The sun., 1908-03-22

than will power ever did. Toddlsss case
10 q shining example ol the dynamic foro'
Of the ruling passion.
But this being q sermon, II is time nov
for the moral. And the moral 10, Acting
is not "a easy ~ II looks
For Why else rear this towering super
structure Of psychology on tho poor little
foundation Of "Toddles' than 10 make
plain the reason why the play here, with John
Barrymore, IL not the sUcoess II was In
London, with Cyril Maudel Mr. Mauds Il
an actor Of varied powers and vide expert
ence. Only q year ago he was playing
james A. Herne's famous part In Shore
AoreA' From NdihdaisI Berry 10 Toddles
Ia a very considerable register. To cay
that he wa q success a. Toddlss beoause
the part fitted him is not 10 explain his sue
cess In scores Of dissimilar parts. II is the
aotor's business 10 At his part. not 70 make
the part AZ him. II 10 his business 10 have
a technique that win accommodate itself
TO any and all demands. And such 4 tech
nique 10 not acquired In = day. = month, a
year, nor by intuition or inheritance. II is
acquired by playing many parts, by prae-
tioe, practice, practice. No one suppoesa
that Senbrich could Eng the sOngs Of every
mood and period With havless on and care
ful differentiation without q vocal tech.
nique won by years Of effort and q vide
acquaintance with all schools Of music.
Yet the idea seems TO prevail that an actor
can play any part, % long a. II chances to
'Rt' his personality. with almoat no tech
nique at all. We would not accept . vio-
linist whose boving was faulty. whose ip-
tonation was false. who failed 70 interpret
the music he played, merely because We
liked his face, his sraile, bic personality. /"
But a. a public We are very far from even
this rather fundamental standard Of criti-
oism where acting is concerned. We care
no more for the techniqus Of acting than
some OF the players We applaud.
That is not quite true either for In the
long run We unconsciously bow 10 greatness,
to superior skill. and forget our inefieient
favorites Of the moment. Gradually the
Sotherns, the skinners, emerge and take
their rightiul places But Il would save
time II We were bit more conscious about
II. There would be lees temptation then
for managers, who in all truth ere hard
enough put TO find eficient players, 10
cast young men and women Of pleasant
personality in partS beyond their powers,
thus making Of plays that might give pleas
ure at most but half hearted successes.
For Mr.. Barrymore, the bearer Of 8
distinguished and honorable name In the
stage world. young, attractive, promising,
is still technically unequipped for the part
Of TOjdlss. The play 10 farce, light,
frivolous; the part iS q faToical part. But
90 is DuNdrsdry fsrcical part; yet Sothern
waited till he could play Hamla before
he attempted Il. II a farce has the quail
ties Of genuine popularity (and "Toddles'
has) II has them because II e1aRgeratss
humanity, not talsihes IT, And you cannot
eGaggerate a trait Of character II you can
not depict II in its natural state, You
cannot create q faroical character, clean
cut consistent from curtain to curtain, an
entity, II you cannot maintain q character
delusion without eIaggsration. II We
loaded poor Toddles with text book phrases
out Of psychology it was to show the human
basis Of his character the basis which,
II clearly brought out by resourceiul
actor, would make him, for all his farce. q
human being 10 the audience But TO
bring this out requires a sure technique;
for the actor II is a solemn task. no less
difficult than to play many a serious
role.
No one has ever gone on record a. sc-
cusing Mr.. Sothern Of being, personally, at
all like Dpndrsdry. In fact. the dissImilar-
ity might almost be called striking. But
Mr. Sothern's DvHdrsory in the play Is
comic, first and foremost for its unhageing
fidelity to character, its unity Of design,
its constant revelations In a hundred little
ways Of a very human II monstrously eI
aggerated type OF brain. Nothing that he
says or does, no single chuckls or facial
expression but clearly reveals this central
conception And, to do this
requires technique, technique, and again
technique, Not a single halted utterance
or sudden concentration Of attention in the
search for his pockets but is the surer,
hence the more comic, for the muGing
raoodA of Hamlet, Not a single cry OF
at the solution OF an absurd con
but 10 more effective for the
romantic heroism Of "zenda' or IL We're
King That is 90 true 1t Is platitudinous;
but please remember this is a sermon!
Now Toddiss in bis Lesser way had his
psychological basis Of character; he was a
human II exaggerated, entity. He was q
man who couldn't make up his mind, a
baby In long breeches. Mr Barrymore
knew this, and he tries as beet he can 10
indicate II. But his task is too much for
him, and ne 10 only occasionally successful,
simply because he lacks technique, he has
not the trained resources OF his art sum
GENTLY at his command His Toddiss does
not hang toeether.' the moods from
moment 10 moment are not clearly related
to the character as q whole. and in their
several places they are not indicated surely,
cleanly. His command over facial express
sion is slight His command over accent
is snghter He feels for elects restlessly,
with hands, voice. body and creates the
sense Of effort, not OF achievement. To be
sure, he 10 constantly hindered not helped
by a badly trained company, But the
cause Of his failure lie deeper than that
il lies in the actor himself in mis- lack Of
technique. II Mr., Barrymore. like Mr..
yIaude, could play N0thdnieI Berry. he. too,
like Mr.. Maude. could play Toddits Life
may be = survival Of the tittest. but actors
TOO often suppose II 10 be a survival OF the
best fitted. Well, Il is-only, not quite the
way they mean.
Tha sewina circle UiIl meet with Mrs