Evening star., 1921-07-10
PENING an old scrapbook OF,

well as the introduction to this ram
BILE" Here it is:
God bless the players always and may the
worthiest be ranoni1ed!
They are the educators OF our emotions. de-
Iineators OF our unconscious virtues-morinS
mirrors wherein humanity sees the glories Of
heavens inspiration and recognizes the
promptings Of the arch enemy Of the uni
The strong player is a strong preacher-the
Light player the most successful Of phssi-
Clans.
Laughter refreshes the multitude. and
single guam does the patient more good than
me most elab0rately compounded prescription.
without It the brain stagnates. With 1t life
...S Whoever can bring gleam to the eyes Of
one moment of relaxation; whoever can lure
the saddened heart into the eltsum of con
tentment has served a stimulating nectar to
thirsty mankind.
From every side Of the actors throne ecin-
tillating CLEANS of wholesome influence take
their course along the paths Of cropping souls,
softening the way, dissipating the spirit OF
loneliness and sorrow and nstigating the
weaving OF worldwide garland Of relation
ship.
Let us then praise all players: help all play
ers-for from the slough Of degradation they
have mounted to the pinnacle Of supremest
honor.
The attest alone survive.
1t is pleasant to hear a good word
spoken for the actor and the play,
Each has had something to do In
shaping. coloring or slanting that
which we call our character. In your
school readers, with all the fomilies.
poems and essays. were scenes and
speeches from great plays. In these
Inc sentiment was at least as inspir-
ing and the English often better and
more vivid than in the homilies for
the young. tedious with maxims and
exhortations. Some of those scenes
you committed to memory and, to
some extent large in some persons,
small in others, they made impress
on your speech. You saw great play
which are there now. and which have
given you satisfaction through all the
time. They have improved your un-
derstanding and helped you to appre-
ciate pictures you have not seen, but
which other men tell of. They gave
your imagination something fine, brill
liant and intellectual to exercise itself
with.
Great actors put over to your un-
derstanding lessons which perhaps
your school teacher could not get
across. Certain lines, magnifcently
read, struck you with such force that
you remember them. Sometimes you
quote them now. to your own satis-
faction. Your friends may resent 1t,
and say to themselves. "Confound the
bore with his quotations, but after
all. they are right apt and ornamental,
and I'll remember them and spring
thC neat OCCdSlOH L nave.
THE Rambler by no means urges
wearisome quotations, but the
man who resented them has perhaps
learned something good, or not good,
according to the quotation. At any
rate. the faculty of his mind has been
stirred, and it Is a gain to shock A
hot ho
to say something more Interesting
than the weather certainly is warm
today but at this time of the wear
We must expect 1t. and the paper says
1t Will be cooler tomorrow. but you
can't believe all you read in the ne-
persia ha ha,-and they ought to
put on more cars. What was the
score and who pitched? Have Won
had your vacation yet? I think I'll
'go away next week: but. then. there's
In the play you learned something
of big historic events in Rome and
France and England. and more Of
Kings. queens, emperors. cardinals
and consuls than you did by COM
rulers of England from Alfred to the
, Georges. with the dates Of their reigns
You perhaps got some conception
of customs. morals and opinions OF
music of the orchestra gave You
knowledge. You read about actors
and plays and authors, and you made
conversation about what you had
read, heard and seen. You probably
great plays. read them until you
knew them by heart, and had dreams
Of being Claud Melnotte in pink
tights with a shining sword by your
side and delivering the mellihuous
lines while Lucy. Kitty or Maria sat
in a box and listened and watched,
all enthralled! They were dreams.
but the dreams of our youth were
glorious. and in our middle age and
in our old age those dreams become
bright and beautiful memories.
The stage had its influence on you
and good part in such education
as you were capable of taking on, or
taking in. And surely it was as
commendable and uplifting to be
able to think on and discuss the
merits of great actors and their
roles and great authors and their
plays as it is to talk about the bat
ting average of this Red Sock, White
Sock or Blue Sock. and the number
by this major Lacquer, that minor
Lacquer and the other bush Lacquer.
: In previous stories the Rambler
has written name that recalls many
an actor, always admirable. always
surrounded by company of good
actors and always presenting plays
. that were of the best in English lit
erature and of the best which the
american stage knows-Lawrsnee a
US recollections Of a Washington
amateur dramatic club which hon
ored itself and did credit to a most
capable actor by taking as it's name
"The Lawrence Barrett Dramatic
Club" Remember 1t? or course
you do,
This was really an extraordinary
group of amateur players. A large
percentage of them became regular
actors. and several OF them became
celebrated for their excellence IN dra-
Ratic art. Some of them who did not
business might have done so. and
Judged by the success they made IN
other lines of endeavor, would prob.
ably have become prosperous ana
prominent actors. There were other
groups of amateur actors that the
notably the Carroll Institute Players
and an association called the Forest
ers, the Forest Club. or something
like that, and the writer Of these
humble narratives hopes to come into
possession of enough information
about these people to enable him to
write of them.
On my table as I write is q creased
and dingy program. and instead OF
telling YOU about 1t, you may read It:
commencing Monday, December 2,
1883. Only Matinee Saturday. Second
rett. supported by Miss Gale and q
competent company.
"wednesday and Friday evenings.
December 4th and 9Th. Francesca "a
Rimini. A tragedy in acts by Hon.
George H. Boxer. .,.... AVA