A WORD ABOUT AMATEUR THEATRICALS.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1965, 23 August 1869, Page 2

A WORD ABOUT AMATEUR THEATRICALS.

By Balch. There is an epoch in every man’s (aqd shall I add woman’s?) history which may be designated the stage-struck period. Everybody, at some time or other, thinks his peculiar mission or forte to be the stage. It would not be easy to fix upon the precise time or age when this fever is first developed, or tq determine with accuracy the periqd qver which its symptqms extend) inas : much as it is no uncommon occurrence to find an old stage-struck fool as yell as a young stage-struck fool. Certainly the fever may be said to have attained its culminating point when, having gained the long-looked-for opportunity of spreading his untried histrionic wings, the patient gets, what he so deservedly merits—the severe condemnation of the public. Nor is there anything extraordinary in this : the penalty, though harsh, is salutary. A

man is not, happily, what he thinks himself, but simply what the world thinks him; and if he will fume and strut upon the stage with no higher justifying qualification than a vague and restless ambition, he deserves to be well laughed at for his pains. We do not wonder at the penalty which folly thus provokes, though we may wonder that the disappointment and humiliation attending noviciate efforts do not prove sufficiently powerful to prevent folly becoming contagious. But one succession of fools invariably makes way for another succession of fools, and so we apprehend, it will continue to the end of the chapter. The secret lies in the strange fascination of the stage. The indefinable mystery connected with 4t behind the scenes/’ the brilliant dresses and splendid scenic accessories; the intoxicating sensuousness of the semidraped figures ; —all exert a powerful influence upon the unformed character, and make a willing captive of the imagination before it becomes mellowed by experience, or is brought within the control of sober sense. Add to these the ringing applause which some popular actor draws forth, and the first step in the lunatic career of the stage-struck man is decided. Let us now follow him to the stage, and see how he deports himself in that sphere in which he believes himself so well qualified to shine. He has learnt “ by heart” the unimportant part allotted him; he has submitted like a martyr to the dreary though necessary forms of discipline at the hands of the stage manager ; he has gone through the various rehearsals, not, however, without feeling some portion of his courage silently evaporating at his fingers’ ends ; and now the awful moment has arrived, and he is about to be ushered on the stage —that stage which in his dreams he has pictured as the future arena of his labors and his triumphs. Look at him now, and see what a deplorable figure he cuts. Ashamed to face his audience, he ambles on the stage like a shuffling nag, and articulates his part with the address of a parrot. Though we know that his folly is self imposed, we cannot but feel a pity for him at this moment, and who does not feel an indescribable sense of relief when all this foolery terminates, and the actor (1) is consigned to the limbo of the back ground 1 Have amateurs any adequate conception of character 1 Do they know that the language they utter is intended to illustrate or develope certain phases in character? Not in the least. Certainly not one in fifty comprehends the nice relationship between the various parts, and how necessary it is to maintain one evenly-sustained balance of action in order to the efficient representation of the whole. The consequence is that amateurs make their characters ridiculous by making them their own. As specimens of acting, amateur efforts must be emphatically pronounced failures and libels upon humanity. To walk the stage in embroidered trousers, lace ruffles, or hats decked with feathers, is no doubt a pleasant recreation, but it should never be forgotten that these adjuncts are merely subservient to a higher and nobler object of the mimic art. A pitiful exhibition of tawdry finely is not sufficient to call down the applause of even the gods; and thoughtful men much grieve when they observe the drama degraded by men without ability to sustain their parts, and with no higher recommendation than the borrowed finery about their person.

As actors engaged in the real drama of every-day life, these men are capable of sustaining very creditable parts—are very worthy, estimable men—are sure, eaph in his separate part, to be appreciated and admired, but they simply mistake their vocation ■when they ascend the mimic stage. It is reserved to but few to appear in this dual capacity with equal credit. Let amateurs look to it, and if there is a piece of tom-foolery to be perpetrated, let it in decency be kept away from the public gaze.

“ Let not tlie cobbler go beyond his last.”