Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-10


lent spirit of the actors,-who are indolent
only as the manuscript demands the
actors will have double work on hand to win
back the attention in the next act.
On second thought, this is not so odd as it
seems A dramatist will frequently elini-
nate from his play yawn that one of his
characters really ought to indulge in at
certain moment, because he realizes that
this yawn will make many persons in his
audience yawn "a disastrous thing, even
though the stage yawn is merely simulated
for direct and relevant purpose. The at
mosphere and physical tricks on the stage
influence the audiences.
Take another example. During the course
@business" has called on me to scratch my
head "as if in doubt" Very often, looking
out of the corner of my eye across the foot
lights. have caught men in the audience
following my action and scratching their
own heads A yawn or scratching on
streetcar will bring about the same unln-
territorial echoes. Try it and you will see!
From such comparatively trivial examples
as this, the larger fact of the somnolent
spirit of an audience being set in motion by
a somnolent spirit on the stage may be
readily appreciated.
ANOTHER effective way in which an
= audience may not be won over is
through the existence on the stage OF
monotonous method of reading the lines.
An actor in an important role who reads his
lines in singsong, drawing, one-keyed
manner accomplishes a large share in alien
ating the audiences attention, despite the
possibly excellent quality of the material
with which he is dealing and the good work
of his fellow players. To win over an audi
ence, the performance must be pitched in
numerous and varying keys. Different
episodes in the play must be 1read' Tor
spoken) by the performers in different tones
and in tones of varying volume. Each role
must be played as song is played on the
piano no song can be rendered by hit
ting only few notes. Scientific research
has paralleled the human ear and the strings
of piano. This deduction is illustrated as
follows:
Suppose that the top of an upright piano
is turned back and word shouted into the
body of the instrument. The piano is set
ringing, certain strings are thrown into vi
bration, because the speaking voice con-
tains tones to which those strings are tuned.
Different strings respond, according as the
word is pitched high or low.
In the human ear we find the so-called
basilar membrane, the cross fibers of which
are arranged ike CIlc SCIl1lSS Oh CIle DdCk-
board of piano. These strings are short
at the beginning (the treble strings, and
gradually increase in length to the bass
strings. 1t is theatrically scientific fact,
therefore, that unless the "strings" in the
audiences ear be set ringing in a constantly
changing manner by constantly changing
vocal tones, unless different notes are struck
in that ear, the audience will be lost. Just
as the steady, monotonous ticking of met
ronome, as the steady and monotonous
striking of one kew on piano, as the un-
varied droning chant of singer, as the regu-
lar falling of drop of water on piece of
Unjust as each and all of these uniformly
steady and changeless things will gradually
deaden the senses of the auditor, just SO will
| monotonous speaking voice on the part of
an actor kill that part of the performance so
| far as the audience is concerned.
| STILL another highly effective way not to
win over an audience is to present a
drama against background of single over
lv militant color. In other words, if play
of three or four acts has as its single scenic
setting, let us say, an interior or room
scene, of vivid. startling green, the audience
| will become FESTIVE, its offended eyes will
hold its ears in check and large measure
of its effectiveness and sympathy will be
| taken away. A two and half hours view
of such an unremittingly intense color, while
/ Ill e. IL e