Los Angeles herald., 1909-06-13
BY w. HERBERT BLAKE

" the younger Senefdlloh VI
~ natural actors. And I'll never
forgive him if he sells out"
In typical, .offhand characterization
Augustus Thomas, playwright, player
politician and student of men, thus ex-
pressed himself not long ago on the
young man who has come to the Be
lasco as leading man for the summer
stock season. And whether you watch
Richard Bennett in jefferson Ryder
at "The Lion and the Mouse next
week or talk with him for few mo-
ments on the things of the stage, as
did whatever be your individual
opinion of his abilities. you VIII pe
convinced on one point, he Will never
tax the forgiveness Of Gus Ihomas'
His tremendous vitality may wear out
against the rock of eastern managerial
obtuseness, but it will die hghtlng.
The word surrender is not part OF
it's vocabulary.
Eighteen years of stage struggles
preceded that tribute by Thomas ana
before that a life of shifting roles as
amateur boxer, night Waterman, sahu
pitter. waiter, sailor and citizen Oh the
world Each task has left its impress
on the actor who captured the hearts
of finical New Workers as John
Shand in Maude Adams What Every
Woman Knows" Beginning his stage
life in a double role in The Limited
Mail" playing in 1891 at the old stan
dard theater on Halsted street. Chl,
cago. his advance has been slow ana
stubborn. out from it all emerged
man with the jaw of fighter, eyes that
look through you as you try 10 ana
I'VE the secret of their dominant sad
ness. and the jaunty, frank manner
of the comrade of the waves. ana II
is without the smallest shred OF pose'
but merely as a proved fact or opser-
walton that Mr. Bennett defines great
acting as vast experience and char-
acter filtered through a great soul.
Mr.. Benefits method is the So
called natural" one, which no one
has succeeded in adequately defining,
however quickly we all recognize 1t IN
the best work of Mrs. Fiske or Gus
Skinner Just how far this method
may he carried without sacrificing the
attention OF the aualeI'ce - ~ ~
nuzzling question. When must the
photographic imitation of life take on
ideal colors to prevent its becoming
mere reflection of fiat fact? How Tor
hid the natural becoming the natural
istic"? Where must stage realism halt
to escape the Zola quagmire? rms
was the question l put to Richard
Bennett.
With the Scotch wariness of John
Shand he refused a direct answer.
s'No man can set an arbitrary limit,
was his reply. But 1 viii tell you
what the successful natural actor
must do; how he shall do it is for him
to discover in his own way. every
moment he is on the stage ne must
make his audience feel the emotion ne
is embodying as they would feel real
life and vet without an instant's lapse
he must keep before them the picture
as something distinct from life. You
might call it emotional realism ana
scenic idealism, if you are fond OF
definitions. When l played John Shand
l was interpreting the universal man.
whose conceit in sudden success lorgets
what every woman knows about her
husband-that his rise is compounded
Of innumerable failures and coward
ices. above which her inspiration alone
has whipped him on. That was
world type, a human fact. 1t was also
a Scotch role. / couldn't crassly cut
a slice out of Scotch dialect and serve
it up to my hearers. Yet couldn Z
ignore the nationality. Instead of
doing either, / took the audience to
Scotland and surprised them with the
discovery it was so like New York or
Los Angeles l tried to make them
forget John Shand was a Scotchman
in deserving his humanity, and | had
to remember his nationality every min
ute to measurably succeed.
''The natural actor can't forget his
audience, although he must seem to.
Rehind the artlessness of his manner
there must sleeplessly lurlS an unfail-
ing eye for its objective effect. Under
the Jekyll of transparent realism must
peer the analyzing Hyde And in that
ceaseIess self analysis the serious
actor is his own stage manager and
dramatic critic packed in one.
mot for an instant can you let your
audience question your Interpretation.