The autobiography of Joseph Jefferson . of the scene veryfew of the audience could understand what shehad done ; whereas when I retaliated there hadbeen a pause, and they got the full force of whatI said. When an actor shows his temper upon the stagethe audience feel insulted that they should becalled upon to sympathize with his private quar-rels. The actor is the loser, depend upon it. Mr. Rufus Blake was attached to our companyduring this season, but in consequence of the greatsuccess of Our American Cousin, in which hewas not cast, he had acted but little. He was asuperior actor, with the d
The autobiography of Joseph Jefferson . of the scene veryfew of the audience could understand what shehad done ; whereas when I retaliated there hadbeen a pause, and they got the full force of whatI said. When an actor shows his temper upon the stagethe audience feel insulted that they should becalled upon to sympathize with his private quar-rels. The actor is the loser, depend upon it. Mr. Rufus Blake was attached to our companyduring this season, but in consequence of the greatsuccess of Our American Cousin, in which hewas not cast, he had acted but little. He was asuperior actor, with the disadvantage of small eyes,a fat, inexpressive face, and a heavy and unwieldyfigure. There must be something in the spirit ofan actor that is extremely powerful to delight anaudience when he is hampered like this. Withoutseeming to change his face or alter the stolid lookfrom his eyes, Mr. Blake conveyed his meaning llllillliliilii>i!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii:iiiiiiiiii:iiiiiiimiii{i>iii I I ? ?ijiJlifll l,l^?^ I; ,|i||ij!iilf iiim«. ^fei^^ E. A. SOTHERN AS LORD DUNDREARY. OF JOSEPH JEFFERSON 201 with the most perfect effect. He was dehcate andminute in his manner, which contrasted oddlyenough with his ponderous form. We acted thisone season together and were very good one occasion only was this harmony rated me for curtailing some of the speeches ofa part in one of the old comedies. I told him thatI had my own ideas on these matters, one of whichwas that the plays were written for a past age,that society had changed, and that it seemed to meeood taste to alter the text, when it could be donewithout detriment, to suit the audience of thepresent day; particularly when the lines werecoarse, and unfit for ladies and gentlemen to speakor listen to. He gave me to understand that heconsidered it a liberty in any young man to set him-self up as an authority in such matters, and that mycourse was a tacit reproach to older and betterjudges, and even hinted that some pe
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectjeffers, bookyear1890
