Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-09
TIRED OF HIS P ART

ssNobody who has not been through the
dreariness of it can possibly understand
how utterly and hopeiessiy loathsome
part becomes to an actor after he has been
batting away at 1t, continuously, or al
most continuously. for year or more.
said a well-known player the other day. i
say he for / believe, from my own oo-
servation, that actresses do not suffer so
much from what we call part soreness as
actors; they have naturally more residence
of spirit, more enthusiasm and more tenac-
ity than men; and these qualities sustain
them through years of Raging away at one
part without noticeable depression
II suffer atrociously from the mere
thought of a part that / have played con-
tinuously for a year. or even Tor SIX
months I learn to hate the part. to de-
spise the character he represents, no mat
ter how loyable or essentially noble that
character may be. II he is an heroic chap
1 begin to look upon him as a miserable,
mounting nuisance and am-holier-than-
thou bore, and nothing would please me
better than to see the too-infernally- hifaiu-
tin chap get the worst of 1t at the hands
of the villain, or, for the matter OF that,
at the hands of the low comedian. have
to absolutely keep my mind of the part.
sometimes to prevent myself from Simply
chucking the whole thing and running away
from the company. Whenever do think
of the part between performances. l feel
an inward sneer curling me up all over, and
the part haunts me as thing d1sagreeaDle
and humiltating on nervous days when l
find it impossible to keep my mind away
from 1t.
You see, the actor playing the old part
cannot possibly fetch himself to believe
that all-yes, all-of the people out In
front have not seen him In the same part.
not twice, but many times. He begins at
lny OFT n "a yyaa n
cion that the same audience is furttveiy fol-
lowing him around over the country just
to sneer and jbe at his worn-out part. ana
an imaginary idea OF this sort is bound 10
interfere seriously with performers
work. Doing a serious and perhaps pietur-
esoue part for long time running, l can
never utter the high-lown sentiments. per-
haps Of another period, without having IL IN
mind how hopelessly and unspeakably fiat
they must fall upon ears that have heard
them several If not many times before
and an actor hates to feel that he is looking
like fiat, such is the vanity OF the species!
Have you ever been 50 impressed with
powerful play that you have made up your
mind to take it in again on the very follow
ing night after 1t made such hit with
you? And have you followed this impulse,
and then observed how curiously different
the effect was upon you on the second
night? How, waiting for the swinging
lines, you found them sort of cheap and
common, discounting their effect In ad-
vance. as of course you had to, and how
the humorous lines seemed a great deal
less witty and appealing on their second
hearing than they had before? This Is an
experience that has been passed through
by thousands of persons, and 1t is my opin-
ion that, when one is nightly impressed
by a fine performance of a fine play, he
should never again go to see that play
performed, but carry the memory of the
first-rate rendering through life with him.
For myself, never saw play done twice,
nx-ar, 1xrf Ia ,ncfn ont and n
exactly the same way, that was not deep
ly and darkly disappointed.
"A so-cailed humorous part doesn't get
50 badly upon an actors nerves with in
done both. and 1 know. The epigrams and
funny caustic sayings of the humorous
character sound dismally unfunny and
cheap and foolish after a while in the ears
of the actor giving utterance to them. but
he is in a sort sustained by the ripple of
laughter coming from the audience, al
though, after I've played a funny role for
a week or so, l never cease to marvel that
people out in front go right on laughing at
the jolelets. 1 can't help but believe the
audience to be comprised of terrible pin
heads for laughing at the things that 1 am
50 thoroughly used to. But fellow who
has to do serious part for long time at
a stretch is apt to develop positive,
gnawing contempt for himself. What a
counterfeit and four-f1uSh l am to be
mounting such heap-big, ain't-I-th noble
one sentiments every night fellow gets
saying to himself, and from that he be-
gins to suspect that all the rest Of the
people in the company are laughing at him,
and that makes trouble. I should have
said. by the way, that the natural attitude
of the other people In a company with a
long-played piece affects fellow curiously.
He sees that they look Internally bored
when he is getting off his lines. and he
knows that he is outrageously bored when
they are getting off their stun, and he
knows. too that If they hate the sound of
his voice in that part half as much as he
hates the sound of their voices in their out
worn parts, then they must feel like stink
ing up behind him and hitting him with a
mallet. and that doesn't make a theatrical
individual any more enamored of his work