REMINISCENCES BY MR SOTHERN.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2326, 17 September 1881, Page 3

REMINISCENCES BY MR SOTHERN.

The late Mr Sothern recently penned the subjoined interesting account of the alterations he made in his celebrated role of Lord Dundreary, and of the occurrences and accidents of whicb he availed himself in elaborating the business of his part;— “ The piece known as “ The American Cousin,” by Tom Taylor, was put in rehearsal. I was cast for the part of Lord Dundreary, a fourth-rate old man, rnly forty-seven lines, I refused the part, but finally agreed with Mr Burnett, the stagemanager, to play on the condition that I should entirely rewrite it. Miss Keene was also full of objections, which, however, she finally yielded. In rewriting the part, I threw into it everything that struck me as wildly absurd. There is not a single look, word, or act in Lord Dundreary that has not been suggested to me by persona whom I have known since I was five years of age. It has frequently been said that I have cut the piece down for the purpose of Dundreary ising the performance. This is not true. I have simply out out the cellar scene, a drunken act, which was never popular, and so rearranged the play that, instead of seventeen scenes, which it had when it came from the hands of the author, it is now in four acts of one scene each.

“ My part the first night was by no means a pronounced success. In fact, it was two or three weeks before the people began to understand what I was about. I had acted so many serious parts before that the public evidently considered that every tone of ray voice ought to be pathetic, just as they now seem to think that every tone represents some mad eccentricity.

“ * How,’ I have been asked, 1 did you happen to hit on that strange hop, skip, and jump business which has been made so effective in your delineation of the character ? ’ • Why,’ I reply, ‘ it was the simplest thing in the world ; it was a mere accident. I have naturally an elastic disposition, and during a rehearsal one cold morning I was hopping at the back of the stage, when Miss Keene sarcastically inquired if I was going to introduce that in Dundreary. The actors and actresses standing around laughed, and, taking the cue, I replied, “ Yes, Miss Keene; that’s my view of the character,” Having said this I was bound to stick to it, and as I progressed with the rehearsal I found that the whole company, including scene-shifters and property men, were roaring with laughter at my infernal

nonsense. When I saw that the public accepted the satire, I toned it down to the broad caricature which may be seen at the present day by any one who has a quick sense of the absurd.’ "You remember that in one act I have a by-play on my fingers, on which I count from one to ten, and then reversing begin with the thumb and count ten, nine, eight, seven, six, and five are eleven. This has frequently been denounced by critics as utterly out of place in the character. But I took the incident from actual life, having seen a notoriously clever man on the English turf, as quick as lightning in _ calculating odds, completely puzzled by this ridiculous problem. My distortion of the old aphorisms has likewise been frequently cavilled at as too nonsensical for an educated man. Now, see how easily this thought was suggested. A number of us some years ago were taking supper in Halifax after a performance, when a gentleman who has now retired from the stage, but who is living in New York, suddenly entered the room and said, ‘ Oh, yes, I see 5 birds of a feather,’ &c. The thought instantly struck mo on the weak side, and, winking at my brother actors, and assuming utter ignorance, I said, 1 What do you mean by birds of a feather ? ’ He looked rather staggered, and replied, ‘What, have you never heard of the old English proverb, “Birds of a feather flock together ? ” ’ Every one shook his head. Ho then said, * I never met such a lot of Ignoramuses in my life.’ That was my cue, and I began to turn the proverb inside out. I said to him, ‘ There never could have boon such a proverb—birds of a feather! The idea of a whole flock of birds having only one feather ! The thing is utterly ridiculous. Besides the poor bird that had that feather must have flown on one side ; consequently, as the other birds couldn’t fly at all, they couldn’t flock together. But even accepting the absurdity, if they flocked at all they must flock together, as no bird could possibly be such a fool as to go into a corner and try and flock by himself.’ Our visitor began to see the point of the logic, and was greeted with roars of laughter. I made a memorandum of the incident, and years afterwards elaborated the idea in writing Dundreary. I have quires upon quires of memoranda of a similar character ; but whenever I play the part the public seem so disappointed at not bearing the old lines that 1 fear I shall never have the opportunity of getting them to accept what would really be a much better version.