Show PLAYING A FIRST PART The JO Joy o of too tho Actor Who ho Has Iles LInes To 10 Suc Speak k kHow How soothing It Ittis Is then you get et a apart part to play for the tho list time You fC feel l that you ou are now an actor with Ln an accent on the tho or The Tho part ma mabe may maybe be but the smallest ot of small yoU are determined It shall stand out You wIll nuke muk It shine like a astar astar star And you OU talk proudly along with your our head hl high h thinking of oC your our Part To ho be cast for n a part for the first Is to a proud moment a moment such SUell 11 as an author fees feels when he S gazes with upOn his first published book t a moment such lS as a poor pOOl person feels feel when then the law lawyers els letter arrives telling him of oC the tho fortune that has bas been left him him Inde Indeed a hl do lI new moment Never Noyer shall I 1 target forget the time that I Iwas was first cast for tor a I It if I livo IIvo for or 1000 years ea I 1 gazed on the tho hated stage manager with gratitude lie HI had turned out to ho bo other titan than the tho deadlY too foe I had thought him first part Alas I had failed In It ItI with fl a distinct and damning failure It was taken away awa from me after aCter I hI had I played d It for two nights Of OC course courso I comforted myself with the tho thought drat the tho part was a VO very poor part that no one could have made It go 0 But Dut this kind of comfort was at best but poor THE TIIE CO r l To havo a part taken away awny from ono one Is as depressing as to be gIven a l part for tor the first time Is exhilarating One Is the complement of oC the Ule other Whon your part Is taken away you ou feel eel as It if you would Uko to go away to some for tor place of oC darkness to hIde your head You feel teel os as It if you OU would like to sInk down to realms nother noth r or oUter other otherwise wIse When you get your our first pUt part you ho hlo Joyfully to rehearsal For you OU the tho half haI gloom loom of at the tho empt theater Is lit up You picture yourself at night making a hit bIg and ond tremendous There stands the stage manager Hot HOI kindly you ou feel towards hIm him But truth compels mO me to state that you OU are not apt to feel feci kindly towards him for very Yer long For Forthe Forthe the stage manager turns out to ho bo a ot of cold water Ho He will not allow you to exu Ile Ho cribs cabins and confines you ou fhe hated stage manager II lIe Is the tight lacer and or of histrionic genius For Por he Is always insisting upon your keeping within the tho scope ot of what that hO he conceives to be the tho picture lie He Is for over oer telling you YOl that you Oll must mut not obtrude your part Is not the tho whole play pla To keep within tho plc pic picture ture is III A very good thIng But how Is t that the tho star never keeps keep within It How Is It that the tho stage manager never nover has the thO courage to talk up to time tho star aim In acting seems to bo be to keep bodily outside of the tho hire ture the tho whole of the time The In InJustice injustice Justice that the tho great inflicts upon the ho small Is constantly with you at tho re rehearsal l RECRUITING G S The part that I ever eer played with success was a small part In a piece picco called The Tho I W was l the re recruiting Mr sergeant and I determIned to tomake make that sergeant stand out on the tho first nl night ht And with such vigor and bounce and emphasis did I present the part that the tho stage manager ell mo me after time the performance and threatened to tako It t awu away from me mc meM M vehement acting had upset tile whole or of the tho scene same and the tho star had grumbled with that ferocity so common com common mon to stars I was told to tone myself down and tho ho tolling toiling was nc ae companied b by man many unnecessary r re ms remarks marks However In n the end nil all was well for I played tho sergeant through tho whole or of the run ot of the plo piece e antI and was complimented upon my artistic acting b by n a discriminating press I It Is human to wish to stand ou nu vividly when hen one eno Is playing fL a part And all the thO moro more Is It human It the part be n a small part Of course It if n a Is to be 00 of oC rc real value no actor should bo allowed to bulge all allover over oer the sta stage e And I QuIto quite agree with time thO stage manager In his bottling up of time of oC the small In keepIng such fluch Cl a person perron In order ardor lie hO shows that he Is bitten with the tho tarantula of at art But I ask oIk again how Is It that the stage manager never nOer says anything to the tho star who Is the tho worst offender of all In the setting getting out outside side of at and the unsettling ot of the stage stag picture The Tho really great actor ill Is the ono one Who Is able to imbue nn an audience power powerfully fully ulI with his conception of the tho wa way a given part should be 00 played and who at the same samO time keeps within time tho pic picture picture ture He Is able to r raise sO out of himself a subconscious self and project It b by bytho tho of his outer he bp fore the audIence He Is rea really II differ different ent In every part he pla plays s He has hal the DOwer of oC evoking a L self out or of himself r ACROSS THE FOOTLIGHTS Curiously enough there thero are actors who have havo strong acting talent that never neer shows upon the tho stage rho fhe glare o of the footlights and tho presence ence of time audience somehow subdue them They are uro ot at find and they shine to In dressing rooms The They are aro ef ct effective everywhere but on the tho stage and I m mean this In no sarcasm Actors will know the kInd of actor I mean There Thore Is the comedian who makes you roar with wah laughter In the tho dressing room and the tragedian who holds you spell hound wIth the tho delivery of noble lines line But Dut In the tho actual performance at night thc these e never win out Tho They have not the instinct or stage e perspective A sense e or of perspective Is the basis ls or of the art or of n noting People In front may think that the actor gets his effect hy by being natural But DUl this Is not the case axe If H he pyre re to In an natural man mannAr manner ner nAr tw he would no r he heard b by the tho au aulien lien If he to make absolutely natural gestures tho they would not Ul be pronounced eno enough tn hm be significant to the audience e In n a word everything that It is done upon th the stage must bl be be forced ab above tho norm normal 1 And nd till still It must mut appear nat to the audience n Ir if It ii Is III to bo ef effective or Tho actor hug hus to size Ilzo to natural to the tho people peI who are arc nut lut the picture ilu Hu must I even elen with hI his emotions and hi his thoughts And still he mutt mut he be able to conceal concel this over To do he mm must t possess it II sixth sense senile of ion to appear Inti Intimate mate incite md and from rom Il a distance This Thill sense is III born with the artist of the tho tae stage and It is not born often 4 nd schools for acting can no more teach It than for painting can an teach the secrets ot of art to the Trot great paInter |