On this page
-
Text (1)
-
390 A FEW WORDS ABOUT ACTRESSES , .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
The Life Of An Actress Is To The World A...
" unlucky property" is almost a problem—in these ill-starred theatresthento which their inadequacies or necessities condemn
, , them , a limited and not over-critical _g-allery audience is all that can be relied upon for support ; to coax their threepences or sixpences
from them a constant succession of _novelties must be supplied , and in abundant measure too _* and actors and actresses must labor
accordingly . Under such circumstances , the young actress will have to rely for
help almost entirely upon her own endeavors . Certainly instruction of a kind will be at hand . The older and more experienced
members of the company will hardly refrain from correcting the ignorant blunders she may commit in what is technically termed the " busi _^
ness " of the stage ; she will get initiated into tjie small mysteries , of making entrances and exits properlyof where and how she
, must stand , "what to do with herself whilst others are speaking , etc . But it is in the rough hard work itself that the real service lies ; in
the actual doing , the rapid assumption , however imperfectly , of one character after another . In no other way will the novice so soon
become divested of constraint and awkwardness , gain freedom in movement and action , and grasp the power of expression and char
racterization . "We must briefly mention that acting is divided into what are
called " lines . " These are determined by the different species of character that make up the usual dramatis personm of a play .
Amongst the women , first in rank there is the line of the " leading juvenile " lady , who , as the term implies , would pjay the youthful
heroines ; she would be " Juliet" in Shakespeare's tragedy , " Pauline " in the " Lady of Lyons , " etc .: then the " heavy" _ladyj Macbethand Emiliain
to whom such parts as " Lady , " " " " Othello" would belong : the " comedy" ladythe " Rosalind " and
, " Beatrice" of the theatre : the " walking" lady , whose portion is all the quiet , insipid young ladies , who walk about with little to say
or do : the " chambermaid" and the " old woman : " in all about six lines . Besides these there are burlesque actresses , dancer _® ?
singers , etc . In the multifarious work we have just been describing , the novice
would doubtless have to play parts in three or four different lines , though we will suppose her ultimate ambition to be that of beeomr
ing a " leading" lady ; which line , including as it does so many beautiful creations of poetry and romance , makes demands upon the
highest order of ability . "We will take one of the large , first-class provincial theatres as the next sphere of her labor , as indeed an
engagement in any of these would be the most natural step in a progressive course . Their number cLoes not exceed a dozen in aU , witlj .
such theatres as those of Manchester , Birmingham , and Dublin at their head . In them exist the comforts of better order and organization .
The work of the theatre is properly divided , an adequate number of
people are employed to fill the various departments , and laws and
390 A Few Words About Actresses , .
390 A FEW _WORDS ABOUT ACTRESSES , .
-
-
Citation
-
English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Feb. 1, 1859, page 390, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01021859/page/30/
-