Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 124
 
THE IDLER MAGAZINE.
AN ILLUSTRATED MONTHLY.March 1893.
CONTENTS.
THE LYCEUM REHEARSALS.by G. B. Burgin.A BLESSING DISGUISED.by F. W. Robinson.“LIONS IN THEIR DENS.”III.—GEORGE NEWNES AT PUTNEY.by Raymond Blathwayt.NOVEL NOTES.by Jerome K. Jerome.ON PILGRIMS AND THE PILGRIM SPIRIT.by A. Adams Martin.A COLLEGE IDYL.by S. Gordon.MY FIRST BOOK.by F. W. Robinson.TOLD BY THE COLONEL.XI.HOSKINS’S PETS.by W. L. Alden.EXPERIENCES OF A VARSITY OAR.by an Old Blue.(F. C. Drake.)THE IDLERS CLUB.IS CHILDHOOD THE HAPPIEST OR THEMOST MISERABLE PERIOD OF ONES EXISTENCE?[Pg 122]THE IDLER MAGAZINE.1
 
 mr. henry irving watching a rehearsal[Pg 123] The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Idler Magazine, An Illustrated Monthly, March 1893.CONTENTS.2
 
The Lyceum Rehearsals.
By G. B. Burgin.Illustrations by J. Bernard Partridge.(
Photographs by Messrs. Barraud.
) tennyson.One day a paragraph appears in the papers that a new piece will shortly be produced at such and such atheatre. Paterfamilias lays down the paper and placidly observes that it may be worth while getting seats. Thenhe goes down to the theatre, books seats, and troubles himself no more about the matter until the first night of the play in question. The world behind the curtain is one with which he is totally unfamiliar. He knows naughtof its struggles, its hopes and fears, its arduous work, its magnificent prizes and sore disappointments. Somany thousands of pounds have been spent in preparing the play, so many reputations are at stake, so manyhearts will be gay and glad to-morrow, or aching with the bitter pain of defeat. But to Paterfamilias these areall the joys or sorrows of another world. As he watches the smooth, easy performance, in which every actorhas his place, in which the whole pageant produces itself without apparent effort, he fails to imagine theceaseless work involved in its adequate realisation. He does not know that for weeks before the production of a new play, say at the Lyceum for instance, Mr.[Pg 124] Irving and the wonderful company which he hasgathered round him labour over it often far into the night after the audience has left. The general idea of anactors life is that it is a delightful round of social pleasures tempered by a few hours light, agreeable work inthe evening; to those who think this, a visit to the Lyceum rehearsals would reveal the other side of the shield.Very few men in London labour so indefatigably as Mr. Irving. To watch him directing a rehearsal almostmakes ones head ache at the mere idea of such unceasing labour. Every motion, however insignificant, of each individual on the stage, from himself down to the newest and rawest super, has to be thought out andplanned in Mr. Irvings brain. Like an ideal general, he leaves nothing to chance, nothing to subordinates. Theturning up or down of every gas jet, the movement of every piece of furniture, the effect of every note of music, has received his most careful thought. One watches him stand hour after hour on the Lyceum stage,without weariness, without impatience, guiding the whole of the great production. And though Mr. Irvingnever spares himself, he is very considerate to others. When, for instance, a young actor is unable tocomprehend the full meaning of an explanation, Mr. Irving walks up and down the stage, one arm on hisshoulder, and explains the whole conception of the part. He is not only a great actor, but a great teacher; andThe Lyceum Rehearsals.3

Вознаградите свое любопытство

Все, что вы хотели прочитать.
Когда угодно. Где угодно. На любом устройстве.
Без обязательств. Отменить можно в любой момент.
576648e32a3d8b82ca71961b7a986505