Behind the Footlights

Attempt to Live—No Dress Rehearsal—Overdressing—A Peep at Harley Street—Voice and Expression—American Friends—Mrs. Kendal’s Marriage—Forbes Robertson’s Romance—Why

orld: it contains t

y of blood, wh

of brain, whic

wealth, which threatens

ty is sanctioned; indeed, all are welcomed so long as gold hangs round their skirts and diamonds and pearls adorn their bodies.

“born on the stage”—that is to say, they were the children of theatrica

n and women who since early life have had to fight for themselves and overcome difficulties. It is pleasant to give a prominent example of the triumph whic

theatrical career, and made her London début in 1865, when she appeared as Ophelia under her maiden name of Madge Robertson, Walter Montgomery playing the part of Hamlet. Little Madge was only three years

r took her for a walk, explaining all sorts of things as they went along, or teaching her baby lips[Pg 23] to repeat Shelley’s “Ode to a Foxglove.”

aimed Mrs. Kendal, “and first

or hours, and she wearily went to the window to look out, the mere fact of watching a passer-by seeming at the moment to afford relaxation. Tears rolled down the girl’s cheeks—she was longing for c

dull,” s

ull, with your

wrapped up in themselves, they never realised that

endal, “I was their youngest child. All the other

an’s life, but any one who knows her must[Pg 24] realise it was her indomitable will and pluck, coupled,

is accomplished. She has great powers of organisation, and a capacity for choo

nd arrested by antitoxin as it is now, and an operation had to be performed. All this tended to weaken her voice, which gradually left her. Consequently she gave up singing, or rather, singing gave her up, and she became a “play-

ies, while there are thousands and thousands of walkers-on who will never be anything[Pg 25] else. This ill-paid girl has not the interest of a big part, which stimulates the ‘star’ to work; she has only the dreariness of it all. Unless she be in a ballet, chorus, or pantomime, the girl has to find herself in shoes, stockings, and petticoats for the stage—no light matter to ac

rts of women, and the result is not always desirable. For instance, some years ago, a girl was playing wi

telling her that things must be different or she must go. I tried to show her the advantages of the

g at the top of her profession; later we will see what a g

oon after the start—they find the pay inadequate, the hours too long; the back of a stage proves to be no enchanted land, only a dark, dreary, dusty, bustling place; and, dis

mbers of excellent men and women upon the stage who know that there is nothing so gross b

real public, and play for them and to them, and not to empty benches. We rehearse in sections. Every one in turn in our company acts in costume, so tha

evere on the subject

hould be entirely subservient to the character. If one is supposed to be old and dowdy, one should look old and dowdy. I believe in clothing the character i

everything in its place. Her house is neatness exemplified, her table well arranged, the dishes dainty, and the atte

usier they are, the more method they bring to bear; the more highly educated they are, the more capable in the management of their affairs. Mrs. Kendal is no exception to this rule, and in spite of her many labours, she lately encroached upon her time

g

rtunity which only comes to a few. In no profession is harder work necessary, the pay in the early stages more insignificant or less secure. To be a good actress it is essential to have many qualifications: first of all, heal

cend one step, and many of us have tumbled down several in the attempt. Domestic servants all want to be shop-girls, and shop-girls want to b

ou succeede

ament, and opportunity must combine; but, mark you, the position of the stage does not depend upon her. It is those on the second and third rungs of the ladder who

has nothing whatever to do with the arrangements o

sealed, and delivered, and all is ready, then, but not till then, my work begins, and I become stage-manager. On the stage I supervise everythin

e was scarcely a doctor’s plate in that thoroughfare, or, indeed, in the whole neighbourhood. Sir William Jenner, Sir John Williams, Sir Alfred Garrod, Sir Richard Quain, and Sir Andrew Clark became his neighbours; and later Sir Francis Jeune, Lord Russell of Killowen, the present Speaker of the House of Commons (Mr. Gully), Sir William McCormac, Sir William Church, and[Pg 30] Mr. Gladstone settled quite n

r the women used to meet to mend, make, and darn every afternoon, while one male member of the company was admitted to read aloud, each taking this duty in turn. Many pleasant and useful hours were spent in speeding over the dreary prairie in this

and her love of soap. She is always merry and cheerful, has endless jokes to tell, has a

hatever artificial about her—anything of that sort which is necessary upon the boards is left behind at the theatre. That is on

, I have taken a little trouble to train it. We all start in a high key, but as we get older our voices often grow two or three notes lower, and generally more melodious, so that, while we hav

ing plays, good, ba

is quite unnecessary. Every family has its tragedy, and many of these tragedies are far mor

does not disturb her; she has always worn it in the same way, and even upon the stage has rarely donned a wig. She tells a funny little story of how a dear friend teased and almost bullied her to be more fashionable about her head. Every one was wearing fringes at the time, and the lady begged her not to be so “odd,” but to adopt the new and becoming m

k. The booking was so heavy in the different towns, and our time so limited, that we actually had to put in a third matin

Ellis, Upper B

. H.

ix o’clock meal, generally composed of a cutlet and coffee, quickly followed by a return to the theatre and another performance. To chang

ordinarily hospitable?” I inquired, remembering the

hard lines to be in a place one wants to see, among people one wants to know, and never to have time for play, onl

en than not as the result of some successful “run.” They have built their home about them bit by bit. Hard work and good management have slowly and gradually attained their ends, and they laugh over the savings necessary to buy such and such a treasure, and love it

hed[Pg 34] by saying, “theatrical life is hard

the work, the drudgery, the small pay, and weary hours, and when she says, “Dissuade girls from rushing upon the stage

er, Mrs. Kendal was cradled in the the

end of Mr. Kendal’s had the Town Hall bells rung in honour of the event, and the young couple were ready to start off for their hone

Mrs. Kendal were caught just as they were leaving the town, and bidden to play Orl

w of their marriage until they came to the words, “Will you, Orlando, have to wife this Rosalind?[Pg 35]”

da, in August, 1900, Mr. Johnston Forbes Robertson came to dinner. He had been away in Italy for som

od leading lad

her for the first time this morni

exclaimed. “How do y

suggesting Miss Gertrude Elliott as suitable in every way. Their opinions being identical, and so strongly expressed, I considered she must be the la

r at once to see who the actor might be, and lo! it was Mr. Forbes Robertson. It seemed almost impossible: but impossible things have a curious knack of being true,[Pg 36] and the signed photograph I had with me of Forbes Robertson, amo

ng given at the Princess’s Theatre. It was difficult to procure exactly the type of face he wanted, for well-chiselled features are not so common as one might suppose. Young Forbes Robertson possessed those features, his clear-cut profile being exactly suitable for

profession and art his hobby; but a newer craze is rapidly driving paints and brus

Forbes Robertson, and therefore it is interesting

on can b

ng by Hugh de

ORBES-RO

g

ter’s careful training. What a pity Phelps cannot live among us again, t

a country lane to a blare of trumpets is unintelligible: why a man should plot murder to a valse, or a woman die to slow music, is a conundrum,

the responsibility of the home fell on the eldest son’s shoulders. His father was born and bred in Aberdeen, and came as a young man to London, where he soo

lise that South Kensington stood on clay, was low and damp, and consequently they gradually migrated back to the Regent’s Park and those fine old[Pg 38] squares in Bloomsbury. One after another the houses were taken

his easel for the stage; his sister Frances took up literature as a profession; and his brothers, known as Ian Robertson

laugh with her well-nigh to tears? A great personality, a wondrous charm of voice and ma

s elapsed between then and the Coronation year of Edward VII., when they met again behind

atrical engagements at Coventry[Pg 39] at the time of her birth, so that verily she was cradled on the stage. She was one of four remarkable sisters, Kate, Ellen, Marion, and Florence, all clever actresses and sisters

Hare, Mrs. Kendal, and Lady Bancrof

membering her lines in oft-acted plays; but every one knows how apt she is to be forgetful, and prompt her over her

friend comes to her aid. Theatrical people are extremely good to one another on these occasions. Somebody is always ready to come to the rescue. After the first week

ot some five[Pg 40] hundred times she became perfectly dazed, and that Jefferson had experienced the same with Rip van Winkle, whi

e it. No one can be fresh and natural in a part played night after night—played unti

e latter was creating such a furore in England with Sherlock Holmes, I ventur

years,” h

der you are

I feel as if I could never walk on to the stage at all; but when the theatre is

ed the charm of American women, a theme on which

o anxiety—for he did not finance his own theatres—could feel like that abo

ss under State control, they never occur. Of course the “long run” is the outcome of the vast sums expended on the production. Managers cannot recoup themselves fo

her that charms. She is not really beautiful, yet she can look lovely. She has not a strong voice, yet she can sway audiences at will to laughter o

should not be discouraged, inasmuch as there are few things that yield us a truer or a deeper pleasure; but I like comedy as the foundation

the bright side of things, and not only knows how to work, but

g

head, or a wink of the eye, accompany every sentence that falls from his lips. He is full of movement, he speaks as much with his body as with his mouth, and therefore it is far less difficult for him to give expression to his thoughts upon the stage than it is for the stolid Britisher, whose public school training has taught him to avoid showing feeling, an

ite as stolid as our own, and yet the stage is held by them in high esteem, and the amount of drilling gone through is so wonderful that one is struck by the perfect playing of an ordinary provincial German. At home these Teutonic folk are hard and unemotional, but on the boards they expand. One has only to look at the German company that comes over to London every year to understand this remark. They play in a foreign tongue, the dresses are ordinary, one might say poor, the scenery is meagre, there is nothing, in

ds to actor-managers and powerful syndicates, which likewise have their drawbacks. There is undoubtedly much to be said both for and against each system, and the British public has to decide. Meantime we learn that the six[Pg 44] Imperial theatres in Russia (three in St. Petersburg and three

ont of a telephone, through which instrument the actor heard his wife and child being murdered many miles away in the country, he being in Paris. It was a ghastly idea, but Charles Warner’s face was

f the stage as well as on. One well-known man was

titude, “how do you do, old chap? Delighted to see you,”

form of greeting afte

es, for it is so easy to recognise a well-known[Pg 45] person owing to the constant recurrence of his name or portrait in

out come the knives to flay the genius to pieces; in fact, the more abused a man is, the more sure he may feel of his achiev