Semi=weekly graphic., 1897-12-22
PLAYING TWO PARTS.
INSTANCES IN WHICH AN ACTOR tIAe
 BEEN TWO MEN AT ONCE.

The f'PrisOuer of zenda," "Corsican Broth.
 CTS" and she eLyons Mailo Are PIays tn
 Which It Is Necessary For the stAr es
 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 ao- tors care to attempt. It is only the ex- perieneed 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 ill his path than meet the eye of the habitual theater goer.
 Not only must the actor be possessed of no small amount of histrionio 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 fayor- ite is performing the impossible feat of being in two places at one and the sama time. For in nearly every play of such character 1t is well nigh impossible for the author so to arrange his piece that the actor may never be called upon to bo on the stage with his double.
 Any one who has been to see ''ThS Prisoner S,f zenda" performed at the Ss James thoater. must have marveled at the lightning oeierity with which MT. George Alexander, a 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 one's surprise, the supiRe 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 f'The Cor sican Brothers" the first play perhaps in which Sir Henry Irving gave us Q taste of his wonderful talent.
 In the first act-to give slight re- sume of the play-the ghost of Louis. killed in duel by certain Chateau Renaud i'll the forest of Fontainebleau. 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 she 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'i instantly filled his place, taking good care not to face the audience when 1t was necessary for him to confront the ghost. Hence the lightning change from mortal to spirit and the resultant be- wilderment of tie beholders.
 Neither is the "Oorsican Brothers" the only play in which Irving has con- trived to take a double part and yet nonplus the audience by the adroitnesa of his metamorphosis.
 Those who are familiar with the
 hToi139 xrrf11 JO,,bk1zr-r Dor the most telling scene ill the play Here Dubosc, the murderer, is in an attic, gazing down upon the prepara. tions being made for the execution of the innocent tLesurques-whose likeness to the real murderer has brought him to such terrible pass-an expression of horrible glee upon his face, olapping his hands as he sees the apparently 6oomed man step forward to his death.
 But his exultation is premature. Le- surques is reprieved, and the crowd suddenly catches sight of the villainous face of the real murderer at the attic window. The door of the room is bAt. tered in. Behind it stands Dubosc. The wretch is dragged from his refuge, and as they do so Irving Lesurques coolly walks in upon the scene of turmoil.
 The door of the attic is made to open inward, thus shutting Irving Duboso from view of the auditorium. lH mo- ment he slips through a trap. His double" takes his place, to be hustled unceremoniously by the crowd of "su- pers, whose duty it is also to conceal the mans face in case the fraud should be discovered. Irving -Lesurques can hen come on ill his new role.
 But an actor has been known to play two parts without the assistance of a dummy.
 In certain play it was the duty of the hero to leap out of the window of his room and to enter from door on the opposite side of the stage clad in differ ent clothes, though otherwise the same.
 This, however, Was juggling pure and simple The actor dropped into his second dress in much the same way as an American fireman is reputed to jump into his uniform. The costume consisted of but one piece with a patent fastening down the back, and as he leaped through the window frame be leaped into his clothes, which, so 10 speak, shut behind him and left him re. habilitated
 Neither is the part of the understudy one to be given to any ordinary "super''