Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1921-06-11
WHERE DO ! co FROM
HERE?
The story OF II Man Who, Even With
Il Great Success to His Credit,
Asks Himself That Question
and Finds No Answer.
lBy Mary B. Mullett.)

Il play by Eugene O'Ncill, called 'Inc
Emperor JONES'" the title roio Was
played by Gilpin with Il breadth OF
feeling which ranged from fine come
dy to tragic intensity.
Inside Of few weeks after its pro
duction, all New York was talking OF
the new star. The critics called his
work "a magnificent piece Of acting;'
they declared he showed great pow
or and great imagination" that his
performance was "the crown" to re
markable play; that it was "a genu.
inc impersonation, being Of flesh
and blood and brain.
But did they predict for him O dis
tinguished career and did they talk
Of his giving the public more Of his
magnificent acting?"
They did not! For Charles S. Gil.
pin is Negro-and-thero you arc.
The drama was produced by the Prov
incetown Players at their little thea
ter. made-ovcr stable In Greenwich
Village-that extraordinary section of
New York City where new movements
in art and near.art have their habitat.
The Provincetown Players are white.
But instead Of having one of their
number 'black-up" for the role OF
Emperor Jones, they sent for Charles
Gilpin. The result was that, night
after night, the one hundred and
eighty seats in the little playhouse
were packed. Adoiph Klauber then
took the play to an uptown theatre
where it ran for months. 1t was in y
corner back of. the stage, after the
performance, that Charles Gilpin told
me his story.
He is not full-blooded Negro, but
rather light in co.or. His hair, which
is very thin on top OF his head, Is not
| harsh and woolly but fine and almost
straight. His eyes are profoundly mel
ancholy.
| The accumulated bitterness Of years
Of disappointment has left it's trace
and SO has the anticipated bitterness
of disappointmcnts yet in store for
him. For he knows that his problem
is an almost unsolvable one. But
while his eyes never lost their sad
ness he managed to smile sometimes
though it was Il smile which rather
hurt one to Sec-aS he talked of tac
past and Of the future.
! He was born in Richmond; Virgin
in in tho early seventies. His mother
WAC " hui DC III IhC WY
, Hospital for colored people. His faith
er worked in the steel mills. They
were poor but not abjectly poverty.
stricken.
Like many Of the Richmond and
Baltimore Negroes, tho Gilpins were
| Roman Catholics, and the small boy
received the beginning of an educa-
| ton at st. Francis, School-~for col
ored children. of course.
! 81 didn't get far with my school
ing" he said, because when l WAS
twelve, went to work rs a printer s
devil on the Richmond Planet
| ''Most of my education, such as IL
| Is, 1 have gained by rubbing elbows
with the world. never went to school
| again after l had left it to learn the
printers trade.
| My becoming an actor was not
| due to any dreams Of a stage career,
but simply because I was trying to
| earn my bread and butter. l driftcd
into it because I had taken part in
| little plays and entertainments at st.
Francis School, where one Of the
teachers had given me some train
| ing in speaking and acting. But as
for having an ambition to become Il
real actor-wcll, hitching ones wag-
on to star is not an attractive past
| time for Il colored boy. All the stars
| seem to have keep Or signs, so fai
| as he is concerned.
| "1owever, my job as printers dew.
! il put so little money into my peck
cts that I had to do something to ac-
! cumulatc enough coins even to Jingle.
| So two or three other boys md my
self hit on the scheme OF giving Il
song and dance in a restaurant.
! 1T was a cheap place Of the 'honFy
tonk' variety, tables where people sat
and drank, while relays OF performers
, came and went on n rude stage at Que
! end OF the room. When our turn was
| over, the proprietor used to run rs
out, as if the place, poor as it was,
would be contaminated by our pres
ence.
"There wasn't any glory, and there
certainly wasn't any pleasure, in the
experience. But there were few OK
ira dollars week, so I hung on to
this ragged edge of the show business
In time, I gradually got little firm
or grip on it. I had good voice.
could sing and dance and make folks
idu5i. NJ dllel Il "Hilc, cuSCu lily
way into cheap vaudeville.
: az said that for Negroes there are
Keep Or signs Oh most of the stars.
1 reckon that's an eXaggeration III 10
gard to some OF the things colornd
person might want to attempt. But It
is not an exaggcration in regard ID
the theatre. A Negro can he a darby
comedian and give people chance
to laugh at him and ut his race. He
can introduce a bit of pathos, if he is
cleyer-just as all clowns are permit
ted to do, provided 1t doesn't interfere
too much with their clowning. Bat
this seemed about all that white peo-
pie wanted from a Negro on the
stage.
"They used to come to hear us as
! Jubilee Singers;' and there was n
time when Negro MINISTRIES would
draw. I've been everything; vau'le-
VILE comedian, Jubilee singer, Negro
minstrel everything except travel
with circus. But always I was judg-