The Sisseton weekly standard. (Sisseton, Roberts County, S.D.) 1892-1929, 1907-05-03
Copyright by J. B. Bowles.)

to a farm in Kansas. AT - years of age
she Joined a juvenile "Pinafore'' company
and soon attracted attention by her clever
acting and her rich, clear voice. Other
engagements followed; then she retired
from the stage and studied dramatic art
for three years. Reappearing as Par
thenia in "Ingomar' at the Bijou theater
in New York, she won instant recognition
as a splendid actress. Still, she struggled
for several years longer with d~isappoint-
ments of various kinds before She was
accorded the high place on the stage
which her merit gave to her. In such
roles as Juliet, Viola. Rosalind. Barbara
! Frietchie, Colinette and Mary Tudor she
has Won the warmest admiration of the
public.)
think few people can realize how
fierce has been the strife in regard to
women on the stage and how difficult
it has been for them to convince the
=, world at large of the Importance of
their hard-won position and their
/ beneicent influence upon dramatic art.
1 am speaking now of the past. Hap
PLY at the present stage of dramatic
development woman's standard is as
high and her position as assured as
mans.
1t was not always so. Looking back
to the age of oppression and intoler-
ance when in 1860 woman first ap-
peared in dramatic representations,
we find her entrance marked an era
In dramatic advancement. The first
record of woman's appearance upon
the stage is December 6, 1860. The
play was Shakespeare's "Othello," and
the Desdemona was played by a WON
an. There la been considerable doubt
as to whom this honor belongs. Some
have given it to Anne Marshall. The
more general supposition is that Mar
: garet Hughes deserves this right to
Immortality. We have Pepys' author
lily for it that women appeared in Kill
ligrew's company in London on Janu-
airy 3, 1861, in Beaumont and Fletch-
ef's "Beggar's Bush"
Their early appearances were re-
ceived with great disfavor. DR.. Doran
tells us that the writer's Of the time
denounced the first actresses as "un-
womanish and graceless"-not meaning
that they We're ungainly and unfemi-
nine, but that play-acting in itself
was below their dignity. "Glad l am
to say" remarked Thomas Brand,
speaking Of these actresses, that they
were Kissed, hooted and pippin-pelted
from the stage. so that l do not think
they will soon be ready to try the same
again." He adds that well-disposed
people were righteously indignant at
these women, whom Pyrnne, a rigor-
~, ,,rS{0 1f {1>1 ;-,~ 1~11~l N.-x.
sters.'
Notwithstanding the marked dis
favor with which they were first re-
ceived, reasonable and serious-minded
persons could not fail to see the pro-
priety of Juliet and Desdemona being
acted by girls rather than boys. 1t
would appear that Immediately upon
this important progressive step the
artistic need for woman's appearance
must have been generally felt.
We read that soon afterward &C
tresses were in great demand. 1t was
found that they not only increased the
popularity of the theaters in which
they performed, but that their coop.
GRAFTON was indispensable to the prop
er preseu.u.lon of any play. They
made possible a fullness and a beauty
of Interpretation which had not been
dreamed of before.
Take for a single example the wom-
en- of Shakespeare. They stand as
vivid types Of truth and beauty. They
are so alive with the warmth Of fem
ininity that their expression by other
<hor u,oyo0r ic in ifco1F a roo~c+,-,,
sacrilege. A play performed by men
can hardly be imagined to-day and
the wonder is that such an absurdity
ever existed.
The realization of the necessity of
woman's cooperation with man in dra-
matte achievement grew rapidly, for
mems minds were at this time too high
ly susceptible to advancement to re-
main in ignorance of this need. So
it was not long before actresses were
recognized and highly respected. This
was so true in the case of Mrs. Better.
ton that when in 1874 "Calista" was
performed at court the actress was
chosen as instructress to the princesses
Mary and Anne, and much of the sub
sequent graceful elocution and dig
nifty of bearing of these ladies was &C
! credited to Mrs. Betterton. PERHAPS
no finer compliment was ever paid
to a woman in any walk of life than
she received, for we read of her that
in company with her distinguished
husband she made her home the abid-
ing place of Charity, hospitality and
dignity"
What a vast work has been accom-
plished by women in the drama since
then, and what a lasting monument of
art she has reared for herself in the
annals Of the stage! To those whose
souls are filled with sacred reverence
for creative genius what wealth of de.
light in looking back upon the daz-
cling record Of the theater when the
allurements of Mrs. Betterton, Nell
Gwynne, Margaret Wofington, Nance
Oldned. Sarah Siddons. and more