The times., 1898-12-18
A LESSON IN ACTING.
Miss Wellington oldheld (visible).
Miss Kate oldfield Gnyisible).

Mis- Wellington Oi0Helu tNi74o.e('
Miss Kate oldfield Gnyisible).
Mr.. Jarvis (visible). ,t;ss oIaeeId's
drawjnc-room Doors r. and l. Near ooeI e 4. -
sofa and table covered with BOOKS i,anii
rn,ber table and footstool II. Miss ": olunsiu ,
discovered On sofa l.. reading; IL uo"h h'4
Miss old.-What an odd girl my NEE
&c 70 he sure, So willful! so whimsical
en- ,ncertainI One fancies she has peeh
caught with the right fly, but ho-siie
breaks away, perhaps with the NOOK III
her mouth-who can tell? and Is OH into
daen water. whisking her little tail ana
leaning after every fly that passes! -
Who will ever land her? ia
pause, The hereditary gift for acthe
in our family takes the strangest form
I'm Kate's daily life. At this moment
how is It shown? She has cold' put
she goes through an elaborate perform
ance to try to persuade me that she is
ou;te unfit to rehearse with the parueu-
lar Young man-there are several Oh
them. these flies, some real, some artii-
cial-whose vocation it is to buzz apout
Kate. Poor young fools! l wish could
make her suffer as she makes them.
wish could teach her a lesson; put no"
What amusement she can find in lying IN
bed and pretending TO be voiceiess. l
can't divine, 1t must be the inborn love
of acting-it can be nothing else!
CThe door l. is opened, just aJar)
Kate Cspeaking through the door, but
unseen)-Aunt. Whom are you talking
to?
Miss Old.-To myself Not being an
Ibsen heroine l suppose ] have a right
to talk TO myself IL j like? And do
like. Thinking aloud may not be usual,
but 1t is dramatic; and l am nothing IL
not dramatic. Kate.
Enter servant, door R. 'Mr. Jarvis
is announced. He enters)
CThe door L. is gently closed)
Jarvis Cbowing)-I have come here to re-
hearse my scene with Miss Oldfield-for
the private theatricals at Brandenburg
House docking round) Is she?- Is
Miss Oldfield-?
Miss w. OIL am Miss oldfield-Miss
Wellington oldfield. My niece is Miss
Kate Oldfield. / am afraid it is quite out
of the question for her to rehearse to-
day. She says she has a very bad cold.
In point of fact, she is in bed.
jim bed? How dreadful! What are
we to do? The performance is on Friday.
and we haven't had rehearsal
MISS w. O.-ll Is uiiloi luiidte-N cry
You are acting Claude Melnotte to her
Lady of Lyons, l think?
J.-Claude Melnotte? oh, dear, mo-
Miss OIL beg your pardon-no. that Is
for the Charity Bazaar-I remember
Yours is the screen scene in the 'Schoo
for Scandal" is it not?
]. (piqued1-I did not know Miss Kate
Oldneld had SO much on hand. Ours l:
the balcony scene from Romeo and Ju
liet."
Miss o.-of coursei How stupid. sup
pose you know your part? / suppose yot
can go through your Romeo backward?
j. (smiling)-Romeo is not backward
young man, is he? Yes, / believe l an
letter perfect Still, to act the balcony
scene without rehearsal is-rather risky
don't you know? But perhaps you dom
know. This sort OF thing wants littl'
preparation. However perfect one ma!
be- il is as well to run the scene through
Miss O.-Reallyi (Half aside.) Shakes
pears would run you through If he hear
you,
i'll beg your pardon? You see there
lot of buslness-advancing. retiring, try
ing to reach Julieh's hand, blowing kisses
all that sort of thing. Don't you thinl
thet-perhaps-wr up in flannels
with a comforter round her head, Mis-
Oldfield-Miss Kate Oldfield-might -
Miss W. Ono. don't. will ask he
but / douba her doing It. She says he
nose is so red, and
J.-She doesn't act with her nose.