Theatre - Part 1

1. Summarize the chapters.

Michael Gosselyn meets his wife Julia in a room behind the scene and tells her about his new clerk who is pretty fond of her. Together they decide to invite him for lunch. He comes, behaving really shy and paying some compliments to the house and Julia. After the lunch, Julia presents him one of her signed photographs. Michael and the clerk leave, and she begins to look through the photographs recalling her whole life. The author tells us that at the beginning of his career, Michael, though being a mediocre actor, meets Jimmie Langton and joins his troupe. As for Julie, she is a born actress. When she is twelve, she meets Langton and also becomes a member of his troupe. Then Julie falls in love with Michael, but for him she is no more than a comrade. She does everything to make him marry her. However, it only helps when Michael’s parents invite her for dinner. She manages to make them like her, and Michael asks her marry him.

2. Transcribe and translate the words:

1. engraving, n	/ɛnˈgreɪ vɪŋ/	гравюра	a sort of art in which the design is incised on the hard flat surface by cutting groves into it
2. emblazoned, adj	/ɛmˈbleɪ zən/	украшенный эмблемой	decorated with a blazon
3. racy, adj	/ˈreɪ si/	крепкий, колкий	pungent
4. cherub, n	/ˈtʃɛr əb/	херувим	a beautiful rosy-cheeked child with wings
5. wistful, adj	/ˈwɪst fəl/	тоскующий	yearn
6. stickler, n	/ˈstɪk lər/	сторонник	a person who insists on something
7. brilliantine, n	/ˈbrɪl yənˌtin/	бриллиантин	hair-grooming product intended to soften men's hair and give it a glossy appearance
8. raisonneur, n	/ˌrɛz əˈnɜr; rɛ zɔˈnœr/	резонер	a character in a play who voices the central theme, philosophy, or point of view of the work
9. gulp down, v	/gʌlp/	проглотить	to swallow
10. burgher, n	/ˈbɜr gər/	бюргер	citizen
11. languorous, adj	/ˈlæŋ gər əs/	томный	languid
12. verisimilitude, n	/ˌvɛr ə sɪˈmɪl ɪˌtud/	достоверность	faithfulness
13. stiffen, v	/ˈstɪf ən/	напрячься	to tense
14. remonstrate, v	/rɪˈmɒn streɪt/	выразить протест	to object
15. equanimity, n	/ˌi kwəˈnɪm ɪ ti/	невозмутимость	mental or emotional stability
16. stucco, n	/ˈstʌk oʊ/	штукатурка	plaster
17. roguish, adj	/ˈroʊ gɪʃ/	плутоватый	playfully mischievous
18. lumbering, adj	/ˈlʌm bər ɪŋ/	тяжелая (о походке)	awkward
19. gait, n	/geɪt/	походка	pace
20. pop, n	/pɒp/	зд. шампанское	fizzy drink

3. Expressions:

1. to put smb at one’s ease	ободрить кого-либо	In the car Julia had done all she could to put him at his ease, but he was still very shy.
2. to be as thin as a rail	быть худым как щепка	The poor lamb's as thin as a rail, Michael.
3. to drag out of smb	вытащить что-либо из кого-либо (пер.)	"I dragged that out of him all right," thought Julia.
4. to let smb down	подвести кого-либо	The company laughed at him and abused him and did everything they could to please him. He aroused a protective instinct in them, so that one and all they felt that they couldn't let him down. (About Langton)
5. to be word-perfect	вызубрить	"I think I can be word-perfect in any part in forty-eight hours."
6. to be absolutely stony	быть на мели	"My dear old boy, I'd love to lend you a quid, but I'm absolutely stony. I don't know how I'm going to pay my rent at the end of the week."
7. to know the ropes	хорошо ориентироваться	I don't believe one could hope to make a success in London unless one were pretty well known already. The thing to do would be to act there in other managements for three or four years first; one's got to know the ropes.
8. to diminish one’s height	съежиться	Mrs. Gosselyn was a tall, stoutish, elderly woman, much taller than her husband, who gave you the impression that she was always trying to diminish her height.

IV. Story.

They were two friends. One of them was a rather tall guy, as thin as a rail, but he never seemed always to try to diminish his height, when walking around with his fellow. That one was much shorter, with a constant equanimity seen on his face, and people liked to think that nothing could bother him. He had plenty of troubles though. He had just let a great number of people down, so many people that can’t fit in the frames of a single photography, unless it is the photography of our planet. He had let people down, and so had his friend. Now these two were standing in front of the cameras, speaking with media.

V. Translation.

Когда шестнадцатилетней девушкой Джулия отправилась на учебу в Королевскую академию драматического искусства на Гауэр-стрит, уже многое из того, чему ее могли научить там, было ей знакомо. Ей пришлось избавиться от некоторых приемов, которые уже были не в ходу, и научиться более разговорной манере игры. Однако она получала приз любого из конкурсов, в которых участвовала, и, завершив обучение, со своим отличным знанием французского она почти сразу же получила небольшую роль — горничной-француженки — в Лондонском театре. Долгое время ее репертуар не менялся — как будто знание французского языка предполагало, что она может играть только партии, где необходим иностранный акцент; затем ее взяли на роль австрийской официантки. Прошло два года, прежде чем ее нашел Джимми Лангтон. Джулия была на гастролях с мелодрамой, оказавшейся весьма успешной в Лондоне, в роли итальянки-авантюристки, чьи интриги в итоге оказываются раскрытыми; она пыталась, без особого, впрочем, успеха, изобразить женщину сорока лет. Из-за того, что героиня, светловолосая женщина зрелых лет, играла молодую девчонку, спектаклю не доставало правдоподобности. У Джимми был небольшой отпуск, который он проводил, каждый день посещая театр, перемещаясь вслед за труппой из города в город. После окончания спектакля он подошел к Джулии. Джимми был достаточно хорошо известен в театральном мире, чтобы она была польщена его комплиментами, и когда он пригласил ее пообедать с ним на следующий день, она согласилась.