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Show aaaaalaBlalalBBIIIlBBIBBiBSSBaBBBalllaaBmallBee"i N 1 j iagi f fer Noble ifitealu to Its Hfltatijs ! By MRS. GEORGE J. GOULD. j S' I Tlicrp can bo no doubt that to n woman with a great soul u career on the stage is ideal, magnificent, and satisfying. There is nothing elementary, easy or small nbont the life of an actress, and, of course, I am including' in-cluding' only women whoso Btagc work is serious and who have built for themselves a veritable palace of In the life-of a woman with character no sweeter moment will come than with the first hesitating suggestion sug-gestion of success. Success, to my mind, is not mere food for vanity or the means for trivial ends. Success is accomplishment, victory, with a preface of toil and effort. There can bo no gratifying success without this forerunner of uncompromisingly un-compromisingly hard work. So these swift successes spend themselves in the life history of the individual. I believe a girl who contemplates going on the stage should begin very young, in her middle teens, perhaps. Then her awakening brain can drink in the truths of inestimable value in later life. She learns moro quickly, and the technique of the stage is adopted by instinct. And that, to me, spells the very essence of effective acting. This instinctive acting is the work which makes an actress great. There must bo a. groundwork of technical intelligence. But the dreamy rules of "Stand this way" and "Emphasize this syllable" aro what defeat the basic principles of tho stage. An actress who knows these canons as intimately as a nativo knows his language becomes instinctive on the stage, and tho repetition 4 of the lines sounds as natural as life itself. But before this consummate" art is attained experience and knowlcdgo must precede. The acquisition of this mental balance entails years of sacrifice and industry and application. The tedium-of these first years of preparation has been retold a thousand times. Kor somo the years arc short, for others relentlessly long. And the woman who elects a stago career must bo prepared pre-pared to "play the game." She must tell herself: "I will suffer. I will . work. I will not allow discouragement to gnaw at my heartstrings." And, given the temperament and tho inherent ability, this woman will succeed. |