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A DRAMATIC CRITIC pacity for generalization, and scarcely one of them appears to be capable of transcend- ing the limits of his own personal experi- ence. Mr. Richard Mansfield, lately, in a talk intended for publication, with elaborately insincere irony disparaging his own " poor " acting, scoffed at the Conserva- tories, which did not succeed in sending out graduates as competent even as him- self, who, as everybody knows, picked up his art pretty much at haphazard. There was truth as well as error in his strictures, — the truth being more important than the error. Thus far, our Schools of Acting, though conducted in some instances by men of ability, have failed in training can- didates for the stage. One fatal criticism upon the graduates of these schools was made from the first, and continues to be made: their fault in action and in utter- ance is declared to be a stiffness of style, which is generally hopeless. The explana- tion is obvious: the students of acting: are C 72 ]
TRAINING FOR THE STAGE not brought into touch at the right times, and kept in touch for a sufficiently long time, with the stage itself. The French have solved the problem. The Gallic actor of high ambition acquires the machinery or skeleton of his art in the Conservatory, and, contemporaneously, in the theatre, learns to rid himself of the mechanical stiffness which is almost sure to follow technical drill in enunciation, pose, and gesture. If he did not get the lightening up and limbering out of the stage, with resulting freedom of movement and utter- ance, the French say, his playing would suggest the operation of a machine, whose works are heard, and sometimes even seen. On the other hand, if he were not disci- plined in the Conservatory, his art, in many of its particulars, would be wanting in clarity and precision. The actor of the highest grade must receive, therefore, the twofold training, — the scholastic and the theatrical. They order all these things in [ 73 ]
- Page 39 and 40: Ill The Worth and Impotence of Free
- Page 41 and 42: IMPOTENCE OF FREE CRITICISM hinting
- Page 43 and 44: IMPOTENCE OF FREE CRITICISM applaud
- Page 45 and 46: I IV Some Early Experiences and Mis
- Page 47 and 48: EXPERIENCES AND MISTAKES quent appl
- Page 49 and 50: EXPERIENCES AND MISTAKES outspoken
- Page 51 and 52: V Selwyn's Theatre and the Robert-
- Page 53 and 54: SELWYN'S THEATRE Sargent Curtis ; a
- Page 55 and 56: SELWYN'S THEATRE Colorado and the t
- Page 57 and 58: SELWYN'S THEATRE that of the life o
- Page 59 and 60: VI The Ephemeral Drama and the Endu
- Page 61 and 62: THE EPHEMERAL DRAMA culiar to their
- Page 63 and 64: THE EPHEMERAL DRAMA have no essenti
- Page 65 and 66: VII The Great Dramatic QyiNQiJENNiU
- Page 67 and 68: DRAMATIC Q_UINQ.UENNIUM ton : first
- Page 69 and 70: DRAMATIC CtUINQ^UENNIUM — by clos
- Page 71 and 72: VIII William Warren, Comedian BOSTO
- Page 73 and 74: WILLIAM WARREN presented in the dra
- Page 75 and 76: WILLIAM WARREN Apropos of the large
- Page 77 and 78: WILLIAM WARREN must submit to a rec
- Page 79 and 80: WILLIAM WARREN voiced organ. There
- Page 81 and 82: WILLIAM WARREN depth and suggestive
- Page 83 and 84: WILLIAM WARREN through a vast galle
- Page 85 and 86: WILLIAM WARREN Senator from Massach
- Page 87 and 88: TRAINING FOR THE STAGE any other th
- Page 89: TRAINING FOR THE STAGE actors, and
- Page 93 and 94: TRAINING FOR THE STAGE rade;" Mr. M
- Page 95 and 96: TOOLE AND MATHEWS Mrs. Rousby, who
- Page 97 and 98: TOOLE AND MATHEWS rapidity against
- Page 99 and 100: TOOLE AND MATHEWS finesse, and dext
- Page 103 and 104: CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN figure and homely
- Page 105 and 106: CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN was great, the ac
- Page 107 and 108: CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN act, has been dis
- Page 109 and 110: CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN be so pronounced
- Page 111 and 112: CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN mendations " and
- Page 113 and 114: THE XII E. A. SOTHERN, Sr. most not
- Page 115 and 116: E. A. SOTHERN, SR. inverted as in a
- Page 117 and 118: E. A. SOTHERN, SR effective for mir
- Page 119 and 120: E. A. SOTHERN, SR. thrown completel
- Page 121 and 122: E. A. SOTHERN, SR traordinary were
- Page 123 and 124: E. A. SOTHERN, SR. Tragedian, a dra
- Page 125 and 126: E. A. SOTHERN, SR sought or seeking
- Page 127 and 128: THE ISOLATION OF ACTORS plish. Behi
- Page 129 and 130: THE ISOLATION OF ACTORS fictive mat
- Page 131 and 132: THE ISOLATION OF ACTORS rary life w
- Page 133 and 134: DURING XIV Charles Fechter the seas
- Page 135 and 136: CHARLES FECHTER holding the lease o
- Page 137 and 138: CHARLES FECHTER psychic scheme, but
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TRAINING FOR THE STAGE<br />
not brought into touch at the right times,<br />
and kept in touch for a sufficiently long<br />
time, with the stage itself. The French<br />
have solved the problem. The Gallic actor<br />
of high ambition acquires the machinery<br />
or skeleton of his art in the Conservatory,<br />
and, contemporaneously, in the theatre,<br />
learns to rid himself of the mechanical<br />
stiffness which is almost sure to follow<br />
technical drill in enunciation, pose, and<br />
gesture. If he did not get the lightening<br />
up and limbering out of the stage, with<br />
resulting freedom of movement and utter-<br />
ance, the French say, his playing would<br />
suggest the operation of a machine, whose<br />
works are heard, and sometimes even seen.<br />
On the other hand, if he were not disci-<br />
plined in the Conservatory, his art, in many<br />
of its particulars, would be wanting in<br />
clarity and precision. The actor of the<br />
highest grade must receive, therefore, the<br />
twofold training, — the scholastic and the<br />
theatrical. They order all these things in<br />
[ 73 ]
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