Download File

A DRAMATIC CRITIC
evidence given in that scene of the docil-
ity of the actor's muscles as the result of
his training is to be added to the mass of
inconsistent testimony which makes Mr.
Irving the least comprehensible of actors
in respect to his professional equipment.
The prime distinctions of Mr. Irving's
acting and the chief sources of its effective-
ness and charm are its intensity, its artis-
tic propriety, and its intellectuality; all
these being, of course, derived or reflected
from the artist's mind. By intensity I mean
here that quality which results from the
actor's capacity of delivering himself and
all his forces and faculties, without reser-
vation, to the demands of the character
which he assumes. The sum of Mr. Ir-
ving's powers is much less than that of
many other great players, but I have never
seen an actor whose absorption in his work
was so nearly complete and unintermitted
as his. He never trifles, never forgets
himself, never wearies, never relaxes the
[ 208 ]