Still the office requires
some exercise of care and judgment. "Here's a nice mess you've got me
into," said once a tragedian, imperfect in his text, to an
inexperienced or incautious prompter. "What am I to do now? Thanks to
you, I've been and spoken all the next act!" And the prompter has a
task of serious difficulty before him when the actors are but
distantly acquainted with their parts, or "shy of the syls," that is,
syllables, as they prefer to describe their condition. "Where have
they got to now?" he has sometimes to ask himself, when he finds them
making havoc of their speeches, missing their cues, and leading him a
sort of steeple-chase through the book of the play. It is the golden
rule of the player who is "stuck"--at a loss for words--to "come to
Hecuba," or pass to some portion of his duty which he happens to bear
in recollection. "What's the use of bothering about a handful of
words?" demanded a veteran stroller. "I never stick. I always say
something and get on, and no one has hissed me yet!" It was probably
this performer, who, during his impersonation of Macbeth, finding
himself at a loss as to the text soon after the commencement of his
second scene with Lady Macbeth, coolly observed: "Let us retire,
dearest chuck, and con this matter over in a more sequestered spot,
far from the busy haunts of men.
Pages:
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326