Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-24

Sidney. in his Apology for Poetry" pub
| a1shed in 1883 complains of the 'imper-
| IectlonS of the scenic arrangements of his
time. Then, contrary to general belief.
| there was scenery, and Shakespeare and
| Sidney were undoubtedly friends. the lat
| ter's plea very likely fell not on unwilling
| ears. Shakespeare undoubtedly desired to
| have his plays as suitably presented as a
| Belasco or a Fitch Amy other hypothesis
! is ridiculous.
| But Sidney's apology Is not the only
evidence under this head. DR.. Ulrici, in
his ''Shakespeares Dramatic Art says:
| Before the year 1855 all the accessories of
the theater, the arrangement of the stage
| scenery and decorations. occupied 81 lower
| position than the individual poetical pro-
| ductions.' SO, here we have evidence
| once more of stage scenery and decora-
| tons during the years that Shakespeare
| was Il manager in London. Ulrici says
! also: Altogether during Shakespeare
! career there were thirteen theaterS, es-
| pecially designed and used for scenic rep
| resentations A bare stage with board
| This is the castle. would hardly be call
| ed a scenic representation" We learn.
| too, that in 1000, "at the eliminating point
| of Shakespeare's genius, limitations were
furnished of groves, affairs, dragons,
church towers, the city of Rome, a rain
bow, and sun and moon" Finally Ulr1cl
says: The play houses of 1900, when
Shakespeare had sixteen years to live,
there were castles, houses, arbours. affairs
| and tombs, rocks and caves represented
on the stage" Does this not completely
overthrow the theory ol no SCeiieiy
and the This is castle" idea painted on
a board?
representation of Hamlet without the
extra stage and open grave Is TOO ABSURD
to contemplate. Shakespeare was as care
full in placing his scenes as he was IN
indicating the costume to be worn by the
performers. The denOuement of the Merry
Wives hinges on the color of Ann Page $
gown Indeed, Measure for Measure,
Twelfth Night. the Two Gentlemen OF We
roma, Cymbeline and others depend Tor
their illusion on the character OF the Varl-
Gus dresses worn by the hero or the hero
inc Shakespeare, too, makes Of DISCUSSES
very many uses. Macbeth appears in a
nightgown, Prospero throws on the en-
chanters robe and the ghost in Hamlet
changes his mystical apparel to produce
different effects Finally, during Shakes
peares time Richard the Third was per-
formed, in which the actors were att1red
in real dresses of the time. procured from
the great collection of historical costumes
in the tower
Miss Allen. then, has ample authority
for her magnificent production of twelfth
Night and anybody who states that seen
cry and correct costumlnS were unknown
TO Shakespeare must at least expect con-
troversy.
THE ART OF POsING-M. Jean Marcel
talks through his interpreter, being so
wrapped up in the supervision and perfec-
ton of his living art display that he can
as she is spoke in America Monsieur
Marcel has been in Washington this week.
preparatory to his forthcoming engage
ment, and his corps of assistants have oc-
cupied the Chase stage whenever there was
no performance in progress. Twenty-Five
models picked from the poseurs for the
Partisan ateliers constitute the subjects with
which Mr.. Marcel operates, and he is more
concerned about them than about any other
feature of his organization.
1T is difficult. this art of posing said
NJ. Marcel. through his interpreter, with
a comprehensive wave of his hands. at the
same time elevating his voice to be heard
above the din from all sides of the cum
bered and Uttered stage. lone must be at
it for years before he has the command of
muscle and breath. 1t must be done gen.
tly too Here in America there is too much
of physical culture, very much too much.
The model puffs out his chest thus and
NJ Marcel threw himself out like a puffer
pigeon and made two or three struts
around. endangering some of his imple-
ments catered about his feet.
you have good models here, though"
he continued. especially among the wo
men. But not so many. There Is no de-
mand. America is young in art. Your
people go abroad to study, they use our
models but when the time comes the
American model will not be wanting. Your
girls finer than ours for heroic sub
jectS. Ours are dainty and petite; yours
are heavier and OF nobler outlines. 1t is
in the pose, the immobility. the apparent
absence of life that my models surpass, and
in all these they are, in my poor opinion,
almost superhuman. I have one poseur who
won the prize at the BeauX Arts. He occu-
pied Que position for seven minutes and
stethocscopc could scarcely detect signs of
breathing. Moreover, there was not even
the futtering of an eyelash. I have two
others, who, In the private view at the pal
ace of President Loubet, remained in pose
Just ten minutes. l must guard my models
as one would his riches, for they are my
riches. l cannot change them, because
each one to represents months and
months of careful training, mental and
physical"