The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-04-10 00:00:00

ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.

This popular theatre re-opened on Easter Monday
evening, when Mr. Joseph Proctor, an American
tragedian, made his first appearance here (in Macbeth),
before a crowded audience. This gentleman possesses
all the personal requisites, besides a splendid and costly
wardrobe, for the representation of this arduous
character. He evidently understands well how to work
up the more striking points for the approbation of at
least the majority of his audience, and he possesses not
a few excellencies, more peculiarly his own, which
cannot fail to secure the approbation of all. We only
regret that an actor. possessed of so many advantages
should show so frequently his indifference, if not in-
sensibility, to some of the most beautiful parts of
the character, but we trust that, by close and
judicious study of his author, he will yet worthily
fill up these desiderata ; for we think that he is quite
capable of attaining a very high degree of proficiency.
There was an occasional want of deliberation, and now
and again the unnecessary substitution, or awkward
omission, of a pause in the speeches, which told con-
siderably against the meaning of the passages so mal-
treated. There were also some few mispronounciations,
which Mr. Proctor must rectify. We have space for
only:one or two brief illustrations of these remarks. For
instance, in the soliloquy towards the end of the first
act, he spoke the words—

. . . . That but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all here,
But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,—
We'd jump the life to come.
There was an emphasis and pause made at the close of
the second line, but no pause at the end of the third,
which made the words express something nonsensical.
Throughout this fine soliloquy there was an amount of
action which seemed to us unsuitable for such a dispas-
sionate and philosophical piece of meditation. In the
midnight interview with Banquo, when Ilfaebetli tries
to persuade him " to cleave to his consent, " there was
assumed more of the air of a man proposing to confer a
favoui than that of one trying to procure another's
concurrence. The passage—
Go bid thy mistress when my drink is ready
She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed.
was given in a manner which we think missed the only
point in it. The emphasis was placed on " the bell ;"
and the "get thee to bed" was reserved until the servant
returned. Now, the dramatist's meaning appears to be
that the mistress was to take upon herself the servant's
usual duty of striking on the bell, so that there might
be no one waiting on, to interrupt the progress of the
bloody business on hand. This would be rendered by em-
phasising "she" and, as in the text, giving simultaneously
the order " get thee to bed." The dagger soliloquy was
well given—but still we could not help feeling that the
actor was more concerned with his action and attitudes
than with the real meaning of the author. His enun-
ciation of the lines following :

. . . Now o'er the one half world
Nature seems dead," &c.
was not so calmly impressive as we would have liked it
—the tendency to rant and action becoming again rather
manifest. The intending murderer's entrance to the
bed-chamber, amid the rattling of thunder and vivid
lightning, was not Shakspearean. After the murder,
when Macbeth, looks on his blood-stained hands, Mr.
Proctor made the unpardonable mistake of pronouncing
the following words after this fashion :

. . This my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadiue,
Making the green ow—red !"
A very "green one" might become "red" with blushes
at such a mistake. Throughout the third act Mr. Proctor
had ample scope for his great powers of action. In the
" ghost scene" especially, his performance drew forth
repeated and enthusiastic applause. As usually under-
stood, it was well suited for his style of acting, and he
made the most of it. Never was there a better or more
graphic representation of a man thol oughly frightened
by a ghost of his own making. He shook and quivered
like an aspen leaf from head to foot, and was a very
maniac in terror and rage. On his leaving the stage at
the end of this scene, we had a novelty, of the actor's
own devising, we presume, to which we not only see no
objection, but we could not help thinking that it
was very beautiful and touching. It has been
usual for Macbeth simply to lead his wife off
without any special point—but in this instance the King,
exhausted with excitement and pressing his hand on his
brow, on touching the glittering crown, tears it from his
head, and holding it out before him, looks on it anxiously,
doubtingly, and most reproachfully, groans most
piteously, as if, in words, he would deprecate the gaudy

emblem for which be had bartered his peace; and then
dropping it in sickened dissatisfaction, he retires to rest.
This point was very well received by the audience. Ano-
ther most inexcusable blunder was made by Mr. Proctor in
addressing the witches at " The pit of Acheron," when
he pronounced the word " conjure "

I conjure you, by that which you profess,
with the accent on the first syllable, which we need
scarcely say is another word with a totally different
meaning from that of the author. Throughout this
scene the actor was most decidedly at fault, making
" points " where legitimately there are none, and
missing or omitting all that are usually given by first-
class actors. This was especially the case in the passage
. . . . From thiS moment,
The very firstlings of my heart shall be
The firstlings of my hand," &c.
which was uttered hurriedly and feebly, without suitable
emphasis or action. In the last act this gentleman
acquitted himself well, with but trifling exceptions of a
nature similar to what we have already noted. He
said :

* " This push
Will chc'r me ever, or ditiseat me now.

We certainly prefer the word "cheer," as in the common
versions, to that of "chair." In addressing the physician,
he made no halt or pause between the anxious entreaty
for the cure, if possible, of _Lady Macbeth, and his
humorous question—
What rhubard, senna, or what purgative drug
Would scour these English hence ?
Indeed, he even omitted the interjectional expression
of impatience to his armour-bearer —" Pull 't off I
say"—which showed baste and want of feeling. He
made another marked pause in the wrong place, when,
after hearing of the Qeeen's demise, he spoke thus—

She Should have died-hereafter;
The rest of this very fine speech was also given in a
way that we think Mr. Proctor, with care, could greatly
improve upon. In uttering the King's order—

Hang out our banners on the outward walls,
he placed the emphasis as we have indicated, on "out.
ward," and we know that there have been diffeien
opinions as to the exact meaning, but we must say that
Mr. Proctor's rendering sounded oddly, yet we do no
hesitate to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The last scene—the encounter with .ilfaccluff—was
rendered to some extent in a way of Mr. Proctor's own;
and, although.we cannot say we liked it, it was probably
all that he intended it to be, and certainly secured the
plaudits of the " gods." After the fall of the curtain,
an enthusiastic call was given to Mr. Proctor, to which
he responded amid general applause. In making these
criticisms, we would not be understood as unfai-ourable
to this gentlemen's pretensions as a first-class tragedian.
He possesses great abilities, and has no fault that may
not be easily overcome. He appears to-night as
"Richelieu," when, we doubt not, we shall enjoy a treat.