s and sore disappointments. So many thousands of
pounds have been spent in preparing the play, so many reputations are at
stake, so many hearts will be gay and glad to-morrow, or aching with the
bitter pain of defeat. But to Paterfamilias these are all the joys or
sorrows of another world. As he watches the smooth, easy performance, in
which every actor has his place, in which the whole pageant produces
itself without apparent effort, he fails to imagine the ceaseless work
involved in its adequate realisation. He does not know that for weeks
before the production of a new play, say at the Lyceum for instance, Mr.
Irving and the wonderful company which he has gathered round him labour
over it often far into the night after the audience has left. The
general idea of an actor's life is that it is a delightful round of
social pleasures tempered by a few hours' light, agreeable work in the
evening; to those who think this, a visit to the Lyceum rehearsals would
reveal the other side of the shield. Very few men in London labour so
indefatigably as Mr. Irving. To watch him directing a rehearsal almost
makes one's head ache at the mere idea of such unceasing labour. Every
motion, however insignificant, of each individual on the stage, from
himself down to the newest and rawest "super," has to be thought out and
planned in Mr. Irving's brain. Like an ideal general, he leaves nothing
to chance, nothing to subordinates. The turning up or down of every gas
jet, the movement of every piece of furniture, the effect of every note
of music, has received his most careful thought. One watches him stand
hour after hour on the Lyceum stage, without weariness, without
impatience, guiding the whole of the great production. And though Mr.
Irving never spares himself, he is very considerate to others. When, for
instance, a young actor is unable to comprehend the full meaning of an
explanation, Mr. Irving walks up and down the stage, one arm on his
shoulder, and explains the whole conception of the part. He is not only
a great actor, but a great teacher; and his influence pervades and
dominates every being in the theatre. He does not merely assert, but
gives full and sufficient reason for every action until every one on the
stage grasps the exact meaning of the scene as well as he does himself.
As an instance of this, let us follow the rehearsals of "Becket."

[Illustration: MR. HENRY IRVING.]

[Illustration: MISS TERRY STUDYING HER PART.]

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