At six o'clock, he wished to go to the manager and give up the part.
"I can never do it," he wailed to me. "I haven't had time to form a
conception of it and to get up byplay. You see, it's an eccentric character
part,--a man from the country whom everybody takes for a fool, but who
shows up strong at the last. I can't--"
"Oh, don't act it. You're only engaged in the emergency, you know. Simply
go on and say your lines and come off."
"That's all I can do," he said, with a dubious shake of the head. "If only
I'd had time to study it!"
American plays had taken foothold, and this premier of a new one by an
author of two previous successes drew a "typical first night audience."
Newgag, having abandoned all idea of making a hit, or of acting the part
any further than the mere delivery of the speeches went, was no longer
inordinately nervous. When he first entered he was a trifle frightened,
and his unavoidable lack of prepared stage business made him awkward and
embarrassed for a time. The awkwardness remained, but the embarrassment
eventually passed away. He spoke in his natural voice and retained his
actual manner.
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