The Press., 1897-11-18
PLAYING TWO PARTS.
INSTANCES IN WHICH AN ACTOR HAS
 BEEN TWO MENAT ONCE.

 The ssPrisoner of Zenda," saCorsican Broth
 CTS" and the 'Lyons Mail" Are Plays i'm
 Which It Is Necessary For the Star to
 Make These Quick Changes.
 To be able to play two parts in the same piece-to portray, perhaps two characters of totally different caliber- is not an undertaking which many &C., tors care to 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 his end without an effort, there are many more difficulties in his path than meet the eye of the habitual 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 it 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. For in nearly every play of such character it is well nigh impossible for the author so to arrange his piece that the actor may never be called upon to be on the stage with his double.
 Any one who has been to see ''The Prisoner of Zenda" performed at the St. James theater, must have marveled at the lightning celerity with which MT. George Alexander, moment before the drunken king of Ruritania, suddenly, as by some act of witchcraft, reappeared as Rudolf Rassendyll, clad in the ordi- nary costume of the English tourist Then, to every ones surprise, the supine body of the king was carried in so that to all appearances MT. Alexander was gazing upon his own person. In reality, of course, it was merely a lightning change, and the understudy had to be requisitioned to supply the person of the king.
 A more famous case of double imper- sonation, however, is that of "The Cor sican Brothers,' ' the first play perhaps in which Sir Henry Irving gave us a taste of his wonderful talent.
 In the first act-to give a slight re- sume of the play-the ghost of Louis, killed in duel by certain Chateau Renaud in the forest of Fontaine bleau, 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, it 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 worsted and falls to the ground. Then suddenly the ghost of Louis ap- pears, and, to personate the spirit of the dead man, Irving had had 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 paratively simple: Irving stepped be- hind "property" tree. His "double' instantly filled his place. taking good care not to face the audience when ii was necessary for him to confront the ghost. Hence the lightning change 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. trived to take a double part and yet | nonplus the audience by the adpoitness of his metamorphosis.
 | Those who are familiar with the "Lyons Mail" will doubtles remem- ber the most telling scene ill the play. Here Dubosc, the murderer, is in ar attic, gazing down upon the p1epara tions being made for the execution ol the innocent Lesurques-whose likeness to the real murderer has brought him | to such terrible pass-an expression of horrible glee upon his face, clappins 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 crow( suddenly catches sight of tle villainou face of the real murderer at the attic window. The door of the room is bat tered in.. Behind it stands Dubosc. Int wretch is dragged from his refuge, anc as they do so Irving Lesurques coolly walks in upon the scene of turmoil.
 The door of the attic is made to opel inward, thus shutting Irving Dubos from view of the auditorium. In a mo ment he slips through a trap Hi
 "double' takes his place, to be hustled unoeremoniously by the crowd of ''su pers," :" whose duty it is also to concea
 the mans face in case the fraud should
 be discovered. IrvingLesurques cal hen come on in his new role.
 : But an actor has been known to pla two parts without the assistance of } dummy.
 In a certain play it was the duty O the hero to leap out of the window O | his rooro and fO enter from a 6O0r O0 th
 opposite side of the stage clad in differ
 ent clothes, though otherwise the same This, however, was juggling pur and simple. The actor dropped into hi : second dress in much the same way a an American fireman is reputed , jump into his uniform. The costum , consisted of but one piece with pateI
 fastening down the back, and as h leaped through the window frame | leaped into his clothes, which, so speak. shut behind him and left him rt habilitated.
 3 Neither is the part of the understud one to be given to any ordinary "super l from the mass of warriors, countryme and the like that go to make up stag
 crowd. He must be possessed of | I slASnS aAuouAl oA aSdPeobAAAUy anu ouoA ness to enable his principal to go throug his arduous task without a hitch. = 3 Pearson's Weekly.
 8 The two principal German fortress' on the Baltic sea are at Konigsburg an Dantzic. Central Germany has thrf
 first class fortresses, Spandau, Magd, , burg and Kustrin; on the French fro1 , tier, Metz and Strasburg, and on tf Belgian frontier, Cologne and Coblens
 The Serpent's Sight. There is tradition in many parts ( 5 Europe that when a serpent's sigf grows dim with age he eats fennel an
 thus regains his vision
 Il The HOmliest Man in Stafford.