Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-18

room to call upon her. He saw it lmme-
diately.
Hello" he said, what have we here7'
His first thought was that It was the real
order. Nine. Modjesks bequcathed her copy
to the British Museum.
A Rare Interview.
Interviews with Modjesks are not very
abundant. and this one from the New
York Sun is especially interesting 10 those
who only saw her with Booth i'm the char
acter Of Portia;
Il learn the lines first. but they are
nothing. My task is to learn to feel the
woman who would speak those lines. The
words are the work of another. My part
must be to sink Helena Modjeska's person.
ality into that Of the woman who would
spontaneously and naturally, under the
circumstances indicated in the play. speak
these lines which already 1 have ac-
qulred. IL l cannot feel that under these
conditions this woman's words would spon-
t%aneously come to me, 1 know / am far
away from what my impersonation must
grow to be.
"For this reason II Is impossible for me
to play a part which l cannot learn to
sympathize with. l was years and years
in learning to be able to play Lady Mac
beth. 1 could not feel her. 1 could not
possibly have any sympathy for her.
ION the other hand. take Portia, for ex-
ample. 1 loved her from the first. l felt
that she was a woman of extraordinary
sweetness, Of brilliant wit, splendid gener-
osity. feminine piquancy and great intel
lectual power. She belonged to a century
noted for its brilliant women-a veritable
golden age of feminine mentality.
"Portia was undoubtedly a woman of dis
tlnguished social position, with the charm
ing, easy manners of high breeding and
perfect knowledge Of the world. She was
undoubtedly a linguist. All the women Of
wealth and position of that day were su-
perbly educated. and it was quite common
for them to speak five or six languages
fluently. When l was preparing to become
Portia 1 read everything 1 could find in
French, Italian, Polish and English con-
corning the period in which she lived. 1
threw my whole personality, so far as 1
could, back into that time. l absorbed all
the history, romance and poetry Of the
period. 1 became familiar, geographically
with the Italian towns in which she
dwelt. 1 studied the manners. 1 wore the
dress, / familiarized myself with the ethics
"a NAAb NAAAAb oANa RttRAt thNA Il "o1
ated with the atmosphere of my beautiful
heroine. Finally 1 began to realize myself
the component parts of this lovely woman
of marvellous speech and extraordinary
sagacity.
The Spirit of Portia.
81 discovered that Just as today many
women are legally well informed, so In a
century which closely resembles our owr
in various lines it would not have been al
all strange for a young woman of Portia's
caliber to be legally learned. Gradually
felt the color of the time in which Portis
lived, the atmosphere Of the woman her,
self, the noble love which makes her sc
adorable, the charming daintiness and
sweetness of her innocent galety. Wher
this Portia woman of 300 years ago haC
dominated the nineteenth century Helena
Modjeska, l felt that 1 had caught her
intellectually. Then 1t became my delight
full task to make her physically as lovely
a picture as I possibly could. l do no
know how l succeeded, but from the very
beginning 1 have tried to make my othel
selves harmonious. In fact, 1 believe tn,
key to my whole existence is my depend.
IA a little girl 1 could not bear a dis.
cord-not a discord alone in music, but
in anything. If colors were discorded,
hated to look upon them. l wanted every.
thing 10. our home Harmonious, and as
a tiny little girl this peculiar distastt
for anything out of tune was looked upor
merely as an absurd idiosyncrasy. AS
grew older, my mother recognized thai
this sD-called eccentricity was one 1 coulc
not conquer. She saw in me the temper.
ment of the artist. In all my work 1 fee
that there must be a perfect harmony. A
Portia must have the soul of a Pprtia
She must have the figure OF a Portia, and
above all, she must have the voice of
Portia. A PDrtia in her wonderful speech
the quality OF mercy with the voice Of
Lady Macbeth-and I see that you smile
but, indeed. / have heard Juliets will
voices so mature and heavy that they wer
only suitable for the old-fashioned TRACE
dienne in her most blood-curdling declam
ations-wpuld be out of harmony, and, IL
r studying this role / should make al
r especial point of having my voice the RICH
, age, right quality, in fact, the very re
4 Election of the character of the woman."
z An Experience fin Dublin.
r Nine. Modjeska delighted TO play to tn
w~arm-hearted Irish people. and they de
lighted to see her, particularly in Mar
d Stuart" On one occasion of which she wa
r wont to tell the play was produced 1
Dublin. Whenever the imprisoned queen /
r the play spoke of rebellion agains
Elizabeth, the audience applauded. Whe
a che crIad dafiaptIy aGhan 7 hou, 20 thg