The times., 1899-11-19
The Actor and the Audience.

Inc action OF a certain prominent actress
in calling upon box party TO leave the
theatre at which she was playing because
their conversation interfeTed with the sue
cess of the play. seems to have created con
siderable disturbance. Il is said that the
persons elected viii bring suit against the
determined lady in question; and it is also
suggested that If this sort of thing is TO
become the rule The audience VIII have
right TO interfere with the actors if they in
their turn become annoying. In other
words. if an actor has The right to stop the
play and say TO the public or part of the
public Your manners are bad the public
has right to say to the actor. on occasion,
by Kisses or other demonstration. Your
acting is bad"
This argument may seem all right but it
has some flaws. in the first pace. the actor
is obliged to be on the stage the audience
Is mol obliged 10 be in the theatre. Ii a
box party makes itself so noisy and offen-
sive as to interfere with the success of the
play-and this Nigh easily happen n a
drama fun Of delicate and subtle effects
the actor and the manager of the theatre
have right Ia protest. because this is in
jurinE their business. To take an extreme
case. suppose Jefferson to be playing Rip
Van Wrinkle" ard a party of rude persons
TO be occupying a lower box At some OF
the most dramatic and touching points in
the play the actors voice while clear. is
not loud. and to catch the full effect of the
speech every intOnaton and accent must
be distinctly heard. Suppose. at this point,
the persons in the box either chartered vol
ubly and loudly about their own affairs. or
INDUCED in audible remarks calculated to
destroy the effect of The actors climax
Clearly the managers Of the theatre would
have right 10 eject these persons. just as
they would anyone who insisted on spelling
any other piece Of artistic work Such per
sons would not only he interfering with
the business of the actor. but they would
make themselves obnoxious 10 all the per
sons in the theatre who wished to hear the
words spoken on the stage. For the good
Of the public therefore. the manager would
have the right TO interfere.
In ne case OF the incompetent actor the
circumstances are different. If he makes
himself unpleasant it viii have a Fret
+ influence on The box office; that is the way
in which the public viii Immediately and
effectively protest against this nuisance
If star surrounds himself with a bad
company. he VIII come ia competition with
other stars VINO do not make this mistake
/ and ne knows this. Moreover. the public
protests less forcibly. but nor less directly
/ against bad acting. when IL fails to applaud
/ the actor If one man in q theatre finds
/ the performance intolerable. there is no
/ need hat he should hiss throw missi es
/ on the stage or interfere with the per
/ formance in the violent old-fashoned
way; he need only rise and go out of the
theatre. and, If he likes. make a verbal
complaint to he man al the box office. If
any large number Of men do this it viii
! have a considerable effect on the fortunes
OF the play, and that is all that is needed.
/ The rule against kissing and other audible
/ demonstrations OF disapproyal which has
/ lately been established is good thing.
/ Kissing is liable to abuse. Sometimes the
actor who arouses the disapproval of the
audience is ill., and therefore cannot 20
/ through his part with his usual skill; some
times he is ignorant and inexperienced.
and put into the part because nobody else
can be spared for il; there is no need that
he should be hissed or bombarded with uu-
I pleasant things for no fault of his own.
II serves all purposes If he is received with
an ominous silence and Indifference by the
audience and finds his work condemned
in the local papers next morning.