The sun., 1901-05-12

or any other professional man, From the
| preparatory school he goes 10 the college,
from college 70 the e.gaatmens ost into The
| world Aud n i in the real world OF activity.
| and by virtue Of its lessons and experiences
| that he achieves actual failure or success
| m. however. a mana ger we're Obliged TO choos
| between the school trained actor ana the
| stage-troined actor, he would be more nearly
| safe in taking the latter. For, niter all, the
| stage itself Il tho actual teacher, and no
school can supply those experiences Hno,
| emotions which come only from having laceu
audiences of all sizes and tempers and whlch
are so necessary to the making Of thor
oughly equipped player Yet V shnuIa
be remembered TINT the schools have Done
| much good in the way OF cquipment ana
that their graduates possess distinct ad-
vantage In the first struggles Tor recogni-
| ton"
Eugene Presbrey held that the best actors
Of the past and present had been wholly
stage-trained. and the school idca was not
y:t. perfectly formulated yet the aH1vISe n31yiSs
from a recognized school before he enters
the profession Ben Teal did not favor
the present schools and had no isthS nm IN tnes srs
conducted with the greatest possible m
tegrity and the most laudable amDltlon
Nothing. Mr.. Teal declared, can COMPARE
for the true culture Of talent Joseph
HgnphTeyS nyoGed freedom don ,rsG from ohS thc
young men and women Of breeding and
education TO the stage Victor Mapes had
not been able TO discover that 1t made any
were acquired but his experience had con-
vinced him that the schools inculcated
20 aGSSep1 Tyler
said: You can't make a silk purse out of
sow's ear. and II teachers undertake. that
lmRossIniilty they but crowa tne ppsspsusdcd
to experiment with at the expense OF the
public and mainly because they are cheap
{ Goodwin said that he had never been been
helped materially by dramatic tuition. except
that, OF course. competent stage manager
could always aSYsgesi improvements !" bs
added. between a graduate fresh from a
dramatic school and an actor whose training
of about equal length had been acquired
strongly inclined 70 favor the latter Mr
ogni.e the earnestness Of the work done
N the schools In gaining control over
perhaps more quickly than can be acquired
by active practice on the stage, the latter
actor by appearing regularly night aiter
night on the stage, gets 10 know his ropes
AUTOMATICALLY almost as sailor does on a
ship He takes his stand on the vantage
ground of practice and constant association
with performers better than himself In
the storm and stress Of o first nights ex-
element he can generally be relied on To
keep a level head The stage-frighL period
has long since passed him by However
talented graduate from dramatlc hchooI
might be. / should hesitate to entrust nm
AT first with any important part win all
his earnestness, from sheer iDcNperlenCo or
fright, he might ruin the scene. ! have
found Stage-trained actors more plastic ana
showing more intimate knowledge OF their
busnes, than those graduates that have
come under my notice 20 much however
depends on the amount Of talent latent III
the actor himself, | am convinced thor
oroughly that no teaching. however fine, can
implant a power Of acting You can only
develop what ls inborn All must come
from within. The conception should. IN
order 10 ring true, emanate from an arusts
Richard Mansfield was very interesting
with personal experience Il travelled with
small companies and for thirty shillings,
week, ali over ENGLAND and scotland. he
burg or a hamlet that hasn't suffered some
thing AZ nv hands kept that M and avoid
ed punishment for seven years and more
and then descended upon the coast OF Amer
lea, and you can tell the rest am not max
ing my confessions vet And before ! ever
vSntgred upon the stage ! had had knocked knock ed all
about ] had seen and observed and sui
fered It's truly awful for man to take
up the profession Of acting who docSn
know how to handle knife or fork prop
erlvl My dear wife also learned all she knows
Of the art In the school ~ experience. and
being a bad actor. and therefore an eN-
cellent Critic.taught her, and she was my
greatest pupil-Ofton admirable and always
good, the best actress II has ever been my
fortune 10 act with. | cOmpelleu hcr 10
leave the stage because she was never ap-
preciated az her truc value, and-but that
has nothing TO do with your subject and
Is another story
Mr Mansheds views as to the training
Of actors ran in this wise Il dare sny the So
called schools OF acting accomplish some little
good, but the people who have come 70 me
after studying in them have always been
obliged to commence. like those who have
not studied at ALL on the lowest rung OF
the ladder, for the reason that experience
alone begets confidence The actors school
is a pretty big place First. second and last,
there is the vOice-the Use Of II its care and
retention Then department and manners
But no, ] cannot 40 into the whole matter
Just now its much too h,g for me TO express.
There's the sOul-and the hrnrt-the mind
they've got n lot 10 do with the art Of acting
and the art of moving and swaying an audi
enCe. ] never saw a creature that had never
suffered or did not know the meaning Of
suffering act really net And YOU cant
make an actor You can advertise him and
sooner or later he'll come down "A stick
An actor is born. not made After he's once
born hc can be cur and polished hut he =
got to be diamond or a ruby or n sapphire
or even only topnz 20 he worth the process
I'm sorry 70 saw that lots Of the material
much admired to-day il only glass or oven
paste Some people prefer II. but 1t has no
lasting value. IL doesn't ring true, and 10
can't cut glnss-hv that | mean triumph
over the shoddy and imitation article There
years by actors in fact. some oi them do
more lecturing than acting 7, my poor self,
have declined invitations 10 talk 10 unlver~l-
ties ! haven't the slightest doubt T. nmuses
the students and the professors and every
body there gets free. gratis entertainment;
but you cnn lecture yourself blue and black
In tho face, and you wont teach anybody
anything about the art OF acting