Evening star., 1897-01-23

oN44tl dllti HO tiob '-icNt tAAstt
could forget mine any more than any actor
could forget the moments when he trod the
boards for the first time.
when 1 mere youngstcr. with an
ability and likewise appetite to dispose
Of numerous slices of bread and butter.
and the posseSsor of digestive organs cap
able of mastcating Washington pie and
tenpenny nais-it seems to me now that
one must have been as bad the other
i was called upon to make my first ap-
pearance on the stage. I was not hungry
for the stage. but did jump at the oppor-
tunity of becoming Simon Pure actor and
having greatness stamped upon my mas
siv- brow / was going to school at New
ton Corners. about seven miles outside of
Boston and now called Newton when some
of my playfellows suggested that they play
theater- In my possession a the time was
a voice several fathoms deep, and the boys
invited me TO join them and become an
actor. loft over an old stable was Sc
lected as the seat of our operations, and it
was decided to charge three cents for the
privilege of sitting on plank near the
stage, and two cents for a seat near the
door. oh. We intended to do things up in
great style. We all 'chipped in as we
used to say In those days. and purchased
The joy was great when my brother Sc
cured possession Of a marking brush and
pot of ink. but every boy wanted TO paint
the scenery My brother was the best
fighter, however. and he did the painting
filling in any number of doors and windows
In impossible places. We also got guam
tity of cheap white flannel for a curtain.
and when, after much difficulty, we sue
ceeded IN getting this to work up and
down on a roller, thought we had
worked triumph in art. No one knew
anything about the play to be given when
We assembled for rehearsals. In fact. we
did not have one. But that bothered no
one. You walk in here and say so-and-so.'
said one boy. and / will say this and he
would fill in a line. In this way the play
was constructed and rehearsed. Our open
ing was huge success, there being over
two dollars In the house, but | am afraid
that personally l did not make a hit. My
opinion In regard TO this is strengthened by
the fact that / was never asked TO appear
again. Maybe this was neglect on the part
of the others. and 1t was certainly neglect
on their part IN never giving me my share
of the receipts. i am still waiting to be
paid for the work / did the first night /
faced audience"
Some two years later young Crane moved
to Boston with his parents and while play-
Ing on the Common one day made the ac-
quaintance of small boy. who said he
was an actor. Il can sing" said Crane.
Can your? said the boy, come up and see
my mother" The latter was Mrs. Holman.
a woman who was a great actress in her
time. and who was then going around the
country with her children giving entertain
ments that consisted of little farces. bur-
leSques and scenes from the operas. Crane
visited Mrs. Holman. and the result was
that he was apprenticed to her for two
years. he to give his services for his board
and lodging and tuition. For seven years
young Crane remained with the Hoimans
and while the life was a hard one he ac-
knowledges that the training he received
Was beneficial.
An actor can and should sink his in
dividuality absolutely in any part that he
is called to play" said Mr.. Willard yester-
day. while discoursing upon hts art
Whether many actors possess this qualifi-
cation / cannot say; 1t Is certain that very
few Of them give evidence of its possession
My theory IS that an actor should lose in
diyidualty, his identity. so far as his au-
dience is concerned, the moment he steps
upon the stage. His best friend should not
be able 10 Identify him as man of his ac-
quaintance of course, in order to make
this possible, the author must have given
him a character into which he can sink
A shadow of a character-that of an or
dinary person such as you meet by the
hundreds In the street or In the restau-
raEt-anoTds no material upon which to
work. The actor may well say, This is a
mere shadow-there Is no character to sink
into But individuality can be absorbed
in strongly marked characters, such. for
instance, as many of the creations of Dick
ems In such parts no person in the audi
ence ought TO be able TO recognize his
friend on the stage by any action. method
of speech. of walking. or of wearing his
clothes. Everything should be changed
from the top OF the head to the sole OF the
foot, and the transformation should be ef-
fected from the moment the actor steps
upon the stage. He may be a great favor
ite and the audience may receive him with
cheers. but if he walks out of the charac-
ter which he is impers onating to bow his
Acknowledgements he can hardly, / think,
be regarded as a perfect artist. If at the
end Of the act there is terrific applause
neither he nor any member of the COM
pany should step from the stage picture to
appear before the curtain, for the Illusion
must suffer from such proceeding. OF
course. " hile under another mans manage
n1ent j had TO submit 10 his rules and If
they required me to acknowledge applause
1 naturally smothered any objections /
might have to use such inartistic methods
As soon as / secured a theater of my own
however. 1 was enabled 10 put my theories
into practice, and / found that my audi
ences were delighted TO assist me in what
they evidently considered a reform
Your idea, then, is that apparent loss of
identity on the part OF an actor is possible
and absolutely necessary, but that actual
icss of identity Is not within the range
of art?'
That expresses my ideas II an actor
should lose his identity actually so far as
not TO be aware of what he was doing he
would lose control of his own emotions;
and Of necessity over the emotions of his
audience Loss OF identity IN private life
means insanity. and If an actor could be-
come insane at will We would see some
strange stage pictures. The actor who
forgot that he was acting and became for
the time actually the character that he
represented, would very probably forget
his authors dialogue at the same time and
supply words which the situation suggest
ed TO him. creating confusion both on and
on the stage Not no! That Is all sheer
nonsense The actor has sort of dual
personality while acting. He makes him
self King Lear for the audience, but he
Is stiH- so to speak. Mr. Brown, watching
carefully that Mr.. Brown does not show
his personality. and that not a shadow Of
Mr.. Brown peeps through the disguise of
King Lear which Mr.. Brown has put on
One of the principal roles I'm the Cherry
Plckers is that of the rollicking Irish
widow. Mrs ODonnell- -Duieep PLAYED by
clever Jennie Sattcrlee. She has a very
funny catch-line, "Agitate. We divil, agi-
tate" delivered to the little Hindoo boy
who has habit of falling asleep while
tanning her. This catch-line serves to get
her out Of several funny but embarrassing
positions during the play. but none quite
as bad as that which befeli her on the open
ing night of the production in New York
In the first scene, during lively comedy
bit for the widow, Jennie's garter which IS