Semi=weekly graphic., 1897-10-06
FLAMING TWO PARTS
INSTANCES IN. WHICH AN ACTOR A..
 BEEN TWO MEN AT ONCE

ers an" 'ie 1'sOHs eAalt Are Plasn fl,
 Which It Is Necessary For the st.,
 Make These Quick Changes.
 To be able 10 play two parts in x. same piece--to portray, perbans ta. characters of totally different oaliha. is not an undertaking which nsns ' tors care 10 attempt. It is only tba ~ perienoed artist who may atislnnt x. a feat with impunity, and even tbsa though he may appear to the auaiena 10 achieve his end without an efgo,S there are many more difficulties in b,. path than meet the eye of the babitnaal theater goer.
 Not only must the actor be posssssoa of no small amount of histrionie talant but he must often call in the aid of a,' understudy, whose duty it is to gull ,sa onlooker into the belief that their fovns ite is performing the impossible feat z, being in two places at one and the sams time. For ill nearly every play of such character it is we'll nigh impossible fos the author so to arrange his piece tba. the actor may never be called nnon ts be on the stage with his double.
 Any one who has been to See s.Tb. Prisoner of Zenda" performed at tbes James theater, must have maryeled at the lightning eelerity with which AIr George Alexander, moment before tba drunken king of Ruritania, suddenly as by some act of witcheraft, reappeaFed as Rudolf Rassendyl, clad ia the ordi. nary costume of the English tourist Then, to every one's surprise, the supjpe body of the king was carried in 70 that to all appearances MT. Alexander was gazing upon his own person. In reality of course, it was merely a lightnino change, and the understudy had to bs requisitioned to supply the person of ths king.
 A more famous case of double inlper. sonation. however. ig that of eThe Cor sican Brothers, the first play perhaps in which Sir Henry Ireing gave us A taste of his ? als.,...l i.s..ut
 In the first act-t0 give slight le sume of the play-fhe ghost of Louis killed in duel hy certain Chateau Renaud iii the foreet of Fontainebeaa appears to fabieu. hss brother The sec. ond act takes Us to Paris. and through varied incident to tho death of Lonis Here Irving was Louis.
 In the thiTd act, however, it is Fabien who Is once mere before us, who has constituted himself the avenger If his brothers death fife meets Chateau Remand and demaDdH satisfaction. Re. maud is woistod md falls to the ground. Then suddenly the ghest of Louis ap. pears, and, to personate the spirit of the dead man, Irving had had to fly to the wings, make his WHY below tue stage and take his stand Epen the trap, which conveyed him upward to the gaze Of the thrilled spectators.
 How was il dones The audience was amazed Yet the explanation is com paratiyely simple: Irving stepped be. hind q property tree. His double instantly tlled his place, taking good care nor uface tho audience when 1t was necessary for him to confront the ghost Hence the lightning change from mortal to spirit and the resultant be- wildernent of the beholderS
 Neither is the "Corsioan Brothers the only play in which Irving has con. hiyeA 10 take double part ana yet uonplus tho audience by the adroitness of his metanorphosis.
 Those who are fnriliar with the Lyons 2iaiI'' will doubtless remem- Der the most telling scene in the play Here Duhosc, the murderer, is ill an attic, gazing down upon the prepara- tons being made for the execution of kae innocent Lesurques-whose likeness to the re.l murderer has brought him to such terrible pass---an expression of horrible Rlee upon his face, clapping his hands as he see3 the apparently doomed man step foi ward to ais death.
 But his exultation is prema,ure I.e. surQues is reprieyed. and tiie crowd suddenly catches sight of the yillainous face of the real murderer at the attic window The door of the room is bat tered in. Behind if stands Duhose. The wretch is dragged from his refuge, and Ho AitNJ AlO FO IiN4liE~ ANSuAAlAitA AttpAAf walks in upon the scent of turmoil.
 Tue door of the attic is made tu open inward, ,hus shutting Irving Ilubosc from view of the auditorium In mo. ment he slips through q trap. His double" takes his place, to Do hustled uneeremoniously by tie crowd of "su pers, whose duty it is also to conceal the man face in ease the fraud should De discovered. Irving -Lesurqnes cal hea come oa in his new role
 But an actor has bean known to play two parts without tbo assistance of ' dummy
 In certain play If was the duty oi the hero to leap out uf the window oi his room and to enter feUm door on ths opposite side of the stage clad in differ ent clothes, though otherwise the same
 This, however, was juggling pure and simple The aetoc dropped inro hi second dress in much the same way al an American fireman is seputed tt jump into his uniform. The costuln, consisted of but one piece with paten Fastening dcwn the back, and as h' leaped through the window frame h' leaped into his clothes. which, so t' speak, shut behind him and left him re habilitated
 Neither is the part of the undefstudy one to be given to my ordinary lper from the mass of warriors, eounteymel and the like that go 10 make up stage crowd, He must ho possessed of nC slight amount of adaptability ane smart