SORROWS OF THE STAGE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 806, 2 May 1910, Page 3

SORROWS OF THE STAGE.

The sorrows of, the' actress have been dealt with freely in. recent periodicals, English and American, but nothing more authoritative has. been published than comes in a report from the Berlin correspondent of-the "Daily Telegraph" of a parliament of actresses which filled the large Berlin Philharmonic Hall from half past eleven at night till' 3 o'clock in the- morning. It was a great surprise for the members of tho general public who flocked, to the meeting. They found that the greenroom has passions as violent and tragedies as. grim as any that are enacted' behind the footlights. The - gathering was inerely a . phase of a widespread movement which has for its object the improvement of, the . social and material standing of the profession, and was intended to! ventilate the special. grievances . of; its' female members.' That .there.aro many and deep was soon, evident.' In the main they are, of course, directed against the managers. Fraulein Hubner, of the New Theatre, opened the indictment by declaring' it to be a sad undeniable fact' that ideas of the stage and the immorality of actresses and courtesans were closely associated with, one another in the people's minds. One of the chief reasons for this was -that the expenses of actresses .were -out of all proportion to their emoluments. In it ho second and third-class theatres—and these are tho .vast -majority—the salaries paid during six 'or. seven mbhtKs' of the;' season worked, out at from £21 a year, for subordinate ,performers to £100 for leading players. Out -of these-sums the actress had to,pay-agency, fees, travelling and_2i-ber expenses, -and ,to provide all lief' dresses. • It' sometimes happened that in tho - course --of a single month, during which her earnings were from £3 10s. to £12 10s., she had to furnish asmany as ten separate costumes./ consequence was that 6ome fell, into defyt.and others ed to "temptation]' while "those' •' who; would stoop to neither of these expedients sat all day' long at the sewingmachine, .putting together the- dresses they were »to-wear 'in the evening.' The speaker complained bitterly ■ of '"the competition of those' ladies to whom. the,; theatre was merely an advertisement, for their shame , and a placs for the- exhibition of their charms." The vigorous applause with which her words-were reoeived showed that she. was expressing the general sentiment.

Fpiu Rosa .Bertens, another wellknown figure on tho Berlin, boards, complained that tho N profession was' overran by 'women who had met with misfortune or ill-luck in other walks of life.. .Formerly, she said, when -a girl had an unhappy love affair she retired into a convent. Now she went' on :to the stage.,' The teacher left lier class and . the student her books to try her fortune as an actress. Something must be done to stop this.

Fraulein Galle, a young actress, next narrated the difficulties the novice had to contend with. Success, she said, always-went- to tho candidates with the smartest frocks. Ii an actress had no pretty dresses she was kept back, whilo if she had them people inquired who her protector might be.- If«she was married, she .was dismissed at once.

. Herr Reckelt, the most active officer of the Stage Association, . ; had ■ even graver charges to bring against, tli9 managers. He put to the meeting the question: "Is it true, that many .managers persecute actresses with their attentions, and in a way compel them to accede to their desires?" With immediate unison and heartfelt emphasis the answer "Yes" was flung back to him from a large number of the ladies present. He montioned a manager who called an actress to his office, and falling at her feet, "swore by his wife and children that lie had never loved a woman as he loved her." The lady, however, was. unresponsive, and a few days later she received her dismissal.

. Herr Emmanuel Jteicher, one of the ablest actors in Berlin, appealed to his colleagues to unite to shield the female members of their profession from the dangers that encompassed them. This excursion into the realm of the ideal was followed up by Herr Wauer,- who propounded the view that the "life of the artist is necessarily a martyrdom." "If," ho added, "you eliminate privation from the conditions of the actor's life, you will undermine his art, for it is only through 'affliction that one can mature to a great artist." This Spartan sentiment did not awake a very cordial echo in the assembly. By 3 o'clock in the morning all those present were too much exhausted either to talk or listen, and the proceedings were brought to a close by a resolution calling upon the Federal Council and the Reichstag, which was represented by a number of deputies from different paxtieSj to remedy the grievances of the iramatic profession by legislative action.