Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-09-14
PLAYING TWO PARTS.
INSTANCES IN WHICH AN ACTOR HAS
 BEEN TWO MEN AT ONCE.


 To be able to play two parts in the same piece-to portray. perhaps two characters of totally different eaiber- is not an undertaking which many ac- tors care 10 attempt. It IS only the ex- perienced artist who may attempt the feat with impunity, and even then, though he may appear to the audience to achieve Lis end without an effort, there are many more difficulties in his path than meet the eye Of the habituai theater goer.
 Not only must the actor be possessed of no small amount of histrionic talent, but he must often call in the aid Of an understudy, whose duty 1t is to gull the onlooker into the belief that their favor ite is performing the impossible feat of being in two places at one and the same time. Fer in nearly every play of such character it is well nigh impossible for the author so to arrange his piece that tine actor may never be called upon te be on the stage with his double.
 Any one who has been to see The Prisoner of Zenda' performed at the St. James theater, munt have marveled as the lightning eelerity with which MT. George Alexander, moment before the drunken king of Rnritania, suddenly, as by some act of witchcraft, reappeared as Rudolf Rassendyll, clad in the ordi- nary costume of the English tourist. Then, to every one's surprise, the supine body Of the king was carried in go that to all appearances MT. Alexander was gazing upon his own person. h reality, of course, it was merely lightning change, and the uHderstudy had to be requisitioned to supply the person of the king.
 A more famous care Of double imper gonation, however, is that of The Cor siean Brothers, 3 the first play perhaps in which Sir Henry Irving gave as 2 taste Of his wonderful talent.
 h the first aet-to give slight re- sume of the play-fhe ghost of Louis, killed in a duel by certain Chateau Renaud in the forest of Foutsinebleau, appears to Fabien. his brother. The sec ond act takes us to Paris, and through varied incident to the death of Louis Here Irving was Louis.
 In the third act, however, il Is Fabien who is once more before us, who has constituted himself the avenger of his brothers death. He meets Chateau Renaud and demands satisfaction. Re. maud is wefsted and falls to the ground. Then suddenly the ghost of Louis ap= pears, and, to pefsorate the spirit of the dead man, Irving had lad to fly to the wings, make his way below the stage and take his stand upon the trap. which conveyed him upward to the gaze of the thrilled spectators
 How was it done? The audience was amazed. Yet the explanation is com paratiyely simple: Irving stepped be. hind property" tree. His double instantly filled his place, taking good care not to face the audience when it was necessary for him to confront the ghost. Hence the lightning ehange from mortal to spirit and the resultant be- wilderment of the beholders
 Neither is the Corsican Brothers the only play in which Irving has con triyed to take double part and yet nonplus the audience by the adroitness of his metamorphosis.
 Those who are familiar with the "Lyons Mail'' will doubtless remem- Der the most telling scene i'll the play. Here Dubosc, the murderer, is in an attic, gazing down upon the prepara- tions being made for the execution of the innocent Lesurques-whosel likeness to the real murderer has brought him to such a terrible pass-an expression of horrible glee upon his face, clapping his hands as he sees the apparently doomed man step forward to his death
 But his exultation is premature Le- surques is reprieved, and the crowd suddenly catches sight of the villainous face of the real murderer at the attic window. The door of the room is bat tered in. Behind 1t stands Duhcse The wretch is dragged from his refuge, and as they do so Irving Lesurques coolly walks in upon the scene of turmoil.
 The door of the attic is made to open inward, thus shutting Irving Duboso from view of the auditorium. lu mo- nent he slips through trap His A0u9le taAeS HIS p4dCt5 b0 Db uASll6u unceremoniously by the crowd of ' su pers, whose duty it is also to conceal the man s face ia ease the fraud should be discovered. Irving Lesurques can hen come on in his new role.
 But all actor has been known to play two parts without tbe assistance of q dummy.
 In certain play 1t was the duty of the hero to leap out Of the window ot his room and to enter from door en the opposite side of the stage clad in differ cut clothes, though otherwise the same.
 This, however, was juggling pure and simple. The actor dropped into his second dress in much the satue way aa an American f7eman is ,eputed to jump into his uniform. The costume consisted of but one piece with a patent fastening down the back, and as he leaped through the window frame he ieaped intG his clothes, which, so to speak. shut behind him and left him re-