The morning times., 1896-06-28
Greenroom and Lobby.


NNE OF tile busiest men in washlngtonis Is
Frederic Bond. Others may rise in the
moruiug. survey the prospective Ia
bors OF the day. temoan the length
thereof. especially il they are eight
heur advocates working on Il fifteen hour
schedule. but at ST me place they can stick
a pin and say: There will have de me-"
Net go with ut. Bond. Eve2 sleep Is
necessary evil. fer II steals Just so much
time frt IN duties that cry ter easement
Mr.. Bend is director aud Leading actor Of
the summer stick company. which TACT IS
well known and PRIDE 10 every aprre-
ciativc Washingt onian. The duties OF the
rank u nd file If this party OF players sIe not
q be envcd. The five hours in Stuffy dress
ing r. oms aud before tre footlights every
evenings are but the halr ,f the labor OF the
alert actors who reEearse all day the rolcs
they are to play the next week MIR. Bond
has these burdens and the responsibility or
the production. the worry of finance, which
happily in the present profitable state of
affairsis minimum aud the t. sk of RI 'adiDs
and selecting the plays for ensuing weeks.
How he can concentrate il all into each
week is mystery To the ordinary man, but
the capacity of an actor manager is like
the m8giCian's hat, and stranger things
pop out OF ii than one wots it could ecu
tain. l found Mr.. Bond after the Perform
him to explain how he does it.
Its system, my dear fellow, simply
sysiem," said the nnt.ring one. as we saut-
tered toward his hotel. System OF the
affairs to bc accomplished, and, above all,
system OF the brain. l lay Off my work
iii divisions, or nothing would be accom-
piished. To illustrate, let US bs gin the
week. Monday morning We have final
relicarsals OF the new play to be put on
that evening. Everyone is supposed to
he letter-perrcct i'll his part, thocgI he
often isn't, and, from the limitations Of
The case, can't be. All day long l keep
my mind concentrated on the character
which aIn 10 play, on my lines, the
business OF the part, and the details relat
lug 10 the production, which are uiti
mately my responsibility, though my lieu
tenants are able aud careful 20 the last
point. / may have a bundle OF letters,
but they remain unopened.
mo paper Is read, TO callers are seen,
l 1--we only in a nj for my part. When the
last curtain goes down l drop the part
absolutely. l put it out of my mind 6on!-
pletely. BIZ long training l can do this.
l get a bite to eat, and it does taste
woDfrUus good after the nights labor.
Then l go hoIne and read the play which
is 10 be put oil the next week. note new
business that suggests itself and Try 10
see the best allotment OF the roles TO the
players.
Tuesday morning we al meet at the
theater at IG:3a. We sit in Il group Cd
the stage in the prosaic and disinantied
condition in which you saw it in Her
Last Rehearsal and we read The play all
together. Explanations are made and
each person receives his part and is given
the first impression Of 1t. Al ahou,
O'Clock look over my mail or try TO ma Se
inroads upon the pile of proffered manu-
scripts. Every pl3y that COMES to me is
read. can't afford to reject single
one without hearing. The master
piece OF the coIning American dranEaiist
inay be in the uDaitractive heap.
AT about / again take up the char
acter which I am to play in the evening,
study the lines. and & Il into it asain. After
lhe performance it Is dropped once more,
and pore over the lines of the new part.
SO il goes every day of the week. l lead
a triple life-my own, the current char
acter, and the character OF the week TO
come. They do step on each others toes
and frequently lose their individuality in
distressing fashion for the moment; but
habit, concentration. and determination
bring ii ali clear again.
"On Tuesday the company has that read
ing. Perhaps The first act is Repeated a
couple of times On Wednesday the second
day the third act is added Each OF the
subs equent days is given to full re-
hearsals. The first days the actors
walk through their parts in most uncon-
ventional ia ash!on. with their books in hand.
merely mmmbliGg the lines and only learn
ing the skeleton of the entrances. exits,
crosses, sitting. and standing POSITIONS.
and the intricaCies of the situations. Fri
day they have some idea OF the lines. but the
l. Fol
low. After this day we keep adding busi-
ness TO the situations and working up the
details until the performance Monday even
ing. when 1t is expected that the company
has the piece so we'll In hand that no further
attention is necessary. We expect to give
the seven performances as if We had been
playing the piece for seven months instead
of less than seven days"
'.But how do you learn your lines 30 quick
ly? How do You keep one set of new tines
while you are learning another
system agiin. and practice. At certain
times of tie day 1 nm one character and
certain other times another character.
From 4 in the afternoon until the perform
ance is over l am tie character of the pres
ent week. After the evenings work l am
the next weeks character until in the
afternoon ag1in. As for learning tie parts.
il is great task. | used TO be quick
study. the lines ca me With q sin @ reading
sometimes. Now / have to grind. so many
other things divide my attention. Lines
come to me in two ways-5y memoFizing
and by absorption. Tie former is painful
protra ctioD; the latter is easy and quick.
Absorption comes when the character i.
natural and congcnia. / have only to think
of the part and occasionally read the lines
and they suggest themselves. 1t is that
way with Cattermoie. sr., which play in
The Private Secretary this week. on
the contrary, | had 20 take DIR. Bill line by
line aud repeat it indefinitely until il was
a fixture in my head. It's hard work, but
it's Fascinating and so satisfying in the
pleasure of looking out nightly at the hanks
of happy faces to see the delight they take
in our efforts. GGod night
Then the busiest man in the city disap-
pearcd TO suffuse himself with the person
ity Of CattermoIe, who would possess him
till O'Clock the next afternoon, when Dr.
Bill would claim his own gain. So the al
formation is sustained; a mental and physi-
cal feat as astounding Is the phenomenon
of DR.. Jckyll and Mr.. Hyde. though Mr..
Bond never allows any but cheerful happy
and humorous characters TO claim him.
4 lot many plays have SO interesting q
N history as 1.-The Private Secretary"
No one knows it better than Charles
Coote, who was the English us wellas
ttp Ampri can Oripiunl or fhe ANGLICAN