Child-Actresses

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 161, 17 July 1886, Page 4

Child -Actresses

In the theatrical paper?, advertisements for a '• child-actress" who must be " pretty and clever" are common. The childactress should not be confounded with the children trained to toddle through their steps in pantomime. Hers its a " speaking part, 7 ' and she is theonly *• artiste" for whom the demand exceeds the supply. Several of the leading actresses now on the stage were child -actresses one©. It is for domestic drama that the young lady is chiefly engaged. Bhe is the daughter*or the son — for little boys' parts are always played by girls — of the persecuted heroine, who in almost every case is driven by the machinations of a villain to hiring some poor lodging, where she starves as a semptress. The child-actress tells the. gentleman who visits her mamma that she ia ' so hungry," and her business is to reconcile her father and mother. Last week I was asked by a theatrical manager to accompany him to an agent's, where ho expected to find a variety of childactresees waiting to be interviewed. He had advertised for one. Now. it is always difficult to catch a theatrical agent. If i you make an appointment with him, the i way to keep it is to be at the place agreed i upon an hour before or an hour after the time. We did not take that precaution, i and so had to wait. Evidently the agent's i business was a large one Before he api peared there were half a dozen persons in i the rooms beside ourselves, actresses and actors, for whom he was trying to get en fragementa. Only one interested me much. She was a child of about six years of age, ' and when she came in with a woman whom I rightly took to be her mother, ehe asked the clerk to get her a chair. She sat on it, and the mother stood by her side. The child had yellow hair, obviously dyed, and was completely at home. I looked at my friend, the manager — he nodded. This was doubtless a chiii actress, attending in answer to his advertisement. He, I may *~ay, was getting rather nervous. A bachelor, he "knew nothing about children," and his child-actress was wanted for a tour of the provinces. Had it been for London he would have had little or no responsibility ; for some friend of the child's could have brought her to the theatte, and taken hor home when the performance was over. Of course he could relieve himself of all trouble by engaging the mother to accompany the child on tour, but that msant another 1 salary. ' The agent led the way into another room, with a form along one wall and a watertap and sink in the corner for its sole furniture Here the children were assembled, , and here a surprise awaited us. There were only three candidates, including the yellow -haired one ; and my friend had ex- . pected " row upon row." Th^ two children whom we now saw for the firnt timo ' were timid things. One could not havo been more than four years old, though the grown-up pistor who accompanied her steadily maintained that she was "gone six " She 1 was a pretty child, but hopelesaly shy. Number two was " experienced." She had beon in two Drury Lane pin fcomitnep, and though she had never essayed a "speaking parti" she had once been all but engaged for that purpose, which her mother seemed to think was much the same thing, That mother was a curiosity. During the whole of the interview she was making kettle-holders. She finishei one beforejahe left the agGnt's office, and the momenilthe^aatetitch was put in it she took more cloth from her pocket and proceeded to shape anothei. This old and evidently most respectable person was a " dicker" at ono of the East End theatres ; and on this occasion her child was a disappointment to tier The young lady would answer no questions, but eat with her eye on the dooi . Sometimes, when the mother thought^he v\ as unobserved, she nodded significantly to her daughter ; aud then the child paid, without a nhade of interest m her voice, "I should like very much to go on tour with the kind gentleman." This had obviously been reheareed boforehand ; and it was amusing to watch the mother looking un trom her kettle-holders to ?ee how it affected the "kind gentleman"' The child, we are assured, was "jn fi.ll of fun a* a kvvten '" and a " born actress ;" but. the kind gentleman did not think ene would All this time the yellovv-haived child sat etiilly on the torm, looking jontemptiunisiy at the othei-. Whun we turned to her the positions woie at unco reversed. Huherto we had been ttie interview ois ; now we beca ne the infcei v icced. Viy friend had a very bad quatter of -m hour with this young woman : even th« accent was nonplussed. FiraC ehe explained in the most self po°sessed manner th.it she was "thoroughly experienced " She would have preferred a town engagement, but did not mind tho provinces it they could come to a satisfactory agreement. She had been a tour of the provinces already, playing in burlesque ; indeed, her line was burlesque, and sshe "went in for step dancing." She offered there and then to give us a specimen of hor capabilities in thai; way ; but as dancing was not required of her the proposal was declined Here had been a speaking part, and she had sung in the chorus. She'would have pre ferred a eolo, however, and she had press notices (which were produced) to show that she had sung and danced with the greatest succees in one of the most popular provincial pantomimes. It turned out that she was quite a noted little person in her way. The agent had .heard her spoken of more than once, and she did not at all exaggerate her success at the pantomime. Bouquets had "been ftunp to her, the lessee had presented hur with a medal — tho medal was produced — and a rival manager had offered her an engagement to play in "The Babes in the Wood " next j ear at a salary of £10 a week. (This is a fact). Our " iofuDt phenomenon," however, was willing to "si^n " with my friend for 30s ; and, for £2 for both, her mother would accompany her. It is only at Christmas-time, or when playing an unusually heavy part in a prominent London theatre, that the childactre&p commands fanoy salaries. This one peemed quite capable of looking after herself on tour, and only required a guardian for propriety's sake. Except to murmur admiringly, " Only six year old, wi-ich I can show the certificate," the mother left all the talking to this remarkable child. There was' not much tin.c to lose, and this child-actress would have been engaged on the spot had it not been for her abominable accent and pronunciation. She was from the south-west of England, and all her "shes" were "hers" and her "wes" "ud." But defective grammar in » child-actress is a comparatively trivial matter. She learns her " lines " parrot-like, and so long as eho epeaks them as they are written all's well enough. And ad these children learn their parts very quickly, and seldom require the prompter's aid. As a rule they are letter-perfect before the rest of the company. The address of this child was taken, and ehe was told that ehe "would probably hear from the management in a day Qr two." My friend was in hopes that some other applicant might yet

appear in answer to the advertisement* who, if less precocious than this one, would have a better voice. Hie hopes have been fulfilled, and a child has been engaged who is quite as typical a specimen of the childactress and more attractive. I have not seen her, but, according to all accounts, she is a marvel. On the stage she is full of tricks. She has the approved "staga smile," and she looks bo happy that even the chairman of a School Board could nob say "it is a sad sight to see a mere:*infant like that on the stage." She introduces new " business " into her part every other night. For instance, in the piece she lately played in there is a " fronr,- Bcene,'r 8 cene,' r where a servant has to carry in a chair, and then, before the scene can be changed, carry it off again. Every playgoer has seen this done, and knows that" it is the I gallery s opportunity for " chaffing " the j unlucky servant. This child saw that something could be made out of this, and asked to be allowed to carry the chair. Her "business" consists in staggering* in with it as if it were a tremendous weight. She tumbles when carrying it off. In short, she is aware that her attraction lies in bein? a child,—" St James's Gazette."