The Washington herald., 1906-11-11
VIRGINIA HARMED
TALKS OF THE, STAGE
By MARIE B. SCHRADER.

the english players. The Forbes Robert
SONS, the II. b. ITvings, the Kendalls, and
so on
Yes. they are English; however that
/ is not the real reason. In our case il
was simply a story of dollars, for our
managers argued that we could make
more money separately than jointly. and
once having become convinced Of that
fact, it is dificult to efface the impress
sion There is at present a possibility
/ that z. H and I will before long again
| appear together.
/ ouch, That shoe pinches, No, no, no.
must have something comfortable" said
/ Miss Harmed to the salesman.
/ What a beautifully shaped foot you
have" said l.
1T Is the original American TriIby. you
must remember" said Miss Harmed.
laughingly. yes, It was the sketch OF
this particular foot which hung on the
wall in the first act wherever the play
was played in this country. 1t happened
| in this way No one bothered about such
simple matter as a drawing of a foot
until the morning after the first perform
ance IN Boston. What the critics said
about the clumsy sketch which was sup
| posed TO be Trilby's own foot was eau
ton. They represented it as fun OF
corns and bunions. II was frightful.
When we gathered for rehearsal the next
morning, Eugene Presbrey, who put the
play on. was in despair about the foot
! episode. What on earth are we going
/ to do?' he said. Look at that, and listen
to these remarks. But where on earth
am going to find q well-shaped foot
when so many women wear tight shoes%
E" I don't wear mine that way l said,
/ and I've a better foot than that With
that I took off my shoe and stocking and
showed him the unmistakable proof OF
I my assertion
Why. it's beautiful said Mr.. Pres
/ brey. must take a picture Of it. So
/ it was that my foot was photographed
and the sketch was taken from the pic
| ture 1 have since become rather vain
about il, for I have never cramped my
! feet. consequently they are free from all
distortion.
What type Of woman would you
rather portray
THE woman who is natural, who pos
sesses true emotion. Do you know. peo-
! pie make an awful mistake when they
| speak of emotional roles and mean those
| In which a woman in from the first to
/ the last act is simply lachrymoSeZ To
be lachrymose IS by no means te be
emotional There is a great difference.
| The emotional woman is the one who
can laugh. who can cry. who can follow
any mood suggested by her own tempera-
ment. I weary of a weeping heroine, and
surely she must bore her audiences. No.
believe me. II Is laughter and tears com
/ bined which define emotion. Ellen Terry
IS. in my opinion. the best example of a
| truly emotional actress. 1 saw her do
the most perfect acting Of this kind
which I have ever witnessed. This was
as Olivia in The Vicar Of Wakefield.
She was delicious. When she laughed the
audience laughed with her; when she
cried, her hearers cried, too. 1t was su-
perb."
Are you considering a new play for
next. season. Miss Harned2'
rs there a day in my life when have
not the sword. Play suspended above
my. poor head. I read three or four every
twenty-fOur hours, until / feel as II /
never want TO see another. The unknown
author is still in hiding as far as I am
| concerned, for I am waiting to meet
1 him"
DO you agreed with Amelia Bingham
I in her statement that the time Of the
1 American playwright is now?'
] 4 do not think II any more now than
1 il ever was. He has always had his
/ chance. provided he offered a good play.
You don't know now rare a jewel that is
I Nationality has nothing on earth to DO
with Il. He might come from Timbuctoo.
and if his play proved all he said It would
be. he would have no trouble in dispOsing
Of it. The difficulty seems 70 be that
plays so seldom approach the glowing
description given them by their authors.
Come now" said Miss Harmed. with a
sudden inspiration Let US forget all
such disagreesble and pUzzling questions
and take a spin through the park In my
Automobile. I feel as if I had been dis
cussing the psychological moment, the
/ ethical purpose, and all that sort Of thing.
OF n problem play, so let's get some fresh
/ air"
New York, November 10 1906