Morris tribune., 1897-02-17
SHE LIKES DEATH SCENES.
Viola Allen, the Actress, Says They Are
a Fascination to Her.

Viola Allen, the Actress, Says They Are
a Fascination to Her.
Miss Viola Allen has probably
died as many times as any other
woman on the stage that is to say,
of course, dramatic death
There is something fascinating to
me, she said, in death scene. II
the actress has to fall to the ground
in death agony, she must be care.
full that she does not perform the
feat as though she were clasp knife
folded up. Then, again, she must
cultivate breathing, SO that she may
seem not to be breathing at all
Nothing is more ridiculous than the
spectacle presented by a supposed
corpse whose chest is heaving VIC
lently in consequence of the emo
ton attendant upon falling.
II remember in 'Virginius | was
stabbed and fell backward to the
ground. The blow made me gasp.
Gradually my limbs became rigid,
and fell at the moment the spark
of life was supposed to have left my
body. I used to remain motionless
with my mouth and eyes open. My
authority for such action and subse-
quent pose is the strongest. | was
the witness of just such tragedy in
real life. The only pain expe
rienced in that scene was the en-
forced holding of my breath. The
length of the actual death scene is
about five minutes.
When I played in 'Othello' with
Tomaso Salvini, I was always nerv-
Gus during the smothering scene,
because the Italian tragedian used
to get extremely excited. / would
turn my face sideways and hold
small space open under the farther
side of the pillow, so that l could
breathe, but even that breathing
hole would frequently get closed un-
der Salvini's forceful energy.
Then, when he had found that
he had killed Desdemona without
cause, in his remorse he would
throw himself heavily upon the
body. l used to wait for this piece
of business as one would wait for a
locomotive about to project itself
upon the waistband.
"As Juliet, I have died many
times. Romeo, you know, drinks
the poison and subsequently throws
the vial away as Juliet approaches
him; then, seeing him die, stabs
herself and falls over him. At one
theater the property man, thinking
poison should be represented by
some black liquid, filled the vial
with ink AS Romeo made merely
a slight motion of drinking the
liquid, he did not notice the nature
of the fluid. But when he threw
the bottle from him it struck some
where near Juliet, and the ink flew
all over my face and the lovely
white gown Icwore. On that occa-
sion, you may be sure, the life of
Juliet was ended with the least pos
sible delay.
I'm La Charbonniere' the heroine
dies a slow death by poison. In
this case I took special care to find
out the right poison that should be
mentioned in the piece as the one
that would cause slow numbing
of the senses.
death by starvation is by no
means jolly. AS Jess in Hood
man, have had to make believe
would give my life for doughnut.
In this play my death occurred
while I was reclining on my side,
well down the stage toward the
footlights. This was quite often an
awkward situation, because of the
different curtains at the various
theaters Now and then, to avoid
my being struck by the curtain, the
hero would be obliged to draw my
body back, and once, though a man
put out his hand to keep the curtain
from touching me, the heavy mass
actually grazed my nose. Boston
Globe.