The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-25
SOME THEATRICAL TOPICS.
MR. FREsBRER,s THEORIES or Arr
IN ACTING LLNSIRITED.

-'rNN sNNhNH
The particular interest Of the matinee ut the
Car neRio Lyceum yesterday afternoon lay In
the public exhibition Of some OF the methods by
which tho students of the American Academy
of Dramatic Arts become proficient in the work
for which they are now preparing. The pro.
Eramme called their work ian exhibition of
life studios.' ana II proved to be n direct trans.
fer by the students OF scenes. habits, or any hu.
man actually that they had themselves wit.
messed. This process OF instruction, which was
devised by Eugene w. Presbrey and Is used by
him in his work with the students. is extremely
simple In its fundamental ideas, but its encc-
tiveness as 1t was exhibited yesterday after
noon was unVuestionnble. Some seventeen or
eighteen pupils represented some action which
they had seen and observed. and these varied
from merely the representation ofdiTyrent atti-
tudes to the recital OF monologues, short but
complete in themselves.
Thus one girl exhibited n number Of positions
OF the hand which she had seen aud observed.
One young man indicated II number Of positions
representing a person in the act of listening IN
tentlv. Then there was one scene In which five
of the students participated, and this as well rs
the various other bits" contributed by the
pupils were all refreshingly natural and lifelike.
Mr.. Presbrey's idea is that his pupils shall 20 to
life for their models and suggestions, and by
throwing on them Tho responsibility of obscrvo-
tion, cultivate a spirit %. ii which shall be strong
enough to supply. them with every type they
nay need IN, the practice OF their art
places and people. One girl initiated Padcrewski
admirably, another gave n conycrsatlon with q
graduate of the school, one man depicted some OF
his experiences asa supernumerarya at a theatre,
and a girl represented two types seen on Black
itself. and particularly in the way that its re-
suits seemed to make for naturalness and sim
further exhibited in a pantomime called The
enchanted Fountain" which Edwin star Bel
knap had written and II. w LOOMS put to
music. 1t was the dream of n girl who fell
asleep while awaiting her lover, and the figures
human beings were the animated statues about
a fountain. 1t was n graceful piece. which the
actors ~skilfully depicted.
Georg Fngels closed last night the season Of
his appearance as guest" with the actors at
the Irving Place Theatre. and his German
reputation has not failed TO receive here
an endorsement that declares him an cx-
ceptionally capable and finished actor. with
touches of great delicacy and sentiment in his
work and an artistic method that is founded on
correct principles and expressed by well-chosen
means. Nobody but his managers have called
him the German Coquelin,' and it is a credit
to the discrimination OF his audiences that no.
body else has: but he was quite as much appre-
ciated as though he were as great as the
Frenchman, and there is in his play
Ing an occasional sincerity and naturalness
which the ex-member of the Comedie Franchise
might have been proud to exhibit. The last
role that Engels presented here was the doting
father in 1.-THE Partner" which the acting OF
William II. Crane made popular here under the
title of II Wife's Father" Spectators ia
miliar with the piece i'll both forms found the
divergences between them slight: and the Eng
lish version offers an interesting subject Tor
inquiry as to the difference between n transla-
ton and an adaptation: The father in the Eng,
undoubtedly the motive for his exaCting devo-
ton to his daughter. But in other points the
graph six was transferred bodily from the
original piece just as the more essential frame
In the dramas OF ,L'Arronge, Engels has won
o good share of his home fame. and his own per-
formance indicated how well adapted he is to
the representation Of 'middle-class"' domestic
ected in a broadly farcical spirit, which was a
treatment different from that they received at
strong characte-ization the German actor was
quite as successful as he has been in the other
it was. while this play, THE Partner" was
being given here r, in hd English that the piece
the Ias work %tSiS'e Of Martha fe Ra n Mor resF'y or 50 Ad mfph
L'ArronEe as IT was of an earlier French
writer. The piece was for years q favorite
theatres and the main theme and situations
were used by the German dramatist. But he
gave the play the atmosphere of German life and
saturated it so closely that when the piece got
into English, Il was found to be thoroughly
= ''a' - pa ,"iNA = ~ liiV blobh 'llllI'S
severely to imagine its Incidents taking place in
New York at this time. German humor and
and 1t is harder to disguise them on the stage
than anywhere else. L'Arronge is "A dramatist
plays in particular offer difficulties TO the
adapter which are likely TO be insurmountable
when II comes to localiZing their characters and
scenes In another country.
Disrobing scenes are multiplying since the
recent Introduction of one in n nasty French
At the Trocadero to Fred Solomon's version OF
Fra Diavolo" was for the purpose of making
. woman undress as Zerlind in her bedroom. To
begin with, she wears skirts that barely reach
her knees, and a bodice that is a stranger to her
chin. In lieu OF a Jewel Casket, she carries what
looks like an old fashiohed leather trunk Of
small size, and this she puts under the bed,
which is n small cot. Two ragged men. with
faces bearing scrubble boards. have preceded
her into the room. and on her appearance tncv
retire to the back OF the stage and stand Mt
either side OF the entrance, each halt hidden,
and the half that Is In view made thereby all
the more ConspiCuOus. /CIlUd COnfruntS her
mirror and her hands run over her bodice aS if in
search OF fastenings. At that the men exchange
glances of delight. which are succeeded by
capers OF ecstacy as the woman removes an
velvet Jacket. Their pantOmims
becomes more and more frantic as her skirt and
bodice come OIL and several petticoats are re-
moved one at a time. The last one is lace from
this transparent garment j. not removed. After
throwing her slippers so high INTO the air As to
make them drop with a thump. /'riind gets onto
the couch and pulls the blanket over her. by
this time the men are half way down the stairs.
The woman makes u great tO-do of settling the
bedclo,hcs; and not until she has pounded the
pillows and wrestled with the blanket does sho
become composed or do the mems antics and
"asides" cease. A few moments later the stage
Is filled with the personages of the burlcsque,
and then Zcrlind rises aud puts On her clothes.
No attempt Is made To make the group serve as
. screen. and when, some one hands her shoes to
her she steps into the front row. adjusting the
tie strings OF her beribbOncd skirt as she does so.
At Miners Eighth Avenue the method of ex-
hibiting a woman's act OF dIsrobing is made q
minor feature, and the semblancc OF nakedness
Is more conspicuous. The hameless episode is
in a burlesque called "A Tempting Town; or.
Wicked New York" and below tho cast OF
characters is this explanatory note:
As many visitors may be under the impression
that when all the characters appear at the END " tho
nrst scene that tho b%urlesquo Is 10 end there, We wish
% Impress upon the minds OF the audience that Il,