LONDON is a great world: it contains three aristocracies:
The aristocracy of blood, which is limited;
The aristocracy of brain, which is scattered5;
And the aristocracy of wealth, which threatens to flood the other two.
The most powerful book in the world at the beginning of the twentieth century is the cheque-book. Foreigners are adored, vulgarity is sanctioned; indeed, all are welcomed so long as gold hangs round their skirts and diamonds and pearls adorn6 their bodies. Wealth, wealth, wealth, that is the modern cry, and there seems nothing it cannot buy, even a transient position upon the stage.
Many of our well-known actors and actresses have,[Pg 22] however, been “born on the stage”—that is to say, they were the children of theatrical7 folk, and have themselves taken part in the drama almost from babyhood.
The most successful members of the profession are those possessed8 of inherited talent, or that have gone on the stage from necessity rather than choice, men and women who since early life have had to fight for themselves and overcome difficulties. It is pleasant to give a prominent example of the triumph which may result from the blending of both influences in the person of one of our greatest actresses, Mrs. Kendal, who has led a marvellously interesting life.
She was born early in the fifties, and her grandfather, father, uncles, and brother (T. W. Robertson) were all intimately connected with the stage as actors and playwrights9. When quite a child she began her theatrical career, and made her London début in 1865, when she appeared as Ophelia under her maiden10 name of Madge Robertson, Walter Montgomery playing the part of Hamlet. Little Madge was only three years old when she first trod the boards, whereon she was to portray11 a blind child, but when she espied12 her nurse in the distance, she rushed to the wings, exclaiming, “Oh, Nannie, look at my beautiful new shoes!”
Her bringing up was strict; she had no playfellows and never went to school, a governess and her father were her teachers. Every morning that father took her for a walk, explaining all sorts of things as they went along, or teaching her baby lips[Pg 23] to repeat Shelley’s “Ode to a Foxglove.” On their return home, he would read Shakespeare with her, so that the works of the bard13 were known to her almost before she learnt nursery rhymes.
“I was grown up at ten,” exclaimed Mrs. Kendal, “and first began to grow young at forty.”
When about fourteen, she was living with her parents in South Crescent, off Tottenham Court Road. One Sunday—a dreary14 heavy, dull, rainy London day—her father and mother had been talking together for hours, and she wearily went to the window to look out, the mere15 fact of watching a passer-by seeming at the moment to afford relaxation16. Tears rolled down the girl’s cheeks—she was longing17 for companions of her own age, she was leaving the dolls of childhood behind and learning to be a woman. Her father noticed that she was crying, and exclaimed in surprise, “Why, Daisy, what’s the matter?”
“I feel dull,” she said.
“Dull, dear?—dull, with your mother and me?”
A pathetic little story, truly: the parents were so wrapped up in themselves, they never realised that sometimes the rising generation might feel lonely.
“My father and mother were then old,” said Mrs. Kendal, “I was their youngest child. All the others were out in the world, trying to find a place.”
Early struggles, hopes and fears, poverty and luxury, followed in quick succession in this remarkable18 woman’s life, but any one who knows her must[Pg 24] realise it was her indomitable will and pluck, coupled, of course, with good health and exceptional talent, which brought her the high position she holds to-day.
If Mrs. Kendal makes up her mind to do a thing, by hook or by crook19 that object is accomplished20. She has great powers of organisation21, and a capacity for choosing the right people to help her. “Never say die” is apparently22 her watchword.
She, like Miss Geneviève Ward23, was originally intended for a singer, and songs were introduced into her parts in such plays as The Palace of Truth. Unfortunately she contracted diphtheria, which in those days was not controlled and arrested by antitoxin as it is now, and an operation had to be performed. All this tended to weaken her voice, which gradually left her. Consequently she gave up singing, or rather, singing gave her up, and she became a “play-actress.” She so thoroughly24 realises the disappointments and struggles of her profession that one of Mrs. Kendal’s pet hobbies is to try and counteract25 the evil arising from the wish of inexperienced girls to “go upon the stage.”
“If only the stage-struck young woman could realise all that an actress’ life means!” she said to me on one occasion. “To begin with, she is lucky if she gets a chance of ‘walking on’ at a pound a week. She has to attend rehearsals26 as numerous and as lengthy27 as the leading lady, who may be drawing ￡40 or ￡50 for the same period; though, mark you, there are very few leading ladies, while there are thousands and thousands of walkers-on who will never be anything[Pg 25] else. This ill-paid girl has not the interest of a big part, which stimulates28 the ‘star’ to work; she has only the dreariness29 of it all. Unless she be in a ballet, chorus, or pantomime, the girl has to find herself in shoes, stockings, and petticoats for the stage—no light matter to accomplish out of twenty shillings a week. Of course, in a character-part the entire costume is found, but in an ordinary case the girl has to board, lodge30, dress herself, pay for her washing, and get backwards31 and forwards to the theatre in all weathers and at all hours on one pound a week, besides supplying those stage necessaries. Thousands of women are starving in the attempt.
“A girl has to dress at the theatre in the same room with others, she is thrown intimately amongst all sorts of women, and the result is not always desirable. For instance, some years ago, a girl was playing with us, and, mentioning another member of the company, she remarked, ‘She has real lace on her under-linen.’
“I said nothing, but sent for that lace-bedecked personage and had a little private talk with her, telling her that things must be different or she must go. I tried to show her the advantages of the straight path, but she preferred the other, and has since been lost in the sea of ultimate despair.”
So spoke32 Mrs. Kendal, the famous actress, in 1903, standing33 at the top of her profession; later we will see what a girl struggling at the bottom has to say on the same subject.
“Remember,” continued Mrs. Kendal, “patience,[Pg 26] courage, and talent may bring one to the winning-post, but few ever reach that line; by far the greater number fall out soon after the start—they find the pay inadequate34, the hours too long; the back of a stage proves to be no enchanted35 land, only a dark, dreary, dusty, bustling36 place; and, disheartened, they wisely turn aside. Many of them drift aimlessly into stupid marriages for bread and butter’s sake, where discontent turns the bread sour and the butter rancid.
“The theatrical profession is not to blame—it is this terrible overcrowding. There are numbers of excellent men and women upon the stage who know that there is nothing so gross but what a good man or woman can elevate, nothing so lofty that vice37 cannot cause to totter38.
“I entirely39 disapprove40 of a dress rehearsal,” continued Mrs. Kendal. “It exhausts the actors and takes off the excitement and bloom. One must have one’s real public, and play for them and to them, and not to empty benches. We rehearse in sections. Every one in turn in our company acts in costume, so that we know each individual get-up and make-up is right; but we never dress all the characters of the play at the same time until the night of production.”
Mrs. Kendal is very severe on the subject of overdressing a part.
“Feathers and diamonds,” she said “are not worn upon the river. Why, then, smother41 a woman with them when she is playing a boating scene?[Pg 27] The dress should be entirely subservient42 to the character. If one is supposed to be old and dowdy43, one should look old and dowdy. I believe in clothing the character in character, and not striving after effect. Overdressing is as bad as over-elaboration of stage-setting: it dwarfs44 the acting45 and handicaps the performers.”
Mrs. Kendal is an abused, adored, and wonderful woman. Like all busy people, she finds time for everything, and has everything in its place. Her house is neatness exemplified, her table well arranged, the dishes dainty, and the attendance of spruce parlourmaids equally good. She believes in women and their work and employs them whenever possible.
There is an old-fashioned idea that women who earn their living are untidy in their dress and slovenly46 in their household arrangements, to say nothing of being unhappy in their home life. Those of us who know women workers can refute the charge: the busier they are, the more method they bring to bear; the more highly educated they are, the more capable in the management of their affairs. Mrs. Kendal is no exception to this rule, and in spite of her many labours, she lately encroached upon her time by undertaking47 another self-imposed task, namely, some charity work, which entailed48 endless correspondence, to say nothing of keeping books, and lists, and sorting cheques; but she managed all most successfully, and kept what she did out of the papers.
[Pg 28]
“Dissuade every one you know,” Mrs. Kendal entreated49 me one day, “from going on the stage. There are so few successes and so many failures! So many lives are shattered and hearts broken by that everlasting50 waiting for an opportunity which only comes to a few. In no profession is harder work necessary, the pay in the early stages more insignificant51 or less secure. To be a good actress it is essential to have many qualifications: first of all, health and herculean strength; the sweetest temper and most patient temperament52, although my remark once made about having ‘the skin of a rhinoceros’ was delivered in pure sarcasm53, which, however, was unfortunately taken seriously.
“I really feel very strongly about this rush to go on the stage. In the disorganisation of this democratic period we have all struggled to ascend54 one step, and many of us have tumbled down several in the attempt. Domestic servants all want to be shop-girls, and shop-girls want to be actresses—stars, mind you! Everything is upside-down, for are not the aristocracy themselves selling wine, coals, tea-cakes, and millinery?”
“Why have you succeeded?” I asked.
“Because I was born to it, cradled in the profession, my family have been upon the stage for some hundred years. To make a first-class actress, talent, luck, temperament, and opportunity must combine; but, mark you, the position of the stage does not depend upon her. It is those on the second and third rungs of the ladder who do the hardest of the work, and most firmly uphold the dignity of the stage, just as[Pg 29] it is the middle classes which rivet55 and hold together this vast Empire.”
Although married to an actor-manager, Mrs. Kendal has nothing whatever to do with the arrangements of the theatre. She does not interfere56 with anything.
“I never signed an agreement in all my life, either for myself or for anyone else. I never engage or dismiss a soul. Once everything is signed, sealed, and delivered, and all is ready, then, but not till then, my work begins, and I become stage-manager. On the stage I supervise everything, and attend to all the smallest details myself. To be stage-manager is not an enviable position, for one is held responsible for every fault.”
The Kendals lived for years in Harley Street, which is chiefly noted57 for its length, and being the home of doctors. Their house was at the end farthest from Cavendish Square, at the top on the left. I know the street well, for I was born in the house where Baroness58 Burdett-Coutts spent her girlhood, and have described in my father’s memoirs59 how, when he settled in Harley Street in 1860 as a young man, there was scarcely a doctor’s plate in that thoroughfare, or, indeed, in the whole neighbourhood. Sir William Jenner, Sir John Williams, Sir Alfred Garrod, Sir Richard Quain, and Sir Andrew Clark became his neighbours; and later Sir Francis Jeune, Lord Russell of Killowen, the present Speaker of the House of Commons (Mr. Gully), Sir William McCormac, Sir William Church, and[Pg 30] Mr. Gladstone settled quite near. Mr. Sothern (the original impersonator of Lord Dundreary and David Garrick) lived for some time in the street; but, so far as I know, he and the Kendals were the only representatives of the stage. A few years ago, not being able to add to the house they then occupied as they wished, the Kendals migrated to Portland Place, which is now their London residence, while Filey claims them for sea air and rest.
The Kendals spent five years in the United States. It was during those long and tedious journeys in Pullman-cars that Mrs. Kendal organised her “Unselfish Club.” It was an excellent idea for keeping every one in a good temper. At one end of the car the women used to meet to mend, make, and darn every afternoon, while one male member of the company was admitted to read aloud, each taking this duty in turn. Many pleasant and useful hours were spent in speeding over the dreary prairie in this manner. Only those who have traversed thousands of miles of desert can have any idea of the weariness of those days passed on the cars. The railway system is excellent, everything possible is done for one’s comfort, but the monotony is appalling60.
Two things are particularly interesting about this great actress—her keen sense of humour and her love of soap. She is always merry and cheerful, has endless jokes to tell, has a quick appreciation61 of the ridiculous, and can be just as amusing off the stage as on it.
Her love of soap-and-water is apparent in all her surroundings; she is always most carefully groomed;[Pg 31] there is nothing whatever artificial about her—anything of that sort which is necessary upon the boards is left behind at the theatre. That is one of her greatest charms. She uses no “make-up,” and, consequently, she looks much younger off the stage than she does upon it.
Her expressions and her voice are probably Mrs. Kendal’s greatest attractions. Speaking of the first, she laughingly remarked, “My face was made that way, I suppose; and as for my acting voice, I have taken a little trouble to train it. We all start in a high key, but as we get older our voices often grow two or three notes lower, and generally more melodious62, so that, while we have to keep them down in our youth, we must learn to get them up in our old age, for the head voice of comedy becomes a throat voice if not properly produced, and tends to grow hard and rasping.”
We had been discussing plays, good, bad, and indifferent.
“I have the greatest objection to the illicit63 love of the modern drama,” she remarked. “It is quite unnecessary. Every family has its tragedy, and many of these tragedies are far more thrilling, far more heart-breaking, than the unfortunate love-scenes put upon the stage.”
The charming impersonator of the “Elder Miss Blossom,” one of the most delightful64 touches of comedy-acting on record, almost invariably dresses in black. A strong, healthy-looking woman, untouched by art, and gently dealt with by years, Mrs.[Pg 32] Kendal wears her glorious auburn hair neatly65 parted in front and braided at the back. Fashion in this line does not disturb her; she has always worn it in the same way, and even upon the stage has rarely donned a wig66. She tells a funny little story of how a dear friend teased and almost bullied67 her to be more fashionable about her head. Every one was wearing fringes at the time, and the lady begged her not to be so “odd,” but to adopt the new and becoming mode. Just to try the effect, Mrs. Kendal went off to a grand shop, told the man to dress her hair in the very latest style, paid a guinea for the performance, and went home. Her family and servants were amazed; but when she arrived at her friend’s house that evening her hostess failed to recognise her. So the fashionable hairdressing was never repeated.
“I worked the hardest,” said Mrs. Kendal, in reply to a question, “in America. For months we gave nine performances a week. The booking was so heavy in the different towns, and our time so limited, that we actually had to put in a third matinée, and as occasionally rehearsals were necessary, and long railway journeys always essential, it was really great labour.
Photo by Alfred Ellis, Upper Baker68 Street, W.
MR. W. H. KENDAL.
“As a rule I was dressed by ten, and managed to get in an hour’s walk before the matinée. Back to the hotel after the performance for a six o’clock meal, generally composed of a cutlet and coffee, quickly followed by a return to the theatre and another performance. To change one’s dress fourteen [Pg 33]times a day, as I did when playing The Ironmaster, becomes a little wearisome when it continues for months.”
“Did you not find that people in America were extraordinarily69 hospitable70?” I inquired, remembering the great kindness I received in Canada and the States.
“Undoubtedly71; but we had little time for anything of that sort, which has always been a great regret to me. It is hard lines to be in a place one wants to see, among people one wants to know, and never to have time for play, only everlasting work. We did make many friends on Sundays, however, and I have the happiest recollections of America.”
Pictures are a favourite hobby of the Kendals, and they have many beautiful canvases in their London home. Every corner is filled by something in the way of a picture, every one of which they love for itself, and for the memories of the way they came by it, more often than not as the result of some successful “run.” They have built their home about them bit by bit. Hard work and good management have slowly and gradually attained72 their ends, and they laugh over the savings73 necessary to buy such and such a treasure, and love it all the more for the little sacrifices made for its attainment74. How much more we all appreciate some end or some thing we have had difficulty in acquiring. That which falls at our feet seems of little value compared with those objects and aims secured by self-denial.
“There is no doubt about it,” Mrs Kendal finished[Pg 34] by saying, “theatrical life is hard; hard in the beginning, and hard in the end.”
Such words from a woman in Mrs. Kendal’s position are of vast import. She knows what she is talking about; she realises the work, the drudgery75, the small pay, and weary hours, and when she says, “Dissuade girls from rushing upon the stage,” those would-be aspirants for dramatic fame should listen to the advice of so experienced an actress and capable woman.
As said at the beginning of this chapter, Mrs. Kendal was cradled in the theatre: she was also married on the stage.
Madge Robertson and William Kendal Grimston were playing in Manchester when one fine day they were married by special licence. A friend of Mr. Kendal’s had the Town Hall bells rung in honour of the event, and the young couple were ready to start off for their honeymoon76, when Henry Compton, the great actor, who was “billed” for the following nights, was telegraphed for to his brother’s deathbed.
At once the arrangements had to be altered. As You Like It was ordered, and Mr. and Mrs. Kendal were caught just as they were leaving the town, and bidden to play Orlando and Rosalind to the Touchstone of Buckstone. The honeymoon had to be postponed77.
The young couple found the house unusually full on their wedding night, although they believed no one knew of their marriage until they came to the words, “Will you, Orlando, have to wife this Rosalind?[Pg 35]” when the burst of applause and prolonged cheering assured them of the good wishes of their public friends.
Another little romance of the stage happened to the Forbes Robertsons. Just before I sailed for Canada, in August, 1900, Mr. Johnston Forbes Robertson came to dinner. He had been away in Italy for some months recruiting after a severe illness, and was just starting forth78 on an autumn tour of his own.
“Have you a good leading lady?” I inquired.
“I think so,” he replied. “I met her for the first time this morning, and had never seen her before.”
“How indiscreet,” I exclaimed. “How do you know she can act?”
“While I was abroad I wrote to two separate friends in whose judgment79 I have much confidence, asking them to recommend me a leading lady. Both replied suggesting Miss Gertrude Elliott as suitable in every way. Their opinions being identical, and so strongly expressed, I considered she must be the lady for me, and telegraphed, offering her an engagement accordingly. She accepted by wire, and at our first rehearsal this morning promised very well.”
I left England almost immediately afterwards, and eight or ten weeks later, while in Chicago, saw a big newspaper headline announcing the engagement of a pretty American actress to a well-known English actor. Naturally I bought the paper at once to see who the actor might be, and lo! it was Mr. Forbes Robertson. It seemed almost impossible: but impossible things have a curious knack81 of being true,[Pg 36] and the signed photograph I had with me of Forbes Robertson, among those of other distinguished82 English friends, proved useful to the American press, who were glad of a copy for immediate80 reproduction. Almost as quickly as this handsome couple were engaged, they were married. Was not that a romance?
Mr. Forbes Robertson originally intended to be an artist, and his going on the stage came about by chance. He was a student at the Royal Academy, when his friend the late W. G. Wills was in need of an actor to play the part of Chastelard in his Mary Stuart, then being given at the Princess’s Theatre. It was difficult to procure83 exactly the type of face he wanted, for well-chiselled features are not so common as one might suppose. Young Forbes Robertson possessed those features, his clear-cut profile being exactly suitable for Chastelard. Consequently, after much talk with the would-be artist, who was loth to give up his cherished profession, W. G. Wills introduced his friend to the beautiful Mrs. Rousby, with the result that young Forbes Robertson undertook the part at four days’ notice.
Thus it was his face that decided84 his fate. From that moment the stage had been his profession and art his hobby; but a newer craze is rapidly driving paints and brushes out of the field, for, like many another, the actor has fallen a victim to golf.
There is no finer elocutionist on the stage than Forbes Robertson, and therefore it is interesting to know that he expresses it as his opinion that:
“Elocution can be taught.”
From a painting by Hugh de T. Glazebrook.
MR. J. FORBES-ROBERTSON.
[Pg 37]
Phelps was his master, and he attributes much of his success to that master’s careful training. What a pity Phelps cannot live among us again, to teach some of the younger generation to speak more clearly than they do.
Bad enunciation and noisy music often combine to make the words from the stage inaudible to the audience. Why an old farmer should arrive down a country lane to a blare of trumpets85 is unintelligible86: why a man should plot murder to a valse, or a woman die to slow music, is a conundrum87, but such is the fashion on the stage. One sometimes sits through a performance without hearing any of what ought to be the most thrilling lines.
Johnston Forbes Robertson has lived from the age of twenty-one in Bloomsbury. His father was a well-known art critic until blindness overtook him, and then the responsibility of the home fell on the eldest88 son’s shoulders. His father was born and bred in Aberdeen, and came as a young man to London, where he soon got work as a journalist, and wrote much on art for the Sunday Times, the Art Journal, etc. His most important work was The Great Painters of Christendom.
The West Central district of London, with its splendid houses, its Adams ceilings and overmantels, went quite out of fashion for more than a quarter of a century. With the dawn, however, of 1900, people began to realise that South Kensington stood on clay, was low and damp, and consequently they gradually migrated back to the Regent’s Park and those fine old[Pg 38] squares in Bloomsbury. One after another the houses were taken, and among Mr. Forbes Robertson’s neighbours are George Grossmith and his brother Weedon, Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Hicks, Lady Monckton, “Anthony Hope,” and many well-known judges, aldermen, solicitors89, and architects.
In the old home in Bloomsbury the artistic90 family of Forbes Robertson was reared. Johnston, as we know, suddenly neglected his easel for the stage; his sister Frances took up literature as a profession; and his brothers, known as Ian Robertson and Norman Forbes, both adopted the theatrical profession. So the Robertsons may be classed among the theatrical families.
Who in the latter end of the nineteenth century did not weep with Miss Terry?—who did not laugh with her well-nigh to tears? A great personality, a wondrous91 charm of voice and manner, a magnetic influence on all her surroundings—all these are possessed by Ellen Terry.
In the days of their youth Mrs. Kendal and Miss Ellen Terry played together, but many years elapsed between then and the Coronation year of Edward VII., when they met again behind the footlights, in a remarkable performance which shall be duly chronicled in these pages.
Like Mrs. Kendal, Miss Ellen Terry began her theatrical life as a child. She was born in Coventry in 1848—not far from Shakespeare’s home, which later in life became such an attractive spot for her. Her parents had theatrical engagements at Coventry[Pg 39] at the time of her birth, so that verily she was cradled on the stage. She was one of four remarkable sisters, Kate, Ellen, Marion, and Florence, all clever actresses and sisters of Fred Terry; while another brother, although not himself an actor, was connected with the stage, Miss Minnie Terry being his daughter. Altogether ten or twelve members of the Terry family have been in the profession.
Ellen Terry, like Irving, Wyndham, Hare, Mrs. Kendal, and Lady Bancroft, learnt her art in stock companies.
Miss Ellen Terry has always had the greatest difficulty in learning her parts, and as years have gone on, even in remembering her lines in oft-acted plays; but every one knows how apt she is to be forgetful, and prompt her over her difficulties. Irving, on the other hand, is letter-perfect at the first rehearsal, and rarely wants help of any kind.
Ellen Terry is so clever that even when she has forgotten her words she knows how to “cover” herself by walking about the stage or some other pretty by-play until a friend comes to her aid. Theatrical people are extremely good to one another on these occasions. Somebody is always ready to come to the rescue. After the first week everything goes smoothly92 as a rule, until the strain of a long run begins to tell, and they all in turn forget their words, much to the discomfiture93 of the prompter.
Forgetting the words is a common thing during a long run. I remember Miss Geneviève Ward telling me that after playing Forget-Me-Not some five[Pg 40] hundred times she became perfectly94 dazed, and that Jefferson had experienced the same with Rip van Winkle, which he has to continually re-study. Miss Gertrude Elliott suffered considerably96 in the same way during the long run of Mice and Men.
Much has been said for and against a long run; but surely the “against” ought to have it. No one can be fresh and natural in a part played night after night—played until the words become hazy97, and that dreadful condition “forgetting the lines” arrives.
At a charming luncheon98 given by Mr. Pinero for the American Gillette, when the latter was creating such a furore in England with Sherlock Holmes, I ventured to ask that actor how long he had played the part of the famous detective.
“For three years,” he replied.
“Then I wonder you are not insane.”
“So do I, ma’am, I often wonder myself, for the strain is terrible, and sometimes I feel as if I could never walk on to the stage at all; but when the theatre is full, go I must, and go I do; though I literally99 shun100 the name of Sherlock Holmes.”
We quickly turned to other subjects, and discussed the charm of American women, a theme on which it is easy for an English woman to wax eloquent101.
If a man like Gillette, with all his success, all his monetary102 gain, and no anxiety—for he did not finance his own theatres—could feel like that about a long run, what horrors it must present to others less happily situated103.
Long runs, which are now so much desired by[Pg 41] managers in England and America, are unknown on the Continent. In other countries, where theatres are more or less under State control, they never occur. Of course the “long run” is the outcome of the vast sums expended104 on the production. Managers cannot recoup themselves for the outlay105 unless the play draws for a considerable while. But is this the real end and aim of acting? Does it give opportunity for any individual actor to excel?
But to return to Ellen Terry. She has played many parts and won the love of a large public by her wonderful personality, for there is something in her that charms. She is not really beautiful, yet she can look lovely. She has not a strong voice, yet she can sway audiences at will to laughter or tears. She has not a fine figure, yet she can look a royal queen or simple maiden. Once asked whether she preferred comedy or tragedy, she replied:
“I prefer comedy, but I should be very sorry if there were no sad plays. I think the feminine predilection106 for a really good cry is one that should not be discouraged, inasmuch as there are few things that yield us a truer or a deeper pleasure; but I like comedy as the foundation, coping-stone, and pillar of a theatre. Not comedies for the mere verbal display of wit, but comedies of humour with both music and dancing.”
Miss Ellen Terry has a cheery disposition107, invariably looks on the bright side of things, and not only knows how to work, but has actually done so almost continuously from the age of eight.
[Pg 42]
One of Miss Terry’s greatest charms is her mastery over expression. It is really strange how little facial and physical expression are understood in England. We are the most undemonstrative people. It is much easier for a Frenchman to act than for an Englishman; the former is always acting; the little shrug108 of the shoulders, the movement of the hand and the head, or a wink95 of the eye, accompany every sentence that falls from his lips. He is full of movement, he speaks as much with his body as with his mouth, and therefore it is far less difficult for him to give expression to his thoughts upon the stage than it is for the stolid109 Britisher, whose public school training has taught him to avoid showing feeling, and squeezed him into the same mould of unemotional conventionality as all his other hundreds of schoolfellows. There is no doubt about it that everything on the stage must be exaggerated to be effective. It is a world of unreality, and the more pronounced the facial and physical expression brought to bear, the more effective the representation of the character.
To realise the truth of these remarks, one should visit a small theatre in France, a theatre in some little provincial110 town, where a quite unimportant company is playing. They all seem to act, to be thoroughly enamoured of their parts, and to play them with their whole heart and soul. It is quite wonderful, indeed, to see the extraordinary capacity of the average French actor and actress for expressing emotion upon the stage. Of course it is their characteristic; but on the other hand, the German nation is[Pg 43] quite as stolid as our own, and yet the stage is held by them in high esteem111, and the amount of drilling gone through is so wonderful that one is struck by the perfect playing of an ordinary provincial German. At home these Teutonic folk are hard and unemotional, but on the boards they expand. One has only to look at the German company that comes over to London every year to understand this remark. They play in a foreign tongue, the dresses are ordinary, one might say poor, the scenery is meagre, there is nothing, in fact, to help the acting in any way; and yet no one who goes to see one of their performances can fail to be impressed by the wonderful thoroughness and the general playing-in-unison of the entire company. Of course they do not aim so high as the Meiningen troupe112, for they were a State company and the personal hobby of the Duke whose name they bore. We have no such band of players in England, although F. R. Benson has done much without State aid to accomplish the same result, and in many cases has succeeded admirably.
We have heard a great deal lately about the prospect113 of a State-Aided Theatre and Opera in London; and there is much to be said for and against the scheme. Municipal administration is often extravagant114 and not unknown to jobbery, neither of which would be advisable; but the present system leads to actor-managers and powerful syndicates, which likewise have their drawbacks. There is undoubtedly much to be said both for and against each system, and the British public has to decide. Meantime we learn that the six[Pg 44] Imperial theatres in Russia (three in St. Petersburg and three in Moscow), with their schools attached, cost the Emperor some ￡400,000 a year. “It is possible to visit the opera for 5d., to see Russian pieces for 3d., French and German for 9d.” These cheap seats are supposed to be a source of education to the populace, but there are expensive ones as well.
Some Englishmen understand the art of facial expression. A little piece was played for a short time by Mr. Charles Warner, under the management of Mrs. Beerbohm Tree. The chief scene took place in front of a telephone, through which instrument the actor heard his wife and child being murdered many miles away in the country, he being in Paris. It was a ghastly idea, but Charles Warner’s face was a study from the first moment to the last. He grew positively115 pale, he had very little to say, and yet he carried off an entire scene of unspeakable horror merely by his facial and physical expression.
Some of our actors are amusingly fond of posing off the stage as well as on. One well-known man was met by a friend who went forward to shake his hand.
“Ah, how do you do?” gushed116 the Thespian117, striking an attitude, “how do you do, old chap? Delighted to see you,” then assuming a dramatic air, “but who the —— are you?”
And this was his usual form of greeting after an effusive118 handshake.
In a busy life it is of course impossible to remember every face, and the nonentities119 should surely forgive the celebrities120, for it is so easy to recognise a well-known[Pg 45] person owing to the constant recurrence121 of his name or portrait in the press, and so easy to forget a nonentity122 whom nothing recalls, and whose face resembles dozens more of the same type.
One often hears actors and actresses abused—that is the penalty of success. Mediocrity is left alone, but, once successful, out come the knives to flay123 the genius to pieces; in fact, the more abused a man is, the more sure he may feel of his achievements. Abuse follows success in proportion to merit, just as foolish hopes make the disappointments of life.
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1
aspirants
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| n.有志向或渴望获得…的人( aspirant的名词复数 )v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的第三人称单数 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人 | |
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2
rehearsal
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| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
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3
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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4
enunciation
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| n.清晰的发音；表明，宣言；口齿 | |
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5
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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6
adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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7
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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8
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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playwrights
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| n.剧作家( playwright的名词复数 ) | |
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10
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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11
portray
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| v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等) | |
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12
espied
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| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
bard
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| n.吟游诗人 | |
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14
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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15
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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16
relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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17
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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18
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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19
crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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20
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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21
organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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22
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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23
ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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24
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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25
counteract
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| vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消 | |
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26
rehearsals
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| n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复 | |
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27
lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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28
stimulates
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| v.刺激( stimulate的第三人称单数 )；激励；使兴奋；起兴奋作用，起刺激作用，起促进作用 | |
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29
dreariness
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| 沉寂，可怕，凄凉 | |
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30
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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31
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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32
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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33
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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34
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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35
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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36
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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37
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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38
totter
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| v.蹒跚， 摇摇欲坠；n.蹒跚的步子 | |
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39
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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40
disapprove
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| v.不赞成，不同意，不批准 | |
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41
smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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42
subservient
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| adj.卑屈的，阿谀的 | |
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43
dowdy
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| adj.不整洁的；过旧的 | |
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44
dwarfs
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| n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式） | |
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45
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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46
slovenly
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| adj.懒散的，不整齐的，邋遢的 | |
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47
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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48
entailed
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| 使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需 | |
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49
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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51
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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52
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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53
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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54
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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55
rivet
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| n.铆钉；vt.铆接，铆牢；集中(目光或注意力) | |
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56
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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57
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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58
baroness
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| n.男爵夫人，女男爵 | |
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59
memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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60
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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61
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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62
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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63
illicit
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| adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的 | |
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64
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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65
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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66
wig
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| n.假发 | |
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67
bullied
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| adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68
baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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69
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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70
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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71
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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72
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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73
savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 | |
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74
attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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75
drudgery
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| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
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76
honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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77
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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78
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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79
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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80
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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81
knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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82
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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83
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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84
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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85
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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86
unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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87
conundrum
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| n.谜语；难题 | |
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88
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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89
solicitors
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| 初级律师( solicitor的名词复数 ) | |
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90
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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91
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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92
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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93
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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94
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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95
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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96
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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97
hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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98
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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99
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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100
shun
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| vt.避开，回避，避免 | |
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101
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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102
monetary
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| adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的 | |
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103
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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104
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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105
outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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106
predilection
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| n.偏好 | |
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107
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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108
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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109
stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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110
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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111
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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112
troupe
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| n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团 | |
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113
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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114
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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115
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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116
gushed
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| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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117
thespian
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| adj.戏曲的；n.演员；悲剧演员 | |
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118
effusive
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| adj.热情洋溢的；感情(过多)流露的 | |
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119
nonentities
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| n.无足轻重的人( nonentity的名词复数 )；蝼蚁 | |
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120
celebrities
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| n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉 | |
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121
recurrence
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| n.复发，反复，重现 | |
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122
nonentity
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| n.无足轻重的人 | |
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123
flay
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| vt.剥皮；痛骂 | |
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