The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-06-05
On Amateur TheatricalS.
BY PAUL COOK.

Sages agree that It Is much more
dramatic performance than it is to wit
ness one but persons of observant mind
find solace for the martyrdom of being
a spectator by watching the amusing
plumbers made by those on the stage.
Man is so prone to err, in moral way
as we'll as in all his undertakings, that
it is perhaps cruel to smile at a strug-
Cling Thespian in the embryo but ills
pleasanter to laugh and that must serve
for an excuse.
When the large audience of enthusiastic
friends and relatives has assembled in
the theater or public hall where the per-
Torrance is to be given the first charac-
teristic of the entertainment to be no.
tlced is prolonged delay before the cur
tain goes up. The curtain never yet went
up on time at an amateur performance
and never will, but that is aside from
the question being discussed. The time
before scene of bewitching enchant-
ment' Is disclosed to view IS occupied
by mothers In scuttling back and forth
from their seats in the parquet to the
back of the stage where their offspring
are about to '.go on They keep up a
continuous stream back and forth until
the curtain finally rises and the agony
begins. Mothers have been known to
make twenty of these trips, but the US
tai number is ten or twelve.
When the curtain begins to rise it
hangs fire. Curtains always do that way
at an amateur performance. II the cur
ual1 God hot aan
possibly balk the scenery is sure to do
1t. When the curtain is safely up we
begin TO look for familiar faces among
the performers. Although these incivid-
tails appear white and miserable we con-
sole ourselves with the thought that they
are having a glorious time.
When the budding Thespians begin to
act you will first observe the admirable
automatic results which they attain the
most crushing news Is received with the
ctoicism that made the Spartans ia
nous and a calamity is learned or a
long lost friend is greeted in precisely the
same tone of voice. That Is the greatest
task Of the amateur-to express the emo
lions. AS not one in ten ever succeeds
In doing this good actors continue in the
minority.
Another thing you will notice about
an amateur dramatic entertainment Is
the vast quantity OIL cfBdfelteS anu clBdiS
consumer 1t is supposed that light
ing a weed and smoking it tends to re-
leve the tension under which the anna
teur actor is laboring. At any rate near
ly all natures smoke continually on the
stage and think nothing of burning up
half dozen cigarettes or cigars during
the action of a piece. But woe to the
untried Thespian If his match should go
out. He is totally unprepared for. such a
contingency and IL he fails to light UP at
the first attempt he is Immediately
thrown into confusion and the filters of
the audience increase his misery. The
amateur has absolutely no presence of
mind on the stage When his match goes
out instead of reaching for another he
sits still and looks foolish.
OF course the amateur Is apt to forget
his lines. Professionals often do that
and it to be expected, but when a hero
gets his name confused with that of the
villain and remarks casually to the hero
Inc that he will go out and call himself
the audience Is just a little surprised.
Then the villain arrives hastily on the
scene. endeavors to appear extremely VII
famous but compromises on weak smile
and trips over the heroines gown. He
Immediately forgets his lines and the
entire company is thrown into confusion
but rallies in time to save the audience
from heart disease. Such little defects
as a lamp burning at 10 o'clock In the