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Tom Goodwin was an actor-man,
Old Drury's pride and boast,
In all the light and spritely parts,
read more
Tom Goodwin was an actor-man,
Old Drury's pride and boast,
In all the light and spritely parts,
Especially the ghost.
If you took acting away from me, I'd stop breathing.
If you took acting away from me, I'd stop breathing.
See, how these rascals use me! They will not let my play run;
and yet they steal my thunder.
See, how these rascals use me! They will not let my play run;
and yet they steal my thunder.
The drama's laws, the drama's patrons give.
For we that live to please, must please to live.
The drama's laws, the drama's patrons give.
For we that live to please, must please to live.
Like hungry guests, a sitting audience looks;
Plays are like suppers; poets are the cooks.
The founder's read more
Like hungry guests, a sitting audience looks;
Plays are like suppers; poets are the cooks.
The founder's you: the table is the place:
The carvers we: the prologue is the grace.
Each act, a course, each scene, a different dish,
Though we're in Lent, I doubt you're still for flesh.
Satire's the sauce, high-season'd, sharp and rough.
Kind masks and beaux, I hope you're pepperproof?
Wit is the wine; but 'tis so scarce the true
Poets, like vintners, balderdash and brew.
Your surly scenes, where rant and bloodshed join.
Are butcher's meat, a battle's sirloin:
Your scenes of love, so flowing, soft and chaste,
Are water-gruel without salt or taste.
Prologues like compliments are loss of time;
'Tis penning bows and making legs in rhyme.
Prologues like compliments are loss of time;
'Tis penning bows and making legs in rhyme.
Acting is about giving something away, handing yourself over to whatever role you are asked to play. I'm not hiding read more
Acting is about giving something away, handing yourself over to whatever role you are asked to play. I'm not hiding or escaping or seeking anonymity. I reserve the right not to have a rubber stamp on my forehead saying this is who I am. Because who I am gets in the way of people looking innocently at the parts I play.
The play bill which is said to have announced the tragedy of
Hamlet, the character of the Prince of read more
The play bill which is said to have announced the tragedy of
Hamlet, the character of the Prince of Denmark being left out.
The play was a great success but the audience was a disaster.
The play was a great success but the audience was a disaster.