The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-11-25
PUPPETS or TIE THEATRE.
trr0Rs DiN0iyD ~ THg HtSDs ~
rms sTtGp NV Earns,
me +, steful snd 4 Complete Z on,foi ~ the ris''
~r. ~ Accordan,e WIN the Methods ~
wodefn stasrttau Dc-'fibed b' wrn NJ
p,prrIrn,e In Ansif. Of the Dfams.

~ w w. ~
wodefn staHr'rau Dc-'tlbed b' w-p NJ
p,perIcnte In Ansit. 81 the Dfams.
Bronson iiov ri vrfes In 'ro ,,pr,tp Wac.
a-,us AGAINST tho common hcicf that tho art
of i,riug BE-. tho art OF doln, tlirr. on tho stage
oXr,iI, al. they ars done In real l1e On tho
contrary. he holds with most uf the etpefts
thn, IN, art loa In producing he cnrct Of mt
%rrIIuc,. by unnatural means Joseph Jener-
son often slv4 tho SAINT thing ~ he Addresses
e., stuicut4. and 90 does Henry irving Nr
How ard tells how the so'Or must make the
propc In az audience. some ~ them n hundred
frot or more away, think TINT he IL moving,
.pcaking and appearing ike the character rs
suucd and IN nine csses out Of ten The only
way 10 make 'hom think this Ia 10 he not Il ING
II. For example. nothing cnn he conceived
more unlike a delicnts md rct-ed woman
IN n drawing room than the painted creature.
with dark shadows about Ter ev"s end fagrent
carmlre on her lips ard cheeks. vino looks. 10
her pretended adinirer on the stage. Ike \ gand-
i- painted doll Sie sperks 20 him cornd,n-
It ,llv, three feet away. 60 that every man IN
n. back row Of the auditorium can hear what
sh. ava, moving her features. In the coanettish
bv-riav OF timid love. with the well dcNnod
and positive motions Of q iumplng-jack pulled
by n string II tho most graceful Of our ac-
tresses should carry the technical methods
NJ tho stage 10 an afternoon reception size
would he n curiosity 1t il not true in real life,
Mr. Howard points ou', that our emotions
always show IN our faces and gestures or att-
tldes Nearly MI Of us have something o'
tho American Indians stcicisn. II We TAX"
n dozen good actors IN The cast ~ a piece. their
tones, expressions. rllr cos, gestures. startings,
casps. nearly all Of them arc what The sctrel
persons would not give under similar Crclm-
stances. They are arbitrary and unnatural.
The actors arc merely irving 20 convey 10 n
distance. by artificial means. an idea OF tho
thoughts supposed to be passing In their minds
To do th,s well requires the ke-rcst knowledge
Of technical means Such Is the actors dini-
cult art. The purely artificial means Of mp
pcarinr natural is what our schools for the
stage are teaching and what professors OF the
arr have always taught,
Augu-tln Daly wa esteemed the bost dra-
matte director IN America. His skill went
r1- hovord tlat etar" management which
consists merely Of making tho actors say ard
q, exac'lv and only what the author hos writ
Ten. He was equally strong in nil depart
men's OF theatrical vo~S. says John Drew In
CpVi-r's WeeIly 1T IL seldom indeed that one
r~eo's a man OF 40 many dT ron. gifts" Ac-
cord rc 10 this authority he personally super
v.-cd every department ~ tho theatre. TIE
Ubl.II rplt6 LIS ONCE NIl'n rs ftlN Us nun
past O'Clock ir the morning. ard the whole
dry tnerc. gong home merely 10 dine. ~
rirht no was always about the playhouse.
either IN front or behini the scenes. His watch
filncs= never relaxed He adhered TO he
cll custom Of reading plays to the company.
lie rcad very vol. lie paid HE closest atten-
t'on ~ n production during the earlier per
furnarooa. sdvising the actors end changing
"details. hut eyrn afierVeri. when IN" play
.ai begun 10 nm easily, he would see II 'nr-
thing went wrong. or II IN motor grow faulty
VI r-cw ,l.uk- that Mr.. D1ly, without having
tle tamrrrniront ~ an s,tor rinself possessed
10 IN a.tori-h hing decree tho eift Of teaching
othcrs how to act. With n few words he could
Ncht up a phrase. or evrl stn n hif of business,
where mother mnn miGh' have taken q hall
hour lie Esed 10 j." criticised n roni deal
for a certain rocharic0l Gp0ltv in his STAGE
ran-ccwont- notably for his habit, Of raf!rG
..e characters cross one another on the stage
without any apparent reason; and It vas only
natural Tat ut times The actors should have
Felt n l''la rcholi 'ous about his methods. on
TIE otilar lnUd. il is IMPOSSIBLE for any stage
manager. however rii'cd. 50 Mr.. Drew de-
cln-o-. rot 20 go n li'tla 700 lar In carrying ON
some 81 his flyoEi." theories Mr. Daiv wanted
10 achieve the eject of liz. ard movement
and IN hls 7-aI he may have Niolqted the Illusion
~ complete nCturqln.s'. The excellence oil
lie trimming has been shown by the Impress
made on tho cortenI o-0ry drama by many
WHO u-ni 10 10 assoniated with him
The best living stage manager IN America
I, rrpbably David Belasco. who has an article
in CoNi.r's Weekly on the subject. Consider
,rgthat asa witness In a lawsuit which brought
him \ verdict Of si?. ga for making an actress
q, Mira. Leslie Carter. he wns v-rv descriptive
% ij- ,ratb,.i. no tCW writes without much
cxrli,ituess. lie l. sure, however. that per-
certion, knowledge of humanity, an ~intlltiSe
understanding of men ard women, tact and
rcrsoull rtism are essential features Of
tie ecienc" which II not To- he acquired oy
~trpiniuR. The good STAKE manager Is born
with n heayrn-scnt eft, . temrerem~n'a
Quality not 70 be grssped b. every speculative
amateur. Only such 4 muster, SO Mr.. BelaSco
declares. can evolve from the material in hand.
or'en crude. q stage picture full ~ rul-ing
he, 'ust IS, with coarse brush and csnvas.
,h- 0ni he'd artist cnn produce a picture marked
bv genlus. There are dramatic authors whom
Re would have trouble with IL he were to take
anv such liberties with their Hays. because
they " III submit to no change Of words or nc-
ZION in what they write Mr.. Belasco had any
amount Of lesvay in adapting 'Iu,a. "Niadsm
Butterfly" aud MANY other pieces associated
with his name. but he would not be permitted
w."
10 tanner nj all with the work OF a Pinoro,
Jones or Grlndv. A. to the control Of the
sctprs. Mr. Belasco SAYS that the stage man
sger should De 4 good actor him.slf, not only
ahl. 10 toll every one what to do. but how 20
do il. Naturally zach company in itself. as
he points out, represents a small world. II the
dlrector docs not poSsess each and every one
Of the Qualities ALREADY mentioned. he had better
never have entered the field OF stage managing.
No ironclad rules will avail in his treatment
of hose under hia charge II he would obtain
the best results. Zach mar and woman. he
must remember. has "A strong Individuality
Exaggerated even-and each must he treated
bv individual rules. For instance. whore mild
ridicule would exactly suit Mr.. A. serious young
MIR. Il would resent II at once. Your lnvalu-
able souhretta might snilinRly accent your
patroni2ing fattery, Wills Madame Y. your
tragedy queen. would consider il an lmper,i-
hence even 10 orer her r compliment
Actresses. like all other women. have their
grievances The remedy have al wavs applied
to IN, trouble Mr.. Bcla-co says. is a sym
pathetic ear. thcT | unrayel the tangle as VOL