Mexico Missouri message., 1911-03-02
| M |

49, the characters and the story
that he had to tell with the accom-
paying preachment. He had re-
markable sense Of characterization for
man 50 young. aud this bad fire.
quen;ly led him into subtle literary
phrases which evoked the praise of
people for whose opinion be really had
no particular regard. but who had all
the judicial quality which comes FROM
ha wing been well grounded-or appar-
emily grounded-in what are called In
collegiate circles the fundamentals
And this had once led the young man
TO say sharply at an after dinner
spread Of oratory-a sphere in which
he shone With distinction-that the
trouble with the fundamentals Of the
collegiate education was that they SO
frequently made of the fundamentals
Of life sort Of crust, q necessary
meringue that had TO be accepted In
order to gid ones true knowledge.
Read as he was In the dramatic
literature OF the day and familiar as
he was with all the naturalistic and
propagandist theories Of the inhuen-
tial men of the modern stage, he had
a deep feeling that the whole thing
was all wrong aud that, while 1t was
splendid as protest, II was anaenic
10 its preachment. The red blood of
romance seemed to him more warrant
Ell to cure the Ills that obsessed the
naturalist. though he had frequently
to repeat IN the numerous controver-
sizes In which he engaged that he
knew that much that bad passed az
romance was purely ignorance; also
that the naturalist had done a great
deal to check those tendencies that led
Lucis to go mad to dance music
to Thee" to descending musical
phrase or a hero In the throes of a
third act to stand out in the middle of
crowded tboroughfare and tell bis
troubles and secrets. while yillainy,
ever careless, stalks by to drop con-
yenieptly 'the papers" where they are
most needed
In this bis fourth written play and
the nrst to be produced Holcomb had
come nearer to q drama with a thesis
than he had ever expected to come
| There was still a satisfying glow Of
romance over II when the play was
accepted. but little by little. protest as
he might. he was obliged to make
changes that made bis work the very
opposite Of his intention.
Dora bad appeared at rehearsal
promptly on Tuesday. and this fact,
coupled with her apparent happiness.
praced Holcomb for what was already
a trying ordeal. He had made some
suggestions for changes In the cast.
but the management had Its own not
particularly high minded reasons for
tndicting in him absolutely incompe.
tent people. and. to make matters
worse. Ludlow. who had been bis
friend. seemed to take a special de-
light In thwarting him and letting the
performance down frequently. Play
Ing opposite TO Dora as he did. the
leading man seemed to get particular
pleasure out Of annoying Holcomb by
being just shade too familiar with
the young lady. Despite all this. the
rehearsals moved fairly rapidly. and
they were ready for production three
weeks after they had started To add
to Holcomb's troubles. however. 1t had
been decided against his better judg
ment and fervent pleadings to open
fat" IN New York city.
He had been an actor long enough 10
know that at least three or four per
fOrmances outside OF the metropolis
were necessary for an adequate pres
"ntatIon If play. at least on the
part OF the actors. Only those who
have come In intimate contact with
the spectacle can appreciate the over
wrought and hysterical attitude that
the average actor takes toward his
first appearance In New York. For
some reason The majority of the man.
ayers encourage this high strung at.
tltnde. explaining their belief In It by
the statement that the actor gives a
better performance when he Is I'm q
hysterical condition than when he Is
calm Actors themselves have gone 80
fnr "a TO say that an actor who has
I'll HIS self possession on the first
night Ia not endowed with genius.
bora had been stopping with Mrs
Winthrop. whose son. having complet-
ed his wanderings. was taking his
nmatory defeat with new calm. Mrs.
Winthrop had done everything pos
sihle 10 make Dora happy. and at her
suggestion Ho1comb invited Mrs Win
throp, her son and Judge Elliott to be
present at the dress rehearsal which
was to begin on Sunday night. Had
Holcomb been In charge absolutely the
play would have progressed very
smoothly, for even with bis limited
experience he had definite ideas of
what be wanted and a gift for ex-
pressing them precisely. Being
young author. however. his authority
was limited purely to the lines and the
actors. while almost an entire regl.
ment Of bottle holders" had final say
on matters that were considered their
departments.
He had Intended TO run through the
play act by act without interrupting
His plan was to make notes as they
went along OF such changes as he de
sired and have the corrections made
when the act was finished. The two
managers who had the nnai say In all
matters had a different method, aud
these. aided by costumers. q SO called
expert on lights. the scene builder and
an oficious consulting playwright.