St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-29

| cite the same lines in the same way, 1t will
require careful watching at times to avoid
| falling into the pecularities. Have method
and a conviction of your own. Indeed, have
a conviction-the method Is likely to come
of itself.
Feel what you say and the emotions you
are trying to portray. Otherwise your work
is certain to be artificial, and certain to be
so recognized by all intelligent minds. Never
go beyond your feeling. AS far as you feel,
you are reasonably certain, after you have
mastered the necessary forms of expression,
to be sincere and convincing. If you must
enlarge your action you must first enlarge
your feeling, and to do that, have recourse
to the book, always the book.
Then let the young actress bear constantly
in mind the dignity Of her high calling, the
ethical value of an adequate portrayal of a
beautiful character, and the fact that the
artist must either advance or retrograde-
there is no standing still. If she would ad-
vance, 1t is only by single-hearted consecra-
tion to her art. Let her remember that!
AS to determining whether any given can
didate has sufficient ability to justify her in
devoting her life to the stage, few observa-
tions:
The elements which enter into the ques-
tion of success in beginning do not differ
essentially, think, from those which make
or mar the success Of the maturer portrayal,
though they are perhaps less complex.
recognize that some apparently successful be-
ginnings have been made by those who pos
sessed only shallow tact, and, on the other
hand, that final successes have grown from
the apparent failures Of persons OF highly
nervous temperament, acutely sensitive to the
opinions of others-failureS due to the lack
Of the little self-assurance necessary in this
art whose execution Is never in quiet retire
ment, but always before sea OF critical
eyes"
Yet I think the clever. trained, apprecia-
tive observer will be able to detect in the
beginner the presence or absence OF those
elements that should determine the ques-
tion of success, land Of success in the highest
sense. For even the beginner should have
something to express, and also be able to
express it in a manner approaching the
truth. ,,
The opinion we occasionally hear. that "it
| is only necessary to look well, for that Is
| half the battle,' is intrinsically erroneous,
| except, possibly from the commercial point
| of view which / wish to eliminate entirely
| from the present consideration Of the subject.
| The mere commercial aspiration has no Sc
| rious connection with the question of art
| and he who does mot approach the drama
seriously as an art cannot pc considered
| candidate for success In any true meaning o1
| the term.
| Qualities which should insist upon as
| necessary for successful beginner are, frs
| a power to feel the character represented
| an intellectual and moral discernment of ths
| temperament of that character and the feel
| ings and passions which move 1t, coupled witt
| some appreciation OF Its proper outward ex
| preston in cast Of voice, figure and feature
| second quality ! should require would
be measure Of literary taste and cultivation
| a sympathy with the beautiful in language
q power OF transplanting the mind OF litera
tufe into feeling.
I For dramatic portrayal Is, after all, but th
expression of what is within; and if the be
ginner Is able to express that inward some
thing in a manner that proves the mentaiit.
and moral cast of the character to have beel
grasped, / should consider his beginning sue