VIEWS OF LEADERS IN THE PROFESSION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 21 May 1907, Page 4

VIEWS OF LEADERS IN THE PROFESSION.

stack ui; home? London, March 2l>. The ( |iieslion "Should Actresses Marry?'' disclosed by the Playgoer.-' Club on Sunday night Ims aroused widespread interest among members of the theatrical profession. The following is a selection of views given to Express representatives last night:— MISS EDNA .MAY. "1 think every woman should many. actress or otherwise." MISS MARIE S'ITDIIOLMK. "I hops nobody will insist on actresses marrying dramatic critics. 1 should hate 1o be doomed to marry one of the men who wrote the early notices about 'My Darling.' That sort'of thing would not be fair to the dramatic critic either, liecau-e 1 am sure his wife would make him say awful things about all the oilier actresses

"Don't" you think the Playgoer-' Club might be induced to let actresses marry whom I hey like! A woman ought not to main- anvbndv but Ihe man slie loves. "I think every actress shou'd decide the matter for herself, and I am fairly certain they will do so. Painters marry anil pods mam-. Whoever heard of their art suffering for it? Why then should an actress?" MISS SVlilf. AI!UNI)AI,E. "The luckiest tiling an actress can Uo is to marry a. man wiio can keep her, so that sin- can leave the stage. "ft is hopeless to be married if you remain on the stage, 1 should imagine. It kills home life. To marry a man who is not on the stage seems to me to be cruelty to the husband. Sup-i pose he works in the city. He goes home in the evening in time to see his wife dash oil' to the theatre where she is made love to—on the stage by some other man. I should hate that, if t were the husband. At any rate, if 1 were married I should hate to see my hu.-fband make love to another girl on the stage.

"And it is no good marrying a man who is on the stage unless he is in hue position, and you can be sure of acting with him. That is all right, and likely to be happy. That is the next best thing to marrying and leaving the stage altogether. "But to marry an actor you do not act with must be hearl -breaking, and for an actress who is not drawing a large salary to marry an actor with a salary probably smaller is not happiness—it is cruelty to both animals. 1 have seen them on tour, poor things, and have often pitied them. "The stage is all right for girls who like supper parties. It is no place for those who want to lead a quiet domesticated life." MISS EVA MOORE.

"Marriage is purely a domestic and private ali'air, and nothing whatever to do with the stage." JIR CYRIL MAUDK. '•By all means let an actress marry if she wants to and let her marry the man she loves. It seems to me that an actress would be most happy in "aer married life if her husband were an actor, because their hours would be similar, and they could be more together.

''One might as well discuss the question of whom should a doctor or a barrister marry. After all an actress is a woman, and, woman-like, will doubtless marry the man she loves. And we all know that that is the great desideratum. Really Ido not believe it maul's the slightest difference to a real artist whether he or she is married or single.

"The question of an actress marrying a layman is always open to debate, because an actress must give so much of her life to her profession, to her art, that she may be able to accept the demands of her art against the dictates of her affection for her husband.

"Is not the question, viewed from that standpoint, not whom should an actress marry, but who should marry au actress':" Ml! JAMES WELCH.

"I wish those kindly intentional friends of the stage who meet and discuss llie-e more or less intimate matters concerning actors and actresses, such as what we cat, what we wear, and what kind of lootii powder we use. would leave us and our private lives alone. If. instead of asking >uch questions as 'Should actress marry?" they, would take an intelligent interest in our performances, we should have a much greater chance of making the pro-fe-ision of acting an art."