The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-02-04
A LESSON IN ACTING.
May Irwin Tells of Early Expert
enceS on the Stage.


I do not want to play Ophelia Desde-
mona. Juliet, or even Rosalind. but / do
want to be taken neutrality-suspicious. |
want to continue in the line OF work for
which nature intended me, but / also
want my good public to believe that there
is serious side OF the laugh business.
There are eight reasons why adopted
comedy my life work-that is. eight
things that prepared me-n hard, early
life of struggle, work, struggle and work,
Augustin DAILY and-well, the other rea-
sons do not matter.
Discipline has always been the rocky
foundation OF nll my efforts and energy.
| In business or in acting. l learned the
value OF discipline first with Tony Pastor,
where l and everybody else received none.
l learned to appreciate the value OF dis
cipline from Augustin DAILY, with whom
discipline was more important than seen
cry. Dear old Tony Pastor let me do
anything / wanted TO, and when / Joined
| the DAILY forces there was a rude awak
ening and shock from the sudden change
| In the way of things.
From DAILY / learned the thinge that
| help me most today In my own acting
| and In stage management
Three things he taught me were inval-
| liable. They seem unimportant to the
| professional. but their importance
| cannot oyercStimate. One OF these was
the pause before speaking the line that
| makes the point This method. OF course,
is not new. but If from now on you Will
| observe you Will learn that 1t Is not uni
versally followed. That was. DAILY
| mctROQ, ana, WHle IL was given Us u
method of making dramatic point, 1t Is
| fully as valuable when applied to comedy
| delivery For instance, to illustrate trlte-
ly my meaning: In my present play
| Miss Burby, my leading woman, says to
me, did you ever lie to your husband2'
| wait for the audience to get-to the en-
| barrasslng import Of the question 10 me.
| Then l answer hesltatingly, Mo In
that scene every line gets a laugh" TO
repeat the parlance of Vanderill Lane.
and ascrlbe 1t in part to our pauses 70
| prepare the audience for the next point
owe to MI DAILY the Lesson of the value
| of a pause, | owe him the other, of de-
| liberation. IT was natural for me TO talk
fast He used to sit out In front and ask
| quietly when / had finished a long speech.
| What was that?" l would repeat II
"Ah, I don't remember any such speech
in the play"
| 1t was embarrassing, but he got the
| slow speech he wanted, and peace was re-
| stored
II was he who taught me not TO finish
a fault, by the way. that is today the
most common on the stage. never STOP
rehearslng until l have broken every
member of my company of It.
| Ny friends used to say to me, why
do you stay at Days? You have nc
| chance there" And ! always said, II an
staying because | am getting what l need
Besides. l had another reason; my hus-
band. all OF those four years that l was
| at Dalys. was dying of consumption, and
| j
| and one Just learning TO walk, 1t Was al
this time 1 had been assigned trying and
serious part 1t was my most successful
| dramatic work and some one said EN-
| bryo Charlotte Cushman' OF some such
| foolishness. Ny success In that part was
due to LIFE My SORROWS and hard life
| struggles had their compensations
| lived the part and DAILY polished 1t. SO
| that its sparkle" was due to him.
| Unthinking ones might laugh when
say that / applied DAILY methods In re,
| hcarslng my company, But the value OF
| DAILY rules in comedy. OF In comedy's foil
| would be apparent to anyone who cav
| our play when we first started and then
| should see IL today. One player had q
| method that was-well not Daly's. He
had intelligence. good enunclaton. but
the wrong ideas of delivery / realized
this and knew what he lacked and
| would not discharge him, although | was
| urged by many to do so. ] worked with
| him increasingly and applied the DAILY
stick The Improvement was instant and
| marked Today he reads and acts the
part better than l or Mr.. Hobart ever
| thought it could be acted. | am n stage
| manager and have demonstrated Il num-
| Der of stage problems But II success has
| accompanied my efforts. the success was
not mine. 1t was Dnlys.-May Irwin, ir
| Chicago Record.