Los Angeles herald., 1907-06-30

Only hseel on one knee, however, ana aSs .nSs
he knee aearest the audience, ana aiThs Wv
m hall tn,ed to the people, so MI, InaI 'y H..
tne have TN tne r,peft of your face; lhen' tSe S
righe :, y0u hho be careful to kneei III '"e
looking d6ent .youN re the naughty tyrant,
submissive sIgith cor. acted brows upon the
ment, by d& at yoaSIght; and next mo
missive slave onSous e%A you are the suD, |
nnd = sba Sss,fn in Ss hsnas oEns
These characters oueH ~ On s}sns faSS ieit. ,;d.
ly before the audience u, ;nsfa. oSt SO WV
upon the platform they honid ss. "a IL. az
tinct personages. with diffesnt dresses Sfser.
ent faces and different voices II Is ;ncred;ble
now realistic reciter performance can be
whatever to assist him.
Even the very trivial aid of stage nronerties
is best dispensed with, lest they should in any
way break the spell, so that when the recite1
has to swallow a dose of poison, it is far bet
tel to hold an imaginary vial than to pro
duce. a real one.
To indicate anything, it is only necessary t,
point out its position and stare hard at tn
place, and the audience will at once see
there.
/ recollect once seeing the body of Absalor
lying upon platform as vivldly as II II wer
actually there. and [ shall never forget tn
painful shock j received when DAVID, IN tn
agony of his lament stepped right upon Il
| and didn't even stumble!
| When one of your characters is supposed t
be seated, be careful to look down while speai
| ing to him. and as soon as you take his place
do not forget to change your position and loo
upward. Always remember, too, now yo
have arranged your stage; and If you haV
assured the audience that there is a door
your right, be careful to keep 1t there an
turn in that direction to address anybody WIN
enters by it.
n
preston of the face has to be studousl
\ thought out so that there may be no incoI
sistency Not--a power at your comman
must be neglected. Even your face must
made to mould itself into the, portraits
every character who steps into the story, an
your eyes must sparkle with animation
You will find your eyes most lnvaluabl
possession, for it is principally by the earnes
ness that shines out of them that you may
able to attain the elimination of your powers
sensations the most dellghtfns you are eve
| likely to experience in your life.
| To fasten upon yourself the eyes OF hy
! hundred people at once, SO that they cannt
withdraw them, to compel them to laugh !
cry at your will, to feel magnetic thrl
coursing through your. system and holdlI
them prisoner, to hear the awfulness of breati
less silence, to experience the shock when tn
neople recover from it and feel themselve
free again-aye! it is worth all the study.
Let it be a long time before you trust you
i self to the tender mercles OF pupnc crlClcSn
and do not give in like coward If the verdit
is unfavorable but continue your study unit
you deem it safe to hazard another trial.
There is good reason to suppose that you
first appearance will scarcely be as triumphar
as you would like, but everybody has to fgf
against failure in greater or less degree I'h
best thing you can do is to join an elocutio
club, the members of which are accustomed t
meet together once or twice week to CRITICS
each others performances, and thus they &C
to know their faults. and sufficiently recove
from their nervousness Tor perhaps their ow
good opinion of themselves) to make a yer
creditable show in public when the time come
for it.
This is unquestionably the best way
learning. Text books are all very well, bu
common sense and practice are the only tru
guides to success.