Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-10-17
PLAYING TWO PARTS.
INSTANCES IN WHICH AN ACTOR HAS
 BEEN TWO MEN AT ONCE.

ers' and the "Iyons Mail' Are Plays in
 Which It Is Necessary For the Star to
 Make These Qnick Changes.
 To he able to play two parts in the same piece-to portray, perhaps two characters of totally different oaliber--- is not an undertaking which many ae- tors care 10 attempt. 1t is only the ex. 1 perienced artist who may attempt the feat with impunity, and even then, though he may appear to the audience to achieve his eres without an effory, there are many more difficulties in his path than meet the eye of the habituai 5heater goer.
 Not only must the actor he possessed of no small amount of histrionie talent, but he must often call ill the aid of an understudy, whose duty it is to gull the onlooker into the belief that their favor ite fs 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 hia piece that the actor may never be called upon to be on the stage with lis double.
 Any one who has been to see 'Ths Prisoner of zenda" performed at the St. ] James theater must have malveled at the lightning eelerity with which Mir George Alexander, moment before the l drunken king of Rufitania, suddenly, as by some act of witehcraft. reappeared as Rudolf Rassendyll, clad in the ordi- nary costume of tie English tourist. l Then, to every one's surprise. the supine l body of the king wal carried in so that to all appearances Mr. Alexander was gazing upon his own person, In reality. of course, it Was merely q lightning change. and the uHderstudy had to be l requiSitioned to supply the person of the king.
 4 more famous case of double imper- 1 sonation, however, j. that of The Cor sican Brothers, the fist play perhaps l in which Sir Henry Irving gave us Q l taste of his wonderful taleLs.
 Ill the first act--to give slight re- sume of the play--the ghost of Louis, killed in duel hy q certain Chateau ] Remand in the forest of Fontainebleau, appears to Fabien, h}s brother The sec- l ond act takes us to Paris, and through varied incident 10 the death of Louis. Here Irving was Louis.
 In the third act, however, 1t is Fabien who is once moro before us, who has constituted himself the avenger of his brothers death. He meets Chateau 1 Remand and demands satisfaction Re naud is worsted aEd falls to the ground. Then suddenly the ghost of Louis ap. pears, and, to personate the spirit of the dead man, Irving had had 10 fly to the wings make his way below the stage and take his stand upon the trap, which conveyed him upward to the 1 gaze of the thrilled spectators.
 How was it done? The audience was amazed Yet the explanation is com paratiyely simple: Irving stepped be, l hind property" tree. His 'double'' instantly filled his place, taking good sare net t0 face the audience when 1t Was lt,z>s uy for him to confront tho ghost, Hence the lightning change from mortal 10 spirit and the resultant be- wilderment of tEo beholdcrs.
 Neither is the "Corsiean Brothersn the only play ill which Irving has con. triyed to take double part and yet nonplus the audience ty the adroitnes ! of his metamorphosis.
 i Those who are familiar with the Lyons Mail will doubtless remem- Der the most telling scene i'll the play. 1 Here Dabose, the murderer, Is in aH |. ntric,, csss:ns dnwA HFan the prepara- tioDs being made fer the execution ot the innocent Lesurquea--Whosel likeness to the real murderer las brought bim l 10 such terrible pass--an expression of horrible slee upon his face, chipping his hands is be sees the apparently doomed man step forward to nis death
 But his exultation is pren1arure. I,e ssrques is repiieyed, and the crowd 1 suddenly catches sight of the yillainous Tn )f the real murderer at the attic
 LOW The door of the room is bat tered in. Behind it stands Duhosc. The 1 wretch is dragged from his refuge, and l as they do so Irving I@surques coolly walks in upon the seeno of turmoil.
 Tue door of the attic is made to open inward, thus shutting Irving Dubose 1 from view of the auditorium. in mo. 1 ment he slips through trap His double takes his place, to be hustled i uneeremonioasly by the crowd of ''su, l pers, whose duty it is also to conceal the mans face in case the fraud should be discovered. Irving Lesurques eau l hea come on ill his new role
 l But an actor has been known to play two parts without fbo assistance of | dummy.
 In a certain play lt was the duty of lhe hero 10 leap out ts the window of his room and to enter from door on the opposite side of the stage clad ill differ ent clothes. though otherwise the same.
 This, however, was juggling pure and simple. The aotof dropped into his second dress in much the same way as an American fireman is seputed to jump into his uniform. The costume consisted of but one piece with patent fastening dewn tEe back, and as he l InatA1 sl,rys,, stl, thu, esIin1,,xx fro,,,o la