Persuasive speech:Dramatization Part 3

Persuasive speech:Dramatization Part 1

Persuasive speech:Dramatization Part 2

A SHADOW MUST BE CAREFULLY APPLIED IN THE RIGHT INDENTATION AND BE BLENDED INTO THE HIGHLIGHT AREA

Eyes

The most important elements in an actor's face are his eyes. Tt is through the eyes that the character is most carefully expressed. It is necessary that the eyes be outlined to be distinct. This is done by thin lines on the eyelids, made by either a brush or a pencil. Follow the natural line of your own eyes unless you are seeking a special effect, but do not make rings around the eyes. NEVER totally outline an entire eye, but line the outer half only. NEVER outline the eyes in black. You must only accentuate the eyes and not ring them. Use either brown, gray, green, or maroon for eye lining. A light use of eye shadow will enhance the eyes. A light color or shadow will give a .soft effect to the eyes, and a darker tone will make the eyes seem deep set. A soft touch of rouge applied at the upper corner of each eye will give an especially bright effect.

NOTICE THE SHARPNESS OF THE FEATURES OF OLDER PEOPLE. MAKE-UP FOR AN OLD-AGE CHARACTERIZATION SHOULD BE APPLIED WITH MORE CONTRAST THAN ONE FOR A YOUNGER PERSON.

Cheeks

Coloring on the cheeks must be used sparingly unless an artificial look is desired. Choose a color of rouge that blends with the character's age and type. Remember, ROUGE IS INTENDED TO HIGHLIGHT THE EYES AND CHEEK BONES AND NOT TO COLOR THE CHEEKS. There are not many people who are naturally rosy cheeked, so use rouge sparingly. Some older people have flushed faces, and younger children have a healthy glow, but in general the cheek color must be subtle and soft. Blend rouge upward, toward the eyes, not down onto the jaw.

Face Lines

Every face develops characteristic lines. The older we become, the more pronounced these lines become. We need to bring out the lines of the face so they will carry to the audiencehowever, these are lines and not marks; they must be small and thin.

First, get a good idea of the type of person the character is supposed to be; second, grimace and squint so that the natural lines in the face will show up; third, use these natural lines as the bases for your lines and shadows.

What the beginner sometimes forgets is that there are highlights on the face as well as shadows. Therefore, he must use a considerable amount of white as well as brown, black, or dark purple. Notice the sketches below:

USE THE NATURAL LINES AND CONTOURS OF YOUR FACE AS THE BASE LINES FOR LINES AND SHADOWS

We begin by wiping white coloring into the wrinkles. Secondly, we use our colored pencils to line the deepest part of the wrinkles. Thirdly, we take our fingers and smooth out the dark into the light. What remains should be dark portions in the deepest parts of the wrinkles, blending into light portions at the crests of the skin between the wrinkles.

Lips

The actor should be very careful not to wear too much lip rouge. Most girls in their street make-up wear too much rouge on the lips. Experienced actors paint on their lip rouge with a brush. In any event, the rouge is applied to the inner part of the lip and blended outward. If the lips must appear wrinkled, high lights may be drawn on them with white and dark pencils. The effect of this shading should be tried out under the stage lights to see if the desired look has been achieved.

APPLY POWDER LIGHTLY AND EVENLY. USE A COLOR WHICH BLENDS WITH THE COMPLETE CHARACTERIZATION

Powder

To keep the make-up from shining unnaturally under the lights on the stage, it is necessary to dull the effect by putting powder on the face. The powder comes in many different colors. Remember to choose a color which blends with the characterization. Pat the powder on lightly, being careful not to smear the make-up. Keep it evenly distributed.

False Hair

It may be necessary to affix a false mustache, beard or eyebrows to the actor. This can be done rather simply.

The adhesive to which the hair will be glued must be applied directly to the skin and without a base having been put on. A form of liquid rubber or spirit gum may be applied to the .skin and, since it is slow in drying, the hair may be applied to the already-prepared place.

Cut the hair in advance to the desired lengths. For a mustache, begin in the center of the lip and work toward both extremities at the same time. For sideburns, begin at the bottom and work up into the natural hair line. For beards, start under the chin and work up over the jaws toward the cheek.

Since it is possible to trim a beard after it is applied, but difficult to increase its length unless the process is begun again, it is safer to apply the hair too long and cut it off than it is to make it too short.

COSTUME AND MAKEUP COMPLETE THE CHARACTERIZATION

False eyebrows may be applied in a similar manner, cither over the existing eyebrows or in another area with the existing eyebrows made invisible with base and powder or with soap.

If the beard or mustache, sideburns, or eyebrows are to be used more than once, it is sensible to use latex as your adhesive because it will allow you to peel off the hair and use it a second time by applying fresh latex.

Hair Coloring

The problem of hair coloring until recently has been one of the major difficulties in make-up, but with recent developments in the cosmetics industries, stage make-up has been greatly aided.

There are now several successful and easily used hair sprays available in a great variety of colors for stage use. These can be applied to the hair for short periods of time and washed out easily.

The major problem is with gray and white hair. The commercial hair whitener is still the most successful, although it is possible to use some of the silver sprays and remove the excess. In hair coloring, it is best to be very careful to achieve the right effect without looking false, especially with white hair. The hair coloring is applied after all of the other make-up is on. But, be sure the shades and colors in your face make-up will blend with the desired hair color.

Additional refinements in make-up are fun to try. For more detailed explanations, see any of the following:

Richard Corson. Stage Makeup, New York: Appleton-Century- Crofts, Inc., 1949.

Richard Johnson and Robert Seaver, A Guide to Makeup for the Stage, New York: Paramount Cosmetics and Theatrical Make-Up (242 W. 27th St.), 1955.

The University of California's Extension service also has films available on stage make-up.

Price lists may be obtained from the following concerns:

Paramount Theatrical Supplies, 32 W. 20th St., N.Y. 11, N.Y.
Max Factor, 1666 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, California Gray's, 1690 Broadway, New York 19, N.Y. 
Other concerns are listed in Simons Directory referred to earlier.

Selections for Dramatization

1. In Act II of Oliver Goldsmith's "She Stoops to Conquer," two young gentlemen, Marlow and Hastings, have come from town into the country, where Marlow is to be introduced to Kate Hard-castle, his father's choice for his wife. The two men are purposely misled into thinking that the Hardcastle house is an inn, so that when Marlow first meets Kate, in the company of Constance Neville, the fiancee of Hastings, Marlow thinks he is fust running into her by chance at the inn.

Hastings. My dear Charles! Let me congratulate you! The most fortunate accident! Who do you think is just alighted?

Marlow. Cannot guess.

Hastings. Our mistresses, boy, Miss Hardcastle and Miss Neville. Give me leave to introduce Miss Constance Neville to your acquaintance. Happening to dine in the neighborhood, they called on their return to take fresh horses here. Miss Hardcastle has just stepped into the next room, and will be back in an instant. Wasn't it lucky? Eh?

Marlow. [Aside] . . . Here comes something to complete my embarrassment.

Hastings. Well, but wasn't it the most fortunate thing in the world?

Marlow. Oh, yes. Very fortunatea most joyful encounterBut our clothes, George, you know, are in disorderWhat if we should postpone the happiness till tomorrow?Tomorrow at her own house-It will be every bit as convenientand rather more respectful-Tomorrow let it be. [Offering to go.]

Marlow. Oh, the devil! How shall I support it? Hem! Hem! Hastings, you must not go. You are to assist me, you know. I shall be confoundedly ridiculous. Yes, hang it, I'll take courage! Hem!

Hastings. Pshaw, man! It's but the first plunge, and all's over. She's but a woman, you know.

Marlow. And of all women, she that I dread most to encounter.

[Enter Miss Hardcastle, as returned from walking, a bonnet, etc.]

Hastings. [Introducing them.] Miss Hardcastle, Mr. Marlow; I'm proud of bringing two persons of such merit together, that only want to know to esteem each other.

Miss Hardcastle. [Aside] Now for meeting my modest gentleman with a demure face, and quite in his own manner. [After a pause, in which he appears very uneasy and disconcerted] I'm glad of your safe arrival, sir. I'm told you had some accidents by the way.

Marlow. Only a few, madam. Yes, we had some. Yes, madam, a good many accidents, but we should be sorrymadamor rather glad of any accidentsthat are so agreeably concluded. Hem!

Hastings. [To him] You never spoke better in your whole life. Keep it up, and I'll insure you the victory.

Miss Hardcastle. I'm afraid you flatter, sir. You, that have seen so much of the finest company, can find little entertainment in an obscure corner of the country.

Marlow. [Gathering courage] I have lived, indeed, in the world. madam; but I have kept very little company. I have been but an observer upon life, madam, while others were enjoying it.

Miss Neville. But that, I am told, is the way to enjoy it at last.

Hastings. [To him] Cicero never spoke better. Once more, and you are confirmed in assurance for ever.

Marlow. [To him] Hem! Stand by me then, and when I'm down, throw in a word or two to set me up again.

Miss Hardcastle. An observer, like you, upon life, were, I fear, disagreeably employed, since you must have had much more to censure than to approve.

Marlow. Pardon me, madam. I was always willing to be amused. The folly of most people is rather an object of mirth than uneasiness.

Hastings. [To him] Bravo. Bravo. Never spoke so well in your whole life. Well, Miss Hardcastle, I see that you and Mr. Marlow are going to be very good company. I believe our being here will but embarrass the interview.

Marlow. Not in the least, Mr. Hastings. We like your company of all things. [To him] Zounds, George, sure you won't go. How can you leave us?

Hastings. Our presence will but spoil conversation, so we'll retire to the next room. [To him] You don't consider, man, that we are to manage a little meeting of our own. [Exeunt Hastings with Miss Neville]

Miss Hardcastle. [After a pause] But you have not been wholly an observer, I presume, sir. The ladies, I should hope, have employed some part of your addresses.

Marlow. [Relapsing into timidity] Pardon me, madam, IIIas yet have studiedonlytodeserve them.

Miss Hardcastle. And that, some say, is the very worst way to obtain them.

Marlow. Perhaps so, madam. But I love to converse only with the more grave and sensible part of the sexBut I'm afraid I grow tiresome.

Miss Hardcastle. Not at all, sir; there is nothing I like so much as grave conversation myself; I could hear it for ever. Indeed I have often been surprised how a man of sentiment could ever admire those light, airy pleasures, where nothing reaches the heart.

Marlow. It'sa diseaseof the mind, madam. In the variety of tastes there must be some who, wanting a relishforumaum

Miss Hardcastle. I understand you sir. There must he some who, wanting a relish for refined pleasures, pretend to despise what they are incapable of tasting.

Marlow. My meaning, madam, but infinitely better expressed. And I can't help observinga

Miss Hardcastle. [Aside] Who could ever suppose this fellow impudent upon some occasions! [To him] You were going to observe, sir,

Marlow. I was observing, madamI protest, madam. I forget what I was going to observe.

Miss Hardcastle. [Aside] I vow and so do I. [To him] You were observing, sir, that in this age of hypocrisy,something about hypocrisy, sir.

Marlotv. Yes, madam. In this age of hypocrisy there are few who, upon strict inquiry, do not ... a ... a ...

Miss Hardcastle. You mean that in this hypocritical age there are few who do not condemn in public what they practice in private; and think they pay every debt to virtue when they praise it.

Marlow. True, madam; those who have most virtue in their mouths have least of it in their hearts. Btit I'm sure I tire you, madam.

Miss Hardcastle. Not in the least, sir; there's something so agreeable and spirited in your manner, such life and force,pray, sir, go on.

Marlow. Yes, madam, I was sayingthat there are some occasions when a total want of courage, madam, destroys all theand puts us uponaaa

IN MARGO JONES' THEATRE IN DALLAS, TEXAS, PLAYS ARE PERFORMED "IN-THE-ROUND." EMPHASIS IS PLACED ON THE ACTING AND COSTUMING AS VERY LITTLE SCENERY IS USED

Miss Hardcastle. I agree with you entirely; a want of courage upon some occasions, assumes the appearance of ignorance, and betrays us when we most want to excel. I beg you'll proceed.

Marlow. Yes, madam. Morally speaking, madam . . . But I see Miss Neville expecting us in the next room. I would not intrude for the world.

Miss Hardcastle I protest sir, I never was more agreeably entertained in all my life. Pray go on.

Marlow. Yes, madam, I wasBut she beckons us to join her. Madam, shall I do myself the honor to attend you?

Miss Hardcastle. Well, then, I'll follow.

Marlow. [Aside] This pretty smooth dialogue has done for me. [Exits]

Miss Hardcastle. [Alone] Ha! Ha! Ha! Was there ever such a sober, sentimental interview? I'm certain he scarce looked in my face the whole time. Yet the fellow, but for his unaccountable bashfulncss, is pretty well, too. He has good sense, but then so buried in his fears, that it fatigues one more than ignorance. If I could teach him a little confidence, it would be doing somebody that I know of a piece of service. But who is that somebody? That, faith, is a question I can scarce answer. [Exits]

2. Act III of James M. Barrie's "Quality Street" ends as Captain Valentine Brown escorts Phoebe home from a dance. Before the Napoleonic Wars, Phoebe thought that Captain Brown might ask her to marry him. But he left without doing so, and Phoebe's beauty faded as she and her older sister kept a school in order to make a living. Now, some ten years later, Phoebe has plotted to have one last fling. Dressing herself up as she used to look, she has gone to a ball disguised as a non-existent cousin, Livvy. She has been the hit of the ball and the favorite of Captain Brown. Now Captain Brown is taking "Miss Livvy" home.

Valentine. You are an amazingly pretty girl, ma'am, but you are a shocking flirt. 1 speak, ma'am, in the interests of the man to whom I hope to see you affianced.

Phoebe. I beg you.

Valentine. No, we must have it out.

Phoebe. Then if you must go on, do so. Who is this happy man?

Valentine. As to who he is, ma'am, of course I have no notion. Nor, I am sure, have you, else you would be more guarded in your conduct. But some day, Miss Livvy, the right man will come. Not to be able to tell him all, would it not be hard? And how could you acquaint him with this poor sport? His face would change, ma'am, as you told him of it, and yours would be a false face until it was told. This is what I have been so desirous to say to youby the right of a friend.

Phoebe. [In a low voice but bravely] I see.

Valentine. [Afraid that he has hurt her] It has been hard to say and I have done it bunglingly. Ah, but believe me, Miss Livvy, it is not the flaunting flower men love; it is the modest violet.

Phoebe. The modest violet! You dare to say that.

Valentine. Yes, indeed, and when you are acquainted with what love really is

Phoebe. Love! What do you know of love?

Valentine. [A little complacently] Why, ma'am, I know all about it. I am in love, Miss Livvy.

Phoebe. [With a disdainful inclination of the head] I wish you happy. Valentine. With a lady who was once very like you, ma'am. [At first Phoebe does not understand, then his meaning comes to her]

Phoebe. Not . . . not . . . oh no. Valentine. I had not meant to speak of it, but why should not I? It will be a fine lesson to you, Miss Livvy. Ma'am, it is your Aunt

Phoebe whom I love.

Phoebe. [Rigid] You do not mean that. Valentine. Most ardently.

Phoebe. It is not true; how dare you make sport of her,

Valentine. Is it sport to wish she may be my wife?

Phoebe. Your wife!

Valentine. If I could win her.

Phoebe. You really mean Phoebetired, unattractive Phoebe, that woman whose girlhood is gone.

Valentine. [Stoutly] Phoebe of the fascinating playful ways, whose ringlets were once as pretty as yours, ma'am.

Phoebe. 'Tis an old garden now.

Valentine. The paths, ma'am, arc better shaded.

Phoebe. The flowers have grown old-fashioned.

Valentine. They smell the sweeter. Miss Livvy, do you think there is any hope for me?

Phoebe. There was a man whom Miss Phoebe lovedlong ago. He did not love her.

Valentine. Now, there was a fool!

Phoebe. He kissed her once.

Valentine. If Miss Phoebe suffered him to do that she thought he loved her.

Phoebe. Yes, yes. [She has to ask him the ten-year-old question] Do you opinion that this makes her action in allowing it less reprehensible? It has been such a pain to her ever since.

Valentine. How like Miss Phoebe! [Sternly] But that man was a knave. Phoebe. No, he was a good manonly a littleinconsiderate. She knows now that he has even forgotten that he did it. I suppose men are like that?

Valentine. No, Miss Livvy, men are not like that. I am a very average man, but I thank God I am not like that.

Phoebe. It was you.

Valentine. [After a pause] Did Miss Phoebe say that?

Phoebe. Yes.

Valentine. Then it is true. [He is very grace and quiet]

Phoebe. It was raining and her face was wet. You said you did it because her face was wet.

Valentine. I had quite forgotten.

Phoebe. But she remembers, and how often do you think the shameful memory has made her face wet since? The face you love, Captain Brown, you were the first to give it pain. The tired eyeshow much less tired they might be if they had never known you. You who are torturing me with every word, what have you done to Miss Phoebe? You who think you can bring back the bloom to that faded garden, and all the pretty airs and graces that fluttered round it once like little birds before the nest is torn downbring them back to her if you can, sir; it was you who took them away.

Valentine. I vow I shall do my best to bring them back.

3. George Bernard Shaw's "Androcles and the Lion" is a re-telling of the old story about a Roman tailor whose Christianity saved him from death. The play has both very humorous and very serious passages. The first selection opens the play. A howling lion with a thorn in his paw has limped onto the stage and, after unsuccessfully trying to extract the thorn, has gone to sleep under a tree. Androcles and his wife, Megaera, enter next. Androcles is a thin, stooped man, while Megaera is healthy and strong looking. Note that Shaw's ideas of punctuation are not conventional.

Megaera. [Suddenly throwing down her stick] I wont go another step.

Androcles. [Pleading wearily] Oh, not again, dear. Whats the good of stopping every two miles and saying you wont go another step? We must get on to the next village before night. There are wild beasts in this wood: lions, they say

Megaera. I dont believe a word of it. You are always threatening me with wild beasts to make me walk the very soul out of my body when I can hardly drag one foot after another. We havent seen a single lion yet.

Androcles. Well, dear, do you want to see one?

Megaera. [Tearing the bundle from his back] You cruel brute, you dont care how tired I am, or what becomes of me [she throws the bundle on the ground]: always thinking of yourself. Self! self! self! always yourself! [She sits down on the bundle]

SIMPLICITY IN SETTING AND COSTUMING CAN BE VERY EFFECTIVE

Androcles. [Sitting down sadly on the ground with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands] We all have to think of ourselves occasionally, dear.

Megaera. A man ought to think of his wife sometimes.

Androcles. He cant always help it, dear. You make me think of you a good deal. Not that 1 blame you.

Megaera. Blame me! I should think not indeed. Is it my fault that I'm married to you?

Androcles. No, dear: that is my fault.

Megaera. Thats a nice thing to say to me. Arent you happy with me?

Androcles, I dont complain, my love.

Megaera. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

Androcles. I am, my dear.

Megaera. Youre not: you glory in it.

Androcles. In what, darling?

Megaera. In everything. In making me a slave, and making yourself a laughing-stock. It's not fair. You get me the name of being a shrew with your meek ways, always talking as if butter wouldnt melt in your mouth. And just because I look a big strong woman, and because I'm goodhearted and a bit hasty, and because you're always driving me to do things I'm sorry for afterwards, people say "Poor man: what a life his wife leads him!" Oh, if they only knew! And you think I dont know. But I do, I do, [screaming] 1 do.

Androcles. Yes, my dear: I know you do.

Megaera. Then why dont you treat me properly and be a good husband to me?

Androdes. What can I do, my dear?

Megaera. What can you do! You can return to your duty, and come back to your home and your friends, and sacrifice to the gods as all respectable people do, instead of having us hunted out of house and home for being dirty disreputable blaspheming atheists.

Androdes. I'm not an atheist, dear: I am a Christian.

Megaera. Well, isnt that the same thing, only ten times worse? Everybody knows that the Christians are the very lowest of the low. I'm going back. I'm going home.

Androdes. [Barring the way back] No, dearie: dont take on like that. We cant go back. Weve sold everything: we should starve; and I should be sent to Rome and thrown to the lions

Megaera. Serves you right! I wish the lions joy of you. [Screaming] Are you going to get out of my way and let me go home?

Androdes. No, dear

Megaera. Then I'll make my way through the forest; and when I'm eaten by the wild beasts youll know what a wife youve lost. [She dashes into the jungle and nearly falls over the sleeping lion] Oh! Oh! Andy! Andy! [She totters back and collapses into the arms of Androdes, icho, crushed by her weight, falls on his bundle]

Androdes. [Extracting himself from beneath her and slapping her hands in great anxiety] What is it, my precious, my pet? Whats the matter? [He raises her head. Speechless with terror, she points in the direction of the sleeping lion. He steals cautiously towards the spot indicated by Megaera. She rises with an effort and totters after him]

Megaera. No, Andy: youll be killed. Come back.

The lion utters a long snoring sigh. Androdes sees the lion, and recoils faintly into the arms of Megaera, who falls back on the bundle. They roll apart and lie staring in terror at one another. The lion is heard groaning heavily in the jungle.

Androdes. [Rising] Meggy: theres one chance for you. Itll take him pretty nigh twenty minutes to eat me (I'm rather stringy and tough) and you can escape in less time than that.

Megaera. Oh, dont talk about eating. [The lion rises with a great groan and limps toward them] Oh! [She faints]

Androdes. [Quaking, hut keeping between the lion and Megaera] Dont you come near my wife, do you hear? [The lion groans, Androdes can hardly stand for trembling] Meggy: ran. Run for your life. If I take my eye off him, it's all up. [The lion holds up his wounded paw and flaps it piteously before Andwclcs] Oh, he's lame, poor old chap! He's got a thorn in his paw. A frightfully big thorn. [Full of sympathy] Oh poor old man! Did um get an awful thorn into urn's tootsums wootsums? Has it made um too sick to cat a nice little Christian man for urns' breakfast? [The lion responds by moans of self-pity] Now, now [taking the paw in his hand] um is not to bite and not to scratch, not even if it hurts a very very little. Thats right. [He pulb gingerly at the thorn. The lion, with an angry yell of pain, jerks back his paw so abruptly that Androcles is thrown on his back] Steadeee! Oh, did the nasty cruel little Christian man hurt the sore paw? [The lion moans assentingly but apologetically] Well, one more little pull and it will be all over. [He gives the thorn another pull. The lion yells with pain, and shakes his paw wildly] Thats it! [Holding up the thorn] Now its out. Now lick urn's paw to take away the nasty inflammation. [He licks his own hand. The lion nods intelligently and licks his paw industriously. The lion licks his face. Androcles embraces the lion, who finally takes the end of his tail in one paw, places that right round Androcles' waist, resting it on his hip. Androcles takes the other paw in his hand, stretches out his arm, and the two waltz rapturously round and round and finally away through the jungle] Megaera. [Who 1ms revived during the waltz] Oh, you coward, you havent danced with me for years; and now you go off dancing with a great brute beast that you havent known for ten minutes and that wants to eat your own wife. Coward! Coward! Coward! [She rushes off after them into the jungle]

The second selection from Shaw's "Androcles and the Lion" concerns a conversation between a captured patrician girl and an army captain. The girl and her other Christian companions are calmly awaiting their turn to be thrown to the Roman lions before the crowded amphitheatre.

The Captain. Lavinia: do Christians know how to love?

Lavinia. [Composedly] Yes, Captain: they love even their enemies. The Captain. Is that easy?

Lavinia. Very easy, Captain, when their enemies are as handsome as you.

The Captain. Lavinia: you are laughing at me.

Lavinia. At you, Captain! Impossible.

The Captain. Then you are flirting with me, which is worse. Dont be foolish.

Lavinia. But such a very handsome captain.

The Captain. Incorrigible! [Urgently] Listen to me. The men in that audience tomorrow will be the vilest of voluptuaries: men in whom the only passion excited by a beautiful woman is a lust to see her tortured and torn shrieking limb from limb. It is a crime to gratify that passion. Why will you not choose rather a kindly love and an honorable alliance?

Lavinia. They cannot violate my soul. I alone can do that by sacrificing to false gods.

The Captain. Sacrifice then to the true God. What docs his name matter? We call him Jupiter. The Greeks call him Zeus. Call him what you will as you drop the incense on the altar flame: He will understand.

Lavinia. No. I couldnt. That is the strange thing, Captain, that a little pinch of incense should make all that difference. Religion is such a great thing that when I meet really religious people we are friends at once, no matter what name we give to the divine will that made us and moves us. Oh, do you think that I, a woman, would quarrel with you for sacrificing to a woman god like Diana, if Diana meant to you what Christ means to me? No: we should kneel side by side before her altar like two children. But when men who believe neither in my God nor in their ownmen who do not know the meaning of the word religionwhen these men drag me to the foot of an iron statue that has become the symbol of the terror and darkness through which they walk, of their cruelty and greed, of their hatred of God and their oppression of manwhen they ask me to pledge my soul before the people that this hideous idol is God, and that all this wickedness and falsehood is divine truth, I cannot do it, not if they could put a thousand cruel deaths on me. I tell you, it is physically impossible. Listen, Captain: did you ever try to catch a mouse in your hand? Once there was a dear little mouse that used to come out and play on my table as I was reading. I wanted to take him in my hand and caress him; and sometimes he got among my books so that he could not escape me when I stretched out my hand. And I did stretch out my hand; but it always came back in spite of me. I was not afraid of him in my heart; but my hand refused: it is not in the nature of my hand to touch a mouse. Well, Captain, if I took a pinch of incense in my hand and stretched it out over the altar fire, my hand would come back. My body would be true to my faith even if you could corrupt my mind. And all the time I should believe more in Diana than my persecutors have ever believed in anything. Can you understand that?

The Captain. [Simply] Yes: I understand that. But my hand would not come back. The hand that holds the sword has been trained not to come back from anything but victory.

Lavinia. Not even from death?

The Captain. Least of all from death.

Lavinia. Then I must not come back from death either. A woman has to be braver than a soldier.

The Captain. Prouder, you mean.

Lavinia. [Startled] Prouder! You call our courage pride!

The Captain. There is no such thing as courage: there is only pride. You Christians are the proudest devils on earth.

Lavinia. [Hurt] Pray God then my pride may never become a false pride.

4. In the Chodorov and Fields' comedy, "Jiimor Miss," Judy Graves and her friend, Fuffy Adams from the apartment downstairs, are arranging for dates to take them to Mary Caswell's New Year's dance. Fuffy's brother, Barlow, is "stuck" with taking Fuffy, and he has a friend, Haskell Cummings, who has come to give Judy the once-over before he asks her. After some stiff introductions, the conversation gets going when Fuffy and Judy remember that they had a lot of fun at the last party.

Haskell. Where do you go in the summer?

Judy. [Trapped] Who, me?

Haskell. Yeah.

Judy. [Getting up and moving around behind Haskell so she can catch Fuffy s signals] South Dorset, Vermont. We've been going there for years. Where do you go?

Haskell. Madison, Connecticut. [Fuffy nods favorably to Judy] Judy. I've been there. I visited my Aunt Julia there one summer.[Barlow sneezes] God bless you, Barlow. Barlow. Thank you.

Haskell. [Poker-faced] Do you know Jane Garside? [Fuffy signals thumbs down] Judy. That drip!

Haskell. [Lighting up] Drip is right ... I can't stand that Jane Gar-side. Where did you swim? At the Yacht Club or the Country Club?

[Fuffy takes a swing at an imaginary golf ball] Judy. At the Country Club.

Haskell. That's where I swim. [Turns brightly to Fuffy] Fuffy. Isn't that wonderful? Judy. [Laughing in relief] Well, isn't that the funniest thing. [She giggles again in excitement] Fuffy. Hey, look out . . . you'll get the hiccoughs. Judy. [Gasping] Oh, don't! Every time you say that, I do get them, and . . . [She draws in her breath] I have got them! Fuffy. Hold your arms over your head and I'll get the vinegar! [She runs into the other room. Judy sits there, her arms over her head] Judy. [After each hiccough] Excuse me . . . Excuse me . . . Excuse me. [Haskell picks up a magazine and hits her sharply over the head] Ouch! [Fuffy runs back into the room with the vinegar bottle]

Fuffy. How are they? Judy. They're gone. Haskell cured them. Fuffy. That's the first time I've ever known Judy to have the hiccoughs and get over them like that. Haskell. [Casually] When they get the hiccoughs, the best thing to do is scare them.

Judy. You're very scientific, aren't you?

Haskell. Sort of.

Barlow. [Moving to the door] Well, we'd better get going.

Judy. Wouldn't you like some ginger ale before you go?

Barlow. We can'twe're late now for our weekly poker game.

Judy. Well, thanks encore.

5. Susan Glaspell's "Trifles" concerns a farm woman who has been jailed on the suspicion that she murdered her husband. Mr. Hale had stopped by the house one morning to see if the Wrights would be interested in going in on a party line telephone. He had found Mrs. Wright sitting in a rocking chair and Mr. Wright upstairs in his bed, strangled.

The County Attorney has now come to the Wright house with Sheriff Peters, Mr. Hale, and their wives to look for possible clues to the murder. Mrs. Wright has maintained quietly that she was asleep and didn't know what had happened to her husband.

The men have gone upstairs. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are gathering together a few things to take to Mrs. Wright at the jail.

Mrs. Hale. [Examining a skirt] Wright was close. I think maybe that's why she kept so much to herself. She didn't even belong to the Ladies Aid. I suppose she felt she couldn't do her part, and then you don't enjoy things when you feel shabby. She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was Minnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir. But thatoh, that was thirty years ago. This all you was to take in?

Mrs. Peters. She said she wanted an apron. Funny thing to want, for there isn't much to get you dirty in jail, goodness knows. But I suppose just to make her feel more natural. She said they was in the top drawer in this cupboard. Yes, here. And then her little shawl that always hung behind the door. [Opens stair door and looks] Yes, here it is. [Quickly shuts door leading upstairs]

Mrs. Hale. [Abruptly moving toward her] Mrs. Peters?

Mrs. Peters. Yes, Mrs. Hale?

Mrs. Hale. Do you think she did it?

Mrs. Peters. [In a frightened voice] Oh, I don't know. Mr. Henderson said coming out that what was needed for the case was a motive; something to show anger, orsudden feeling. [She brings the large sewing basket and they look at the bright pieces] She was piecing a quilt.

Mrs. Hale. Mrs. Peters, look at this one. Here, this is the one she was working on, and look at the sewing! All the rest of it has been so nice and even. And look at this! It's all over the place! Why, it looks as if she didn't know what she was about! [After an instant Mrs. Hale has pulled at a knot and ripped the sewing]

Mrs. Peters. Mrs. Peters. Oh, what are you doing, Mrs. Hale?

Mrs. Hale. [Mildly] Just pulling out a stitch or two that's not sewed very good. Bad sewing always made me fidgety. What do you suppose she was so nervous about?

Mrs. Peters. OhI don't know. Well I must get these things wrapped up. I wonder where I can find a piece of paper, and string.

Mrs. Hale. In that cupboard, maybe?

Mrs. Peters. [Looking in cupboard] Why, here's a bird-cage. [Holds it up] Did she have a bird, Mrs. Hale?

Mrs. Hale. Why, I don't know whether she did or notI've not been here for so long. There was a man around last year selling canaries cheap, but I don't know as she took one; maybe she did. She used to sing real pretty herself.

Mrs. Peters. I wonder what happened to it.

Mrs. Hale. I s'pose maybe the cat got it.

Mrs. Peters. [Examining the cage] Why, look at this door. It's broke. One hinge is pulled apart.

Mrs. Hale. I wish I had come over sometimes when she was here. I wish I had.

Mrs. Peters. But of course you were awful busy, Mrs. Haleyour house and your children.

Mrs. Hale. I could've come. I stayed away because it weren't cheerfuland that's why I ought to have come. II've never liked this place. Maybe because it's down in a hollow and you don't see the road. I dunno what it is, but it's a lonesome place and always was. I wish I had come over to see Minnie Foster sometimes. Did you know John Wright, Mrs. Peters?

Mrs. Peters. Not to know him; I've seen him in town. They say he was a good man.

Mrs. Hale. Yesgood; he didn't drink, and kept his word as well as most, I guess, and paid his debts. But he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters. Just to pass the time of day with him[Shivers] Like a raw wind that gets to the bone. [Pauses, her eye falling on the cage] I should think she would 'a wanted a bird. But what do you suppose went with it?

Mrs. Peters. I don't know, unless it got sick and died.

Mrs. Hale. Shecome to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herselfreal sweet and pretty, but kind of timid andfluttery. How-shedidchange. Tell you what, Mrs. Peters, why don't you take the quilt with you? It might take up her mind.

Mrs. Peters. Why, I think that's a real nice idea, Mrs. Hale. I wonder if her patches are in hereand her things. [They look in the sewing basket]

Mrs. Hale. [Brings out a fancy box] What a pretty box. Looks like something somebody would give you. Maybe her scissors are in here. [Opens box. Suddenly puts her hand to her nose] WhyThere's something wrapped up in this piece of silk. Mrs. Peters. It's the bird. Mrs. Hale. [Jumping up] But, Mrs. Peterslook at it! It's neck! Look at its neck. It's all Mrs. Peters. Somebodywrungitsneck. [Their eyes meet. A look of growing comprehension, of horror] Mrs. Hale. She liked the bird. She was going to bury it in that pretty box. Mrs. Peters [In a whisper] When I was a girlmy kittenthere was a boy took a hatchet, and before my eyesand before I could get there[Covers her face an instant] If they hadn't held me back I would have[Catches herself, falters weakly]hurt him. Mrs. Hale. [With a slow look around her] I wonder how it would seem never to have had any children around. [Pauses] No, Wright wouldn't like the birda thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too.

Mrs. Peters. We don't know who killed the bird. Mrs. Hale. I knew John Wright. Mrs. Peters. It was an awful thing was done in this house that night,

Mrs. Hale. Killing a man while he slept, slipping a rope around his neck that choked the life out of him. Mrs. Hale. His neck. Choked the life out of him.

Exercises

1. Have a panel discussion followed by questions from the class on the subject, "Why Are Dramatics Important to Me?"
2. Choose one of the following to act out in pantomime (just using bodily movement, with no speech). A chair and a table may be provided. The class should be asked to guess what action is being portrayed.
   1. An old man looking for his glasses
   2. A young lady tennis champion receiving her cup and making her "thank you" speech to the audience.
   3. A middle-aged business man, standing on the corner reading a newspaper while waiting for his wife.
   4. An old woman coming back from grocery shopping, setting down her heavy bundles and picking them up again.
   5. A young girl admiring herself in the store windows as she passes along.
   6. A middle-aged woman who has gotten on the bus with packages but cannot find any change in her purse.
   7. A fat truck driver who is trying on suits that are too small.
   8. A teen-aged baby sitter who has been asleep in her chair and wakes up hastily when she hears the parents coming home.
   9. An over-weight delivery man carrying a heavy load on his shoulders who lets it down with pleasure,
   10. A professional boxer rehearsing a speech he must give to the boxing commission.
   11. An old man getting slowly up from his chair to be introduced to a lady.
   12. A middle-aged woman whose feet hurt from wearing high heels, coming in from a long shopping trip, laden with bundles.
   13. . A young college boy who has just received a "Dear John" letter from his fiancee.
   14. A tired scrub woman who is cleaning a restaurant, o. A mailman during the Christmas rush who sets down his heavy pack to smoke a cigarette.
   15. A middle-aged man who has come home to take his wife out to dinner, only to find a note on the kitchen table saying she has gone to her mother's for the weekend,
   16. A baseball pitcher who throws his best pitch, only to see it knocked over the fence for a home run.
   17. A girl at a dance who has no partner and is stuck talking to the chaperon while she keeps looking for prospects,
   18. A middle-aged widow who has prepared dinner for a caller and is busy inspecting herself and the table,
   19. An old woman who sits down with her knitting only to find that she must get up again to get her wool,
   20. A stock clerk lifting heavy boxes up off the floor and stacking them onto shelves.
   21. An old man bending over on the street to tie his shoelaces,
   22. A boy talking on the telephone to his best girl.
3. Go to a restaurant, a drugstore, a department store or to some other establishment where conversations can be observed. Watch two people in the course of a rather long conversation. Write down the facial movements of each of the conversationalists. Did smiles occur? Did eyes "light up?" Were there any frowns? How active were the faces?
4. Read one of the excerpts from plays given in this chapter and be prepared to discuss the proper way an actor could "get into the mood" for one of the roles in the play.
5. The following situations are often involved in stage business. Choose one of the situations and act it for the class, using imaginary properties.
   1. Go to the telephone, look for the directory and find it, locate your number, and dial the number.
   2. Go to a desk and search it for a missing letter.
   3. Enter quietly, blow out a candle and then pull back the curtains and look out of a window.
   4. Come in angry, first decide you will do something and then decide against it.
   5. You are trying to make up your mind about something while you are arranging flowers in a bowl.
   6. You must write a hurried note to someone. Take out a paper and pen and write hesitantly, thinking hard about what you are writing down.
   7. Someone has hidden something in the room. Search for it carefully.
   8. You have just been highly successful at something. It makes you sing or whistle as you walk around the room, picking up first one thing and then another.
   9. You are casually looking through the newspaper when you see something that startles you, and you can't believe it's true,
   10. You are sitting reading when there is a knock at the door which chills you. You close your book, get up, take a deep breath, and go to open the door.
   11. A letter has arrived in the mail and you find it on the table. You hold it for a moment before deciding to open it, then you rip it open and read it quickly.
   12. You are on the telephone talking to an old friend. Make up your conversation. Make us feel that there is someone on the other end of the line.
   13. You have just had a very difficult experience and your nerves are shattered. You come in hesitantly, sit down, shake your head trying to clear it, and then just stare ahead.
6. Write out a make-up sheet, giving directions for making up one of the following characters. In your comments, include skin protection, base, eyes, cheeks, face lines and shadows, lips, powder, false hair and hair coloring.
   1. An old woman who has been very ill.
   2. A young tennis star.
   3. A middle-aged banker.
   4. A bright, pert girl of 15.
   5. A very rich woman who is very vain.
   6. A prosperous, young businessman.
   7. A dignified lawyer,
   8. A society lady.