Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1898-01-04
PLAYING TWO PARTS.
INSTANCES N WHICH AN ACTOR aAs
 BEEN TWO MEN AT ONCE.

1 seN1 Suo Lyons Maip' Are Plays aw
 Which It Is Necessary For the Star An 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 tbe av. perleneed 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 in his path than meet the eye of the habitual theater goer.
 Not only must the actor be possesand of no small amount of histrionic talent. but he must often call in the aid of an understudy, whose duty 1t is to gull the onlooker into the belief that their favor. lte IS performing the impossible feat of being in two places at one and the sana time. For i'll nearly every play of such n character 1t is well nigh impossible for the author so to arrange his piece that the actor nay never be called upon sa Do on the stage with his double.
 Any oi.e who has been to see "ThS Prisonerf Zenda" performed at the St James theater. must have marveled at the lightning ceierity with which MT. George Alexander, moment before ths frunken hing of Ruritania, suddenly, as by some aetof witehcraft. reappeared as Rudolf Rassendyll, clad in the ordi- nary costume of the English tourist. Then, to every one's surprise, the supine body of the king was carried in so that to all appearances Mr. Alexander was gazing upon his own person. In reality, of course, 1t was merely a lightning change, and the understudy had to be reqnisitioned to supply the person of the king.
 4 moro famous case of double imper. sonation. however, is that of "The Cor sican Brotbers," the first play perhaps in which Sir Henry Irving gave us 6 taste of his wonderful talent.
 In the first act-to give q slight re- sume of the play-the ghost of Louis, killed i'll duel by a certain Chateau Renaud i'll the forest ef Fontainebleau. appears to Fabien, his brother. The seo- 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 Fabiau who is once moro before us, who has constituted himself the avenger of his brothers death He meets Chateas Renaud and demands satisfaction. Re naud is worsted and falls to the ground. Then suddenly the ghost of Louis ap- pears. and, to personate tho spirit of the dead man. Irving had had to fly to ahe 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 1t done? The audience waz amazed Yet the explanation is com paTatiyely simple: Irving stepped be- hind property tree His "doubien instantly filled his place. taking good care not to face the audience when 1t was necessary for him to confront ths ghost. Hence the lightning change from mortal to spirit and the resultant be- wilderment of tLe beholders.
 Neither is tho "Corsiean Brothersn the only play in which Irving has con- triyed to take a double part and yet nonplus the audience by the adroitneas of his metamorphosis.
 Those who are familiar with the
 Lyons Mail" will doubtless remenl- her the most telling scene in tho play. Here Dubosc, the murderer, is in an attic, gazing down upon the prepara- sions being made for the execution of the innocent Lesurques-whose likeness to the real murderer has brought him to such terrible pass-an expression of horrible glee upon his face, elapping his hands as he sees the apparently doomed man step forward to his death.
 But his exultation is premature. Le- surques is reprieyed, and the crowd suddenly catches sight of the villainous face of the real murderer at the attic window. The door of the room is bak- tered in. Behind 1t stands Dubose. The wretch is dragged from his refuge, and as they do so Irving-Lesurques coogly 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. ln mo- ment he sllps through trap His "double" takes his place, to be hustled unceremoniously by the crowd of "su- pers, whose duty it is also to conoea! the mans face ill case tho fraud should be discovered. Irving-Lesurques can ben como ou i'll his new role.
 But an actor has been known to play two parts without tho assistance of & dummy.
 In certain play it was the duty of the hero to leap out of the window of his room and to enter from a 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 patent fastening down the back, and as he leapod through the window frame ee ta,...o5 s,4o b;s ,,I1fhnc which so fxl