The Strand Magazine, Vol. 01, Issue 02, February 1891: An Illustrated MonthlyVarious
General
The Strand Magazine, Vol. 01, Issue 02, February 1891: An Illustrated Monthly
Various
English literature -- Periodicals; Short stories, English -- Periodicals
The robing apartments of actors are pleasant retreats. Quaint old
prints, autographed portraits and pictures, highly-prized programmes,
letters from celebrities are as numerous as they are interesting, whilst
every actor bids "good luck" cross his threshold by exhibiting his own
particular horse-shoe in a conspicuous corner.
[Illustration: MR. IRVING'S DRESSING-ROOM.]
Where is a more picturesque room than that which Henry Irving enters
nightly? Scarcely a dozen square inches of wall paper is to be
seen--pictures are everywhere. The eminent tragedian has a private
entrance in Burleigh-street, and you may know when the actor is not far
away, for "Fussie," a pet fox-terrier, always heralds his approach.
"Fussie" has his own mat to sit on, and here he waits during the whole
of the performance until after the second act, when he regularly looks
up for his customary biscuit. It was "Fussie" who was lost at
Southampton when Mr. Irving was on his way to America. He turned up,
however, at the Lyceum stage door four days afterwards, and it remains a
mystery to this day as to whether "Fussie" came by road or rail.
Henry Irving's room is a comfortable apartment. The floor is covered
with oilcloth, and a huge rug imparts a cosy appearance. Irving always
uses the same chair to sit in when making up. It has broken down a score
of times, but has been patched up again and again. In fact, the actor
has almost a reverence for anything which is a connecting link with old
associations.
Look at the costumes, for instance, hanging behind a door which leads to
a very unpretentious-looking wash-basin. There hangs the clothing of
_The Master of Ravenswood_. The two Spanish hats with long feathers, the
velvet coat and waistcoat with innumerable buttons, a quaint old crimson
waistcoat, with elaborate silver work. Mr. Irving clings to an old coat
so long as it will cling to him. He makes his clothes old--wears them
during the day. That old beaver hat was worn in "Charles I." and "The
Dead Heart"--now it is the characteristic head-gear of _The Master of
Ravenswood_. The hat worn in the last act did duty ten years ago in "The
Corsican Brothers."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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