The sun., 1909-02-14
FAD ACTING AND Mr.. EDISON
tTTENPT To SADDLE BLAME
LPON THE INVENTOR.
Decline Of the Art of ImpersOna,ion
Laid at Door of Electric Lighting
The Theory Disproyed and the In
Ncntor II Acquitted and Discharged.

Laid at Door OF Electric Ilghtins
The Theory Disproyed and the IN.
Ncntor Il Acquitted and Discharged.
Is Thomas A. Edison to blame for a
very considerable deal Of the bad acting
now visible upon the stage IN this ooun-
try1 OF course the inventor did not de-
liberately set about the work Of filling
the theatre with incompetent players.
/ In fact, there Ia every reason to believe
that no hadn't the faintest CLEAN Of what
he was doing in this direction at the time
no did it. for one must believe him to be
sufficiently humane To have been anxious
to sacrifice even the very greltest Of all
his inv entions II by that scorifice he could
dam the food OF inefficient actors which
now ore can only damn.
! But why saddle IL on on Mr. Edison,
even il he is to blame? VOL tho one
sufficient answer to that inquiry Is that
these are tho days for blaming things
of on somebody else, 80 why should
Mr.. Edison escape? That there is a
worry lamentable number Of incompetent
players habitually put forward in a
prominent manner nobody who fire.
quents the theatre will dispute. Even
those who 60 to the playhouse with no
other purpose than an evenings enter
tainment and with no thought OF analyz-
ing either acting or play must recall
very frequently experiencing at sight
OF the doings Of many players that SEN
sation Of embarrassment which every
generous person feels at the sight OF
fellow human being making himself
solemnly absurd by trying TO do some
thing pitiably beyond his ability; and
the circumstance that the maximum Of
solf-confdence il often closely welded to
the minimum Of skill makes the spectacle
little less painful.
To get Ecck to Mr., fdison and his
erirvous responsible ity Thee is at pres
cnt cmong producing managers q rage
for whC' .hey cal types" BY type
l. mci1t somo character which by cer-
toih c'a.s poou.iariies, real or fictitious,
sends out Gs q visible, Gudib!e repr escn-
tr.ive OF its cctogory. Such types have
uot been uncommon on the stege here
tofo.c. but of late mana gers have tcion
70 lsyiag vio.ent hands upon 4 type
dreggin8 /. from lis propG' cs5oCi~.;e
y 20 in the gene"ll sage picture. i d.
Jag /, 10 the foot ights in the arc Of the
ha'lowed spot light end mcti1g every
thing within siChS o. sound back ground
Tor this bFSrc icf Such ? chc-actc IL
secn in The Man From Home" in The
Cho rs edy" ard in The TcGvc Jag
Sc esplHn."
Actors 20 p,cy such pts ere chosen
not eJ a rule for h,i- abi ity in impo'-
sonl.ion but becs iss they look !iSc n
certain type, nd n".l:c'ly hove the m"1-
ne-isms Of that type From the chic.
types 10 the lesSnr types is sho.. sep.
Consequently r,.o"I Of 3nclc" pc -
pre chosen - u goac,cl thing 70, the
same rc'Jpn1. II N" ma1rsc iot of ?
pay ccHs 70. u20 with G'r" hai' tn"
m2ur gcI' who a Sts the pay IA amos.
surn to chooJe :, man whose locks C't
actually gr-y, rb 2 better actor whose
hal" ia beck ui"h, snoS the part in vain
" thu msnusc 'ipt cG il for .. hobo "the
manr GO wi come "a near 20 gettifg
rec hobo "a tho list of spp icGnts for the
pert Sllows him.
|, you HsS him his reasons for doing
this ask him why he makes 50 little allow
ance TO- the pCss ssion by actors Of skill
in impcrsona:on he will tell you that the
lighting Of the stage does not permit Of
such successful illusions in make up as it
did in the old days. Now do you begin
to s,e whore Edison comes in? He will
tell you that the mellow light OF the old
time gas lamTs was great help to the actor
who was trying to look like something
very different from himself. He will tell
you. on the other hand. that the fierce
uncompromsing glare Of the modern
electric light shows crayon lines 10 be
crayon lines and not the marks Of age or
sickness or dissipation.
Ii is the rarest Of things TO see in these
days an actor wearing a wig, except in
romantic costume plays. Electric light
ing is responsible for this too. Most
actors who have to play for any length
Of time. say part Of Colonial date, grow
their hair as long as they can and exc out
the ends with falss hair. Wome n 8 wigs
more successfully defy electricity. but il
isn't often that manager will allow any
but an actress of star calibre TO wear a
wig. The fierce light that beats upon the
stage has much to answer for-and for
that fierce light who 50 responsible as
Thomas A. Edison?
The theory here eXpounded. a; all
eve nts. is the theory upon which managers |
lay the responsibility for the type play
type policy; and yet il was not very
long ago. years after electricity came to |
search out the dark corners Of the actors |
face. that famous Dutch player. Henri |
de Vries. came to America and in a single |
play impersonated wellnigh incredible |
number Of characters. each differing to-
tally from every other and each involving |
a most elaborate disguise, just the sort ,
OF disguis, supposed by these managers
10 be easily susceptible Of exposure under
electric lights Nor can one easily forget
the picturesque and highly complicated
makeup that MIR. Sothern wore as Don
Ouirote no longer ago than last winter
and there are many other instances
that might he cited against the mana
gerial contention.
Granted. however, the correctness OF
the theory that electricity is inimical to
character makeup and simply forces
stage managers to choose players who
resemble closely the types they are to
il follows that this process
Of selection results in steadily deteriora-
ting acting. Players who no longer have
experience in enacting widely different
characters for that very reason lose more
and more the power OF impersonation,
40 that, followed to the logical end. we
shall soon have stages full Of actors play
ing themselves.
On the whole and despite the pleasure