The times., 1899-03-05
CHATS WITH THE PLAYERS.

1t was Just after the performance OF "Dr.
Jekyll and Mr.. Hyde" on Tuesday evening
at the Academy and Thomas E. Shea had
not yet divested himself of the garments
| in which he had died but few moments
before. The Times man. having been ad-
mitted into the dressing room, was stand
ing in one corner of the apartment. while
his vis-a-yis sat on a trunk near by Such
places are invariably of limited seating
capacity and the ones in Manager Rap
ley's downtown house are no exception
to the rule.
Il cant say that / like the double role
with which | have just finished for the
night" remarked Mr. Shea. in answer TO
| question proposed by the interviewer
While 1t is true that the greater portion
of such reputation for good work as / may
have achieved has been won in Robert
Louis Stevenson's story, there are many
things that make it almost disagreeable
In the first place, the sympathies of the
part are so varying that one is put into a
strange relation with his audience. and.
in the second, despite the absurdity of most
| OF the tales related about actors who have
assumed ii, the Characterization is really
a bit OF hard labor. Then again. it is rath-
| er dulling and disheartenins sometimes to
notice how even the critics will praise or
condemn player from superficial knOwl-
edge of the creation.
'Dr. JekylI and Mr. Hyde are not and
could not be characters Numerically OPP
| pOsite. Though the physician had little
OF the liend in his soul, that little must
| have existed to have given birth to the de-
moniac thing known as Mr.. Hyde. And
| certainly, as the experiment was carried
| on from day to day, the difference must
| have decreased even as constant drinking
or the cultivation OF other bad habits les
sen the gap between a man and the evil
| that is in him. When DIR. Jekyll reached
! that state in which he could not prevent
| the fearful transformation he himself was
growing very like Mr.. Hyde. Had he lived
| he would have been always the satanic
being with whom he trified-not by sud-
| den change, but through gradual shrink
| ing into the viciousnesS he despised. Re-
| viewers seldom seem to think OF this and
are inclined to doubt ability when they
miss the sharp definition between the two
| portrayals.
Great as is the physical force exacted
| in playing Mr. Hyde, the role of DR.. Jekyll
admits of even stronger possibilities. The
curiosity, the pride, the dread, and then
| the desperate energy OF that parsonage
| cannot be correctly shown without care
and considerable thought. Nor is the ap-
pearance of the iiend without its difficult
| ties and its strength. Many actors take up
| the nldeOuS lace ana IOrIl OI JuS
| without any idea other than n wish to
| shock those in front. l have even known
| stars to use false tusks and clay noses in
| effecting the transformation. \ moments s
reflection should betray the abSurdity of
| this. Mr.. Hyde is not distinct being-he
is only DR.. Jekyl with all the marks upon
him that evil leaves. If he stoops it is be-
| cause the instinct of the criminal is to hide
| himself: if his hands are claws it is be-
cause the desire TO grasp might fashion
| them so, and if his mouth turns upward it
| is in that sneer which Dante called the
cause of half worlds wickednesS. This
| is Stevenson's hero-villain as | see him
"As to reports that playing the part is
killing l stage the piece as
often as thrice week sometimes and show
no signs of dying. either. Tonight / have
appeared in the dual role, and tomorrow
afternoon | have n matinee. l heard a
story only the other day to the effect that
after finishing with the work l went tenn
porarily mad and had to be wrapped in a
cold sheet. You saw me when l left the
stage-did | look like lunatic? OF
course. men with highstrung nerves may
suffer keenly from doing the drama. but /
am not one of these and am still inclined
TO believe that in most cases this craZi-
ness and overfatigue may be traced not to
Mr. Hyde but to the press agent. En-"
And The Times man thought so. too.
Says Ethel Jackson: Don't print this
until I'm gone or folk may believe that
I'm after advertising-hut | really think
Washington the most beautiful city in the
world There's no need of my telling you
how | enjoy seeing the wide streets and
the asphalt pavements and the big parks.
because l suppose you're told that sort of
thing every day. Whenever | learn that a
company with which / am appearing is TO
l l,tt 81 l.Ta raI
The booking generally means long walks
or bicycle rides or sightseeing tours of no
small proportions Last time | was here
the library wasn't finished. and SO / had
an extra treat for this jaunt. And how do