his constant encouragement and help, I doubt if I could have stuck to this book until I had finished it, for I am a man of action, not of words, and writing is new to me. I wanted to put Mr. Andrews' name along with mine on the title page, but he was too modest, and would not let me.

New York,

December, 1917.

LOUIS CALVERT.

I. "I KNOW I HAVE IT IN ME!".

Art Must Be an Absolute Mistress-Selling Our

Lives for a Price-Charlotte Cushman's Creed-Why

Do I Want to Be an Actor?-Indispensable Qualifica-

tions: Enthusiasm, "Humanity," Imagination, Voice,

Personal Appearance.

II. ENTERING THE PROFESSION

Competition in Actor's Profession No Keener than

in Any Other-" Pull" of Little Value-The Road

Company-The Evils of Endless Repetition-Stay-

ing on Broadway-How One-part Actors Are Devel-

oped-Actor and Manager Both Harmed by "Type

Casting The Stock Company-The Varied Experi-

ence It Provides-The Repertoire-No Star, No

Squirrel-in-a-Cage Routine, Team-work.

III. THE VOICE THE INSTRUMENT WE PLAY.

Seeming to Speak Naturally-The Handicap of a

Half-trained Voice-Our Voice: Our Point of Con-

tact with Our Public-The Dread of "Elocution'

The Art of Concealing Art-Harry Lauder's Re-

markable Voice-Charles Kean's Stage Voice-The

Power of Tones-Saving the Voice-The Two Pri-

mary Tones-Distinct Utterance a Simple Achieve-

ment-Laughing Infectiously-Taste in Using One's

Technical Skill.

IV. GETTING INSIDE ONE'S PART

Learning Words Before We Know Their Meaning

-Study the Character for Light on the Words, Not

the Words for Light on the Character-We Should

Know Our Part's Relation to the Whole-The Es-

sence of Illusory Impersonation-Dissolving Shylock

into His Component Parts-How Any Character Can

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CHAPTER

Be Made to Reveal Itself from a Study of the

Lines The Second Step: Becoming a Shylock-The

Third Step: Thinking out Shylock in Wall Street

Terms The Last Step: Associating Our New Self

with the Play as a Whole-This Formula Applies to

Plays Modern and Classical.

V. THE EYE AND THE HANDS

"Five-finger Exercises" Necessary for the Actor,

Too-Revealing the Unexpressed Emotions-Irving as

Becket—" One Thing at a Time ”—Doing Just Enough

-Coquelin's Peculiar Mannerism-When in Doubt Do

Nothing-The Set Gestures of the Good Old Days-

An Example of Splendid Repose-Saving Bits of

Business for Future Use-Gestures Grow from Char-

acter, Not from Lines-Heroic Gestures for Heroic

Plays-Never Let Them See too Much.

One Actor Cannot Stand Alone-Supplementing the

Speeches of Others-Sweet Nell of Old Drury and

The Lady of Lyons-Team-work Will Cover a Mul-

titude of Sins-Pinero's Advice-Coaxing the Audi-

ence to Listen—Listening Through Long Speeches—

Know What You Are Going to Do When Silent-

Varying Our Reading-Miming Must Grow from

the Character-Retaining the Illusion of the First

Time-The Point, Thrust, and Lunge-Thinking Lines

-Giving the Audience a Rest-Little Things All

Count.

VII. THE EMOTIONS

All Acting Is Emotional, and All Actors Must Be

Capable of Projecting the Primary Emotions-Trick-

ing an Audience-Sir Herbert Tree's Finesse-In

Called Back-His Artifice in Trilby-In Jim the

Penman-His Wolsey's Falseness-We Must Draw

Our Interpretation Solely from the Author's Lines-

Tree's Shylock Saved by a Trick-Coquelin's Cyrano

Merely Make-believe-Ristori's Comment on Rachel

-Should We Literally Feel the Emotions We Por-

tray? Irving's Opinion, and Ellen Terry's-Guiding

Oneself Through the Impassioned Speech-Crescendo

of Emotion-Beginning Gently-Nervousness Often

a Good Thing-Othello's Emotion-The After-

swell "-Ignoring the Audience.

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CHAPTER

VIII. MAKING AN AUDIENCE LAUGH.

Audience Must Be Taken into Partnership in

Comedy-The Comedian Must Sense His Audience-

Allowing for the Laugh-Letting the Audience Have

Its Head; Major Barbara-Making Them Save up

Their Laughter-There Can Be Too Much Laughter

in a Play-Shaw's Request-Remaining Unconscious

of Our Own Humor-To Be Infectious Any Emotion

Must Come from the Inside, Not from the Lines

Alone.

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152

IX. "FUTURES" AND THE PARADOX OF THE AMATEUR. 161

Brilliant Promise of the Beginner Often Unful-

filled-Lawrence Irving's Grotesque Early Work-

Henry Irving: a Prophet Without Honor in Man-

chester-Barry Sullivan's Disastrous Conservatism-

The Dangerous Transitional Stage Between the

Amateur and the Professional-The "Sufficiently

Unprofessional" Wisconsin Players-Acting is Danc-

ing in Shackles-Exchanging Intuition for Tech-

nique The Moffat Company and Bunty Pulls the

Strings-Studied Simplicity and Acquired Natural-

ness.

X. THE EFFECT OF REALISTIC SCENERY AND LIGHTING

ON THE ACTOR

. 176

Work of the Actor Inextricably Interwoven with

That of the Producer, Scenic Artist, and Others--

Scenery Should Suggest not Copy Life, Should

Stimulate not Overfeed or Starve the Imagination-

The Ironworks in Galsworthy's Strife, "Real" and

Suggested-Granville Barker's Setting for Androcles

and the Lion: Proudly Crude and Frankly Primitive

-The Primary Purpose of All Scenery-When the

Imaginative Artist, the Interior Decorator, and the

Landscape Gardener Clash-The Mechanical Ship

That Would Not Wreck and the Simpler Substitute-

How Actors Are Often Swamped by Scenery—The

Need of Co-ordination-The Terrors of Strange Fur-

niture-Many Plays Ruined by Lack of Method-

Lighting Which Blurs or Silhouettes the Faces of

the Actors-Natural Lighting-Distracting Lights-

Moonlight-Seeking the Impression of Reality, Not

Reality Itself.