The sun., 1900-08-19
THEMES FROM STAGELAND.
HARD WORK ny TINE ACIORS ~ the
THEATRES THAT ARE SHtT.
Play. In LsborIoa, Rehearsal for Use Here
and on Tours-A Manager Describes the
Kind Of ~ Chinesc Drama That Noe'd
Go The warm smile Of the Aoue" When
n D.oom,. n Cold Pfint-Ihe Actors Fund. |

ana on I0uTsh hhuhbFs -
Kind Of Chinesc Drama That nou'd
Go-The warm smile Of the Aoue. when
u Becomes q Cold Pfint-Ihe Actors Fund
More aud harder work IA being done now
By actors In New York theatres that arc shut
than at any time in tho open season flVe
times a. many plays are being performed dally
In thi. city without audiences a, viii be given
publicly a month hence The labor OF tho actor
II light, under the modern conditions oi the
stage. except when the pece Tor whioh ne ~
engaged Il In rehearsal After II has gone INTO
regular lso his service h ordinarily connheu
10 four hours In the evening and a. much more
on matinee afternoons But the last han oi
August II n time of preparation. Every the-
atrlcal stage In town Is occupied all DAY long
and sometimes at night by the rehearsals OF
one or more cDmpanc4, All the aNalIao'o
small halls are utilized for the same purpose
In four eases Of plays to be sont out snnul-
taneousy on three routes. tho three casts are
assembled at tho same hours and the members
not under drill sit 20 watch and listen while the
others ara In action. The time and patience
Of the director are thus economical An grades
Of stagrcraft are being applied by all grades
ot managers. The actors range In talent IRON
those Of the highest culture TO the lowest crudlty
and the plays from excellent literature to poor
builoonery, Several prizehghterS are Deihs
trained assiduoIsly 10 enact pugiliSuo heroes
Sorno women OF vicious notoriety are being
coached a. actresses in roles embodying their
own personalities aud exploits. Al the top
side OF the business many of the dranlauo
artists ara called upon TO realize characters
already familiar 20 readers OF books because
an uuprece dentcdly large number OF drainau2ed
novels are to be put on the stage next month";
II 1, desirable that these personages shall have
A a. aRril had
authors. Those points are gained In part by
assigning the roles to physically suitable men
and wome, but even so, much has 70 be left
10 skill In the dehneation So this Is trying
time Of study and practice In stageland. But
the tasks set are easier now than they used To
be- The directors Of rchearsals generally Know
what they want and most Of the actors know
how TO do IT, The advance 10 dramatic art has
been rapid in recent years. We may have no
surprisingly great playwrights or players but
We have moro good ones than ever before. ana
the autumn output Of entertainments shohlh'
as q whole. encourage the true and cheeriu
friends OF the theatres.
Several melodramas OF the warfare In China
have been announced. They have hlrid titles,
and seem 10 be aimed at frantic excitement
Not one of them" said a leading manager
success, even in tho field Of crude sensation
alism None Of the hasty Cuban war plays
amounted TO very much. 1t Is an old theory
in this business that new events can't be made
eGectual on the stage, l don't think that Is
true Current affairs on the contrary are
treated with good results In comedies. farces
and burleSques, and there Is no good reason why
they might not be in serious dramas. If 1t were
done well The trouble with all the Cuban
war PLAYS was that they we're not good plays
They we're hasty and crude, and possessed no
merits Of sentimental interest lhey were
full Of fight to the exclusion OF everything elsa
II Ia a rule with few exceptions that the man
thing I'm every serious drama must be human,
sympathetic, engrossing love story. lhe
worlds love Of lovers never gets stale OF weary.
IL may be true also, that the world loves fight
ers, but the begerency in a play must be
dominated by sentiment We have had three
Immensely successful American military melo-
dramas-"S shenandoah" Held by the Enemy
and The Girl Left Behind Ne. In each OF
them a love affair was kept In the foreground.
and the warfare. although IL broke out In rous-
ing episodes. WAS the environment. NOW
the Cuban war pieces were mere ulrouehces
and gunpowder without an emotional element
That Is why they appealed to no grade Of audi
pnCe. me NnlDtst war Hltif' Nho' A"'' N'NN
far heard of are Of the same poor caliber
mostly nut together in ahurry out Of buncombe,
balderdash and boodshed. ] judge that this
1, go by the wording Of the announcements.
Let me tell you however. that IL is not too soon
To locate really first-rate uelodrama In China
among the Christian foreigners under perse-
cltion and determination by the cruel Boxers
Think of the theatrical possibilities Of hand
fol OF men and women at a mission. or oon-
sulate, holding out desperately against be-
sieging Chinese fanatics. But II should be
strong enough in plot, characters and episodes
to stand soldy on It's merits. quite aside from
the eItraneous popular engrossment IN Shlhas
savage movement to eXterminate forelgnrrs,
and not essentially war play a. all. me
American author who turns out Chlnese piece
answering these requirements VII make in4hTy
The other kind wont come TO anything; me
managers views are quite correct, But where
Il the drama2 Surely, II cannot be written
in one month nor two, nor less than six. Good
stage fiction is not 10 be dasheo on IN jury
The smile Of the actress is commonly pleas
ant thing to see when you look at 1t across the
footlshts. She Usually has an agreeable
face. n not pretty one. and she knows how to
make its most mobile feature take on all sorts
Of smilng expressions from sentimental 20
jocular. Moreover. the smile that is a part Of
the acting of a role carries an especial mean
ing. II is helpful accompaniment of speech.
Il Is Intelligent. purposeful and enjoyable.
Nothing should be written TO discourage the
feminine smiler on the stage. II IS true that
when she is a singer in the chorus the perth
nency OF her smile Is often less obvious and that
when she is dancer In the ballet II sometimes
looks like amiable idiocy But If you happen
TO find one or the other Of these useful young
women with her mouth shut over her teeth.
and It's corners turned down. you will see how
much less cheerful an object she Is than any
Of her dutiiully smiling companions. Row
ever, when the actresses smile Is not thing Of
warm life in red and white, but a cold copy In
pint it needs 10 be disfavored by public senti-
ment. and may be suppressed by law. for should
we not protect tho charms OF women by all
means? In the advertising OF actresses the
smile has become An artihce. n mockery. a
grin Of seeming pain. The whole army Of
soubrettes appears to have marched past the
camera with their lips drawn back hard from
their teeth. In frantic obedience to the pho
tographer's command to look pleasant
and with results that are often sights which |
should be reserved for the dentist. These |
pictures Of usually vacuous and sometimes
distortive grinaces are put on public view