Arthur Kachel, enactor of plays

              Arthur Kachel
Enactor of Plays
THE PLAY'S THE THING."
Shakespeare.
IT is an interesting fact that from the beginning of time just one big desire has dominated the lives of men,—all other desires and the activ¬ities growing out of them being tributary thereto. Science, religion and art have been but handmaidens serving this desire. We yearn to know the secret whereby to assemble, relate and crystallize into a single unit the chaotic mass of human experience, and so to be able to say, "Here in tangible simple guise, is All of Life."
Literature joins the other arts in this effort to discover life as a unit,—and literature finds its epitome in the drama. It is the privi¬lege of the dramatist to set forth in a single sentence perhaps, the essence of a character or situation,—the meaning of life itself even. Of late years, plays with few actors and a minimum of scenery have had a certain vogue,— this in answer to the demand for sim¬plicity and unity.
But if literature achieves its highest form in the drama—the drama, in turn, finds its truest interpreter in a single individual, the play-reader. This form of art is now too familiar to the public to need description, but it is gratifying to observe that wise men every¬where are saying, "Here, at last, is the answer to our prayer. The play's the thing! Life in epitome! And no stage trappings or stage vulgarities to blur the picture! "
Yet we grant you that the impersonation or enactment which is merely the "effort" of an unskilled "artist" is the worst of all offenses thrust upon the public. As well might the banana hawker attempt grand opera. Play-reading is a fine art and requires both genius and thorough training,—and no man who has "just picked it up" has a right to affront an audience with his product.
Mr. Kachel is gifted with a great voice and a splendid imagination. He has been wisely and thoroughly trained. He has arrived at that place in his work where he can be classed as a true exponent of the art. His work is distinctive. Finally—note this—he is fortunate in his material. He deals with the modern play,—the live, the sentient, the drama of the hour.
Note:—Mr. Kachel graduated with the / 906 class of Lelartd Powers School, Boston, and was a member of Us faculty for two years.
THE    GREAT   PLAYS
THE MUSIC MASTER.                                                         DAVID WARFIELD
WONDERFULLY human, marvellously vivid, and universal in
its appeal, is this the most successful of all modern plays.
Herr Von Earwig, conductor of the Leipsic Symphony
Orchestra, is deserted by his wife who takes with her their only child,
a daughter some three years old.    The play turns upon the search of
this German Musician for his loved ones.
Mr. Klein the author, has well  portrayed Herr Von Earwig's
pathetic struggle with poverty, his varied and humorous experiences
in endeavoring to meet the demands of a public not trained to the
best, and his final great hour when in the rapidly shifting events of a
big city, his daughter who is now a beautiful woman, is brought back
into his life.
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THE MELTING POT.                                                        WALKER WHITESIDE
GOD'S Crucible, in which the races of the world, with their blood feuds and antagonisms are being melted and amalgamated to produce a finer product — this is Israel ZangwilFs conception of America, which he weaves into a powerful drama which grips us with its magnificent, patriotic appeal.
David, the hero, is at once strong, pathetic and touching, voicing the thought that w America is a land where God will wipe away the tears from off all faces."
The dramatic incident of the play is the unfoldment of a love story as powerful as it is unusual.
America
Fused in her candid light
To one strong race, all races here unite;
Tongues melt in hers, hereditary foemen Forget their sword and slogan, kith and clan.
'Twas glory once to be a Roman; She makes it glory now to be a man'.
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OLD HEIDLEBERG.                                                        RICHARD MANSFIELD
THAT bright little idyll of student life in Germany is ever a de¬light and in it Mr. Mansfield scored a distinctive success.
Prince Heinrich, the Crown Prince, whose one escape out of hidebound conventions and court etiquette occurs when he attends the university, where he joins a student corps and falls in love with Kathie, the pretty niece of the picturesquely doddering old innkeeper. Their sorrowful parting when he is called back, because of his uncle's death, to become the Emperor, and the laughter and high spirits of the student scenes make this a play that is at once pathetic and humorous.
OF   FAMOUS   ACTORS
DISRAELI.                                                                                              GEORGE ARLISS
David Belasco in speaking of the play says,—
"In it you have your love story, your historical parallel and hest of all your epigrammatic dialogues. The sly wit of the lines attracts the blase. Everybody likes Disraeli for there is something in it for everybody."
The play deals with the final years of the life of the great English Statesman who gives the play its name, including his successful diplo¬matic struggle for possession of the Suez Canal—"The Key to India,9' which results in making his Queen an Empress.
Note:  Written by Louis N. Parker.       Endorsed by The Drama League of America.

THE HONOR OF THE FAMILY,                                            0775 SKINNER
PERHAPS Mr. Skinner has achieved no greater triumph than in Mr. Fabre's play, The Honor of the Family.    It is a simple story
with a number of cleverly contrived scenes and one central char¬acter, Colonel Phillipe Bridau, who is piquant and unique — he is a combination of the real and fantastic.
The play concerns Phillipe's rich and miserly old uncle who is proof against appeal for aid from his next of kin, and who is under the complete control of an adventuress; and the manner in which Phillipe thwarts her plans by his force and finesse as well as by his sword, thereby saving 'The Honor of the Family."
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STRONGHEART.                                                                     ROBERT EDESON
NO characterization of the contemporary stage stands out more clearly than Mr. Edeson's wStrongheart." The play tells the story of a full blooded Indian who is a graduate of Carlisle and at the inspiration of a fine young woman enters Columbia University, where his personality and football prowess make him a college idol. He is unjustly accused of revealing football signals to a rival team but remains silent under the charge, protecting his dearest friend. But when this friend learns that Strongheart has dared to love his sister he turns upon him in fury. Just when the hero wins the girl a messenger from his Tribe comes and bids him return to become their chief. He realizes what it would mean to take this fair young woman to his people and gives her up.
IN   APPRECIATION
My Dear Kachel: —
LET me express to you the pleasure I received from your reading of wThe Music Master."    It was admirably done. Your masterly pantomime places the scene and movement of the play vividly before the auditor without the slightest intrusion of per¬sonality, and your voice is one of the most beautiful I have ever heard.    It is fluid and responsive to the demand of every emotion.
Your impersonation of Herr Von Barwig himself, was one of the best things I have seen in many a day. It was rare. Its simplicity, its distinction, its pathos, and its power, made it a work of noble art. And then it was all so lovingly human and real.
The reading makes it appeal directly to the heart.    It is rich in human sympathy and strong with an understanding of human experience.    Its grip is universal.    When I hear a thing well done like that, I want everybody to hear it. Thanks and hearty good wishes.           I am, faithfully yours,
LELAND POWERS.
My Dear Mr. Kachel: —
I was greatly pleased and impressed last evening with your rendering of scenes from "The Music Master." You brought out forcibly both the humor and the pathos of the old German's character and held the close attention of your audience every moment. At one time everybody about me was in tears and the next minute all were laughing heartily. I want to thank you for a very enjoyable evening, the result of your unquestioned talent.
Very sincerely yours,
RACHEL NOAH FRANCE.
(Formerly associated in leading parts with Edwin Booth, Lawrence Barrett, Joseph Jefferson, Mary Anderson, and other world renowned actors.)
December 15,1913.
It affords me much pleasure to say I have heard Mr. Arthur Kachel in
"The Music Master," which he gives with such consummate skill and artistic
ability as to keep the complete attention and interest of the audience from
beginning to end.
EX-GOV. JOS. W. FOLK, Missouri.
"The Music Master," given by Arthur Kachel in the First M. E. Church, to a capacity audience last night, was one of the best readings ever given in the city of Sioux Falls. His sympathetic interpretation was only equaled by his superb impersonation of the various characters. It was a great success. Mr. Kachel is a master on the platform.        Very sincerely,
DR. J. W. POTTER,
Minister.
June 28, 1913. Mr. Arthur Kachel gave his monologue, "The Music Master," before the Muscatine Chautauqua this afternoon. I have never heard a monologue that impressed me more deeply. It was given as nearly perfectly as lies within human power to give. The audience was simply carried away and at the close of the performance gave him an ovation such as has been given to no one else who has appeared at this assembly. It is the unanimous wish of the patrons that he be returned next year.
PAUL F. VOELKER,
Secretary of Extension Dept., University of Wisconsin.
IN  APPRECIATION
1HAVE heard Arthur Kachel several times in "The Music Master" and sev¬eral times in "The Melting Pot," and was enthralled every time. Nature has endowed him with a wonderfully suitable voice and a highly organized and sensitive temperament which experience has mel¬lowed with sympathy and long, patient work  crowned with symmetry and artistic finish.
His characters actually live before his audience and he interprets above all their heart sufferings, heart yearnings, their joy and sorrow. The result is, the audience lives the play.
CAPT. RICHMOND PEARSON HOBSON,
U. S. House of Representatives.
My Dear Mr. Kachel: —
I am moved to send you a letter of thanks for your superb reading of "The Music Master" before the University.
A remarkable natural gift in you has been carefully refined by study. Robustness and delicacy, the shades and tints that culture gives, exquisite per¬ceptions, gentle touches, the play of humor and the sombre tones of tragedy— all of these are commingled in your work. And there is the subtle thing called personality which in your case constitutes much of the charm.
I forecast for you an honorable career in your art. I am sure that scat¬tered as they will soon be to every corner of the United States, the students of the University will not soon forget the pleasant hour you afforded them.
Cordially yours,
JOHN CAVANAUGH, C. S. C.
President of Notre Dame University.
Mr. Arthur Kachel has struck twelve in his recital of "The Music Master." Himself a German he handles the dialect perfectly. But this, of course, is only an incident in his masterly presentation. He has a real appreciation of the temperament of the lovable hero of the play, and best of all he has an under¬standing of the universal human heart. This appreciation and this understanding he shares with his audience through his knowledge of dramatic effects and through the medium of a remarkably beautiful voice.
PHIDELAH RICE.
Mr. Arthur B. Kachel, a master of the platform art, is at his best in his exquisite and sympathetic rendering of "The Music Master." The distinctness of the various characters, each portrayed with an appreciative understanding of human nature and showing the finest touches of interpretation, makes them seem to be separate actors in a moving drama, and the audience forgets that but one man occupies the stage. In Mr. Kachel's masterly interpretation of the beautiful central character,Herr Von Barwig lives before you, struggling through the appealing vicissitudes of his career, while the audience, gripped by an interest that is intense, alternates between laughter and tears.
For an hour and a quarter the audience is not only highly entertained, but uplifted and edified by this touching and intensely human appeal to their sympathies, and the best in their characters. The effect of Mr. KacheFs imper¬sonation of the lovable old Music Master done with such simplicity, sympathy and power, is not only to delight and charm his audiences, but to leave them, through the pathos and the ethical import of the beautiful story, too affected to applaud.                                                                    F. L. SIMS,
Principal of South Bend, Ind., High School.