that we did in
Brussels, called The Dead. It was I'm
three acts and had n musical score like a
Wagner opera, and everything 10 IL had
TO be made to fit exactly to the music. T"
How many rehearsals does II take for a
new pantomime?"
"Well, We rehearsed The Dead every
day for three months i'm London, and then
we had forty or more rehearsals of II in