The New York herald., 1922-06-11
My Experiences With Sociotu-yMrs.Cmpbol


the other day Mrs. Patrick Campbell in
the first act of The Second Mrs. Tan
queray" was seized with sudden fit of
nervousness and for the life of her she
could not remember single word of her
part.
"The prompter unfortunately was
either inaudible or absent, and Mr.. Alex
ander was compelled to fetch the book
of the words to- which the actress re-
ferred until she recovered her self-posses-
sion. Once the passing terror overcome,
she fairly surpassed herself and acted
superbly"
What really happened was this: On
the Saturday / went home to my uncle's
house and my mother told me my little
son was seriously i'll and the doctor was
afraid it was diphtheria. had played
two performances; it was past IL o'clock
when got home. / went up to his room
and sat by the bed; and there sat all
nightAand all the next day and Sunday
night. He was too ill and his throat was
too painful for him to speak to me-
At half past II on Monday morning
the doctor came and told me 1t was only
tonsilitis, and need not be alarmed.
/ was numb with fatigue and anxiety,
but it was Boxing Day and there were
two performances to be played-trains
were awkward-I arrived at the theater
just as the overture struck up. I had
the length of Aubrey Tanquerays first
scene with his friends to dress in.
scrambled into my clothes, rushed on to
the stage-and not one single line Of the
words of my part could remember, al
though had played it for seven months.
sat on the sofa quite bewildered Mr..
Alexander brought me the book, and as
he did so he murmured half to himself.
'"The woman's drunk!''
When the curtain came down at the
end of the act went upstairs to my room
In white rage and began dressing to
go home. My understudy, Miss Granville,
was in the theater ready to go on for me.
thinking I was ILL.,
Dear Maude Millet came into my Dress
ing room. told her what had happened
and Mr.. Alexander's remark. All she said
was, "Beerbohm Trees in front; think OF
your career" and out she went next door
to "Willis's Rooms" and brought back a
small bottle Of champagne and made me
drink nearly a tumblerful / dressed
quickly for the second act and went on
to. the stage.
1t was at this performance that Mr..
Tree came round and offered to engage
me at ESQ week to play with him at
the Haymarket
then went to Mr.. Alexander and told
him I had accepted an offer from Mr..
Beerbohm Tree; that 1 heard what he,
Alexander, had said; and that, though
was bound to keep my contract with him
until the end Of the season, would never
speak to him again.
1t Is quite dreadful to think OF now;
but there's the story! People began to
say l drank, others that drugged and
this-added to the belief of some people
that l was Mrs. Tdnqueruy-gave me
for long time queer reputation.
I remember at Stairway telling this
story of my sudden loss of memory to
Mr. Arthur Balfour. He said that once
something of the same kind had hap
pened to him. Over tired, he had gone a
long journey to address meeting; when
he stood up to speak, not word could
he remember of what he wanted to say.
until the heckling of the audience made
him angry, and this anger pulled him
together.
I must not omit that some months be-
fore this, Mr.. Alexander, delighted with
the success Of "The Second Mrs. Tanque-
ray" and to show his appreciation of my
share in it, had raised my salary from ELS
to f30 week =
BY this time my load of debt had been
a little lifted.
had written to Pat imploring him to
come home, having received a heart
broken letter from him written before he
heard of my success. He had been silent
for long time and 1t had greatly alarmed
us: as the following letter written to my
father-in-law by my uncle, shows:
18th September, 1893.
Dear Mr.. Campbell
"Such long time having elapsed since
your son Pat last wrote to his wife. I
began to fear lest some fearful fate had
overtaken him in that wild country. I
thank heaven 1t is not so for Stella has
just received a letter from him dated
June 25. from which send you the fol-