The Washington herald., 1914-01-14
Dorothy Donnelly Describes
HON. She Creates Mem Role
Describes maria Rosa" as a Vivid Passion
Flower Fed by the Primepal Instincts of
Her Race and Environment

were not so many contrasts 10 be brought
out in her. She was a creature of utter
gloom. But Maria Rosa is wonder
ful being. There is depth TO her soul.
She is inherently good. The heart of her
She is 4 creature OF almost cIairvoyant
instinct; feeling the wrong before il IS
proven: spiritually fighting il before she
knows that il actually exists; vivid
passion-nower fed by the primeval in
stincts OF her race and environment"
Ii was a delight to watch the one
woman paint the vivid picture of another
whom she has created with close fidelity
10 the pIaywrights script. and brought
into living being through the power OF
her own imagination. and it led me To-
ask Miss DonneIly how she creates new
role
Just as / have told YOU. ] form a
mental picture of the woman I am TO be
in play. / construct her in my own
mind after reading the manuscript 81
that she becomes the greater part of nv
conscious thought. ! reason within my
self about h"~-What she would do under
Nlis circumstance or that: how she would
feel. and think, and reason. until l seem
to be, within my own consciousness, as
much the woman that she is as 1 am
myself. And when I have constructed
the frame work OF her character I leave
her alone for weeks and weeks. and nv
subconsciousness goes on with the work
of creation until when the time is ripe
and / present her in the stage environ-
ment of her own life-story, I find the
finished work achieved"
The Irish twinkle went from her eyes.
and her face was set in serious lines as
she described the process of creating a
new role until I suggested the advantage
to the actress who played in the second
company Of an established success, when
all in a flash Miss Donnelly's eyes re-
proved me as though l were guilty Of
some dissertation.
We Travelled little strip of charged
silence before she tod me that stase
folk are divided into just two classes.
There are those who follow the pro-
fession because they must. There -
SOME compelling thing as deep as the
roots of life that cries for expression.
These folk are the creators. They are
the ones whose brains and hearts con-
struct a stage character and breathes
into il the breath of life. II they knew
that they would die in poverty they would
still go ON creating. They are the ar
tisteS of the stage.
THE others arc clever enough folk
who. recognizing their ability to initiate,
and realizing that they can extract a
living from it, follow their
bent along the lines of least resistance.
They are the actors and actresses. OF
course. an artist must he an actor but
an actor is not necessarily an artist"
The point was well taken and most
expressive of Miss Donnelly's life. which
has been spent in single blessedness and
aborption in her art
Despite that quick flash of a smile
which begins in her eyes long before IL
reaches her lips and her keen sense of
humor, Miss Donneiiy is serious
minded woman. keenly alive to and in
in ~oman's present-day awaken
ing to the Almighty's purpose of higher
in life for her than the
useless ornamentation of a mans home.
the pisythinc of his idle hours. or the
subject OF his bounty. She has small
patience with the idler (whether the male
or female of the species), believing that
work and earnestness of purpose are the
only sure road to any accomplishment
worth the having