The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-12-01
PREPARING
THE PLAY
WHAT THE PUBLIC GENERALLY
DOES NOT SEE.
Some idea of the Careful and Palms.
taking Work Which Necessarily
Precedes the First Performance Of
Well Conducted Stage Produc-
tion-The Stage Managers Part in
the Work.

i
| Few who see a play well performed
have any idea of the careful prepara.
ton given to it. The work done by
actors and their directors at rehear-
sails is described in a matter-o Of fact
way in a new book. entitled "The The
ater and Its People" The first thing
usually done is to call the company to-
gether to hear the piece read. The ac-
tors may have known little about 1t
except the portions contained in their
separate roles. BY courtesy the author
| Is asked to be the reader, but he usual
| ly declines in favor of the stage direc-
| tor. This meeting Is held In any
handy room, in theater or elsewhere.
! The director makes use Of his best elo-
cution. so that the actors may catch
| the spirit and full meaning Of the
scenes as they sit before him like any
| other audience. Each pays especial
heed to the passages in which he is
| to figure. He Is anxious about the re-
| lations which he is to bear to the
| others, and he may also be Jealous
| about his comparative Importance.
| The reading includes all the directions
| as we'll as the dialogue. and occupies
| about two hours, or the same time
| that performance of the same play
will take, aside from the intermission
between acts.
After the reading Is over each actor
| receives a typewriter copy Of his part.
| The whole play is not given to him.
Then the director announces the time
and place of the first rehearsal. which
is usually held the next morning on
a stage. But in the autumn, when
numerous companies are being drilled
in New York, small halls have to be
used instead. The players come in
| everyday street attire. and If the place
is none too we'll warmed. they keep
their Overcoats, wraps and hats on.
If it is in q theater. the stage is near
ly bare of scenery, and Is dimly light
ed by a bad blend of punched gas Jets
and obscure windows. If 1t is in
hall the light is better, but the barren-
ness is worse. The stage is represents
ed by chalk lined space on. the floor.
The things that will by and by give
illusion and glamour are not so much
as suggested.
THE FIRST REHEARSAL.
The reality of first rehearsal. as de-
scribed by the author of "The Theater
and Its People," is in the widest con-
trast with the performance which it is
intended to lead to. On the first morn
ing the opening act only is taken up.
The players have not yet been required
to memorize their parts. They are TO
learn the action first. They go
through with the positions and move-
ments as written down by the author
and explained by the director. Doors
and windows are indicated by chairs
Balconies. stairways, fences, gates,
sloping banks. winding paths, floral
bowers-all are located by makeshifts
The aim is to familiarize the actors
at the outset with the arrangement OF
the scene as it is to be. At The same
time their movements with reference
to one another are learned slowly and
carefully. While they are doing this
they read the words without much al
tempt at expression. On the same af
tcrncon the second act may be gone
through with. At the end of the days
work. which does not in the early
stages include the evening, the direc-
tor says: Ten o'clock tomorrow
morning-iirst act rough perfect with
out parts" He means that the actors
are expected to learn their parts IN
that portion of the play so as to recte
them without referring to the copy.
The next rehearsal begins With their
attempt to do this Some are able to,
while others fail and have to keep their
manuscript in hand. On the third day
they will be reprimanded If still un-
prepared with the first act. All may
then be told to study the second act for
the ensuing day. when the third act
may be taken up. Thus the actors are
made to work their way through TIL.
play. BY the end of a week they have
learned both the language and action
more or less completely. They are
much like pupils in a school. Some are
quick and assiduous. Others are SLOW
and inattentive. Some do their very
best and some do not. The brainv az
tor who is careless may be harder TO
get along with than the dullard who
takes pains While liberal education
is very helpful, tirst-ratc work is done
without it by persons born with Il gift
for acting. These are comic actors, as
rule, in whom nicely IS less essen
tinl than mirth. Still, certain player
of digniiied old gentlemen knows no
grammar by precept or practice. Ills
ever-correct language on the stage
comes of word-by-word adherence TO
the text. He is even right in the
use of his pronouns 1t is not always
easy to keep even the cultured actor
from saying me" when he should say
a." Before the second week is over
the players have learned to say and
do everything that has been set down
for them by the author. Here and
there an actor is fully prepared at this
iuncture to play his part in public
But it Is not so with the, majority
The director now devOtes all his ef-
forts to bringing forward the lag
CARDS, teaching the ineXpertkand per-
fecting the proficient.
THE STAGE MANAGER.
1t is only by method of positive
control that the whole purpose of n
play can be carried out. 1t would be
defeated II the actors were at all free
to do as they thought At. Some ara
tractable. Some are wilful. All must
obey or quit So the stage director Is
an autocrat, and he may be a tyrant.
He is master of stagecraft, and he
may he a dramatic scholar. Above all
else he needs the theatric instinct,
When he sees or hears thing he
should know intuitively, as well as by
rule and precedent whether 1t will
convey its meaning TO an audience.
He may be gentleman on boor. In
most eases he Is "A gentleman. He
deals with men and women of culture,
in the main; and though Arm, he Is
polite and good tempered. 1t is the
duty of the director to preserve the
proper balance of all the plays var
ious interests. He may blurt out his
orders and reproofs without caring 10