10 SEPTEMBER 1881, Page 21

Amateur Acting. By J. K. Angus. (G. Routledge and Sons.)—

On the whole, we can safely recommend this handbook to inex- perienced amateur actors. It gives most of the information they require on such matters as " make up," rehearsal, and stage man- agement. It is written in a most unliterary style, and strewn with unnecessary quotations. Mr. Angus does not, we think, sufficiently insist on the greater pleasure to be derived from a family combina- tion for private theatricals, as against amateur theatricals performed in some public building. The former we think by far the more pleas- ant and profitable. The co operation of a few families will give a company large enough to provide under-studies for all the chief parts, and will secure the assistance of the older people for character parts. The best plan is to choose six pieces fer performance during one season, allowing six weeks for rehearsals. They should be played and rehearsed in the drawing-rooms, and it will usually be found that comediettas and two-act comedies are most easily managed. The plays should be looked upon as a means of culture, not as an opportunity for that social orgy, the dance. On the night of the performance, a small audience should be secured, and after the fall of tl.e curtain, audience and actors should join at a quiet supper. This plan lessens the expense, which prevents many people from entering upon private theatricals; and what is more importaut, provides a series of recreations for the winter. As the pieces are, for the most part, played by the same people throughout the season, the members acquire a smoothness of acting noticeably distinct from the casual style of the " fortuitous" concourse which generally appears at the Theatre Royal Drawing-room.