The national Republican., 1862-04-11
sslals1 AT TIE Arzruxuu.

The large audience who assembled On Wednes.
day niskt at ~ A,hsseun, Notwithstanding
the stcsn, 10 witness NJ. Forrest In King Lear,
proved their Interest IN u most dihlcult ol
Shakspesre's tragedies.
The actor who would convey the King Lear
Of Shakespeare, sails betwesu two. lee shores
the Scylla of raat aud The Charybdis Of feeble.
ness.
Success in this play Is stlainable only by him
who presents an exact copy Of nature, and
shrinks from oversteppipg is nodesty. The
actor may project hims H. and shade his char
acter, for the play gives him the liberty. Mr.
Forrest has bit the happy medium, and gives
us choleric. aiTectionate, credulous old king
victim to his whIms and affections, and thu.
the tool of designing persons. He rejects the
simple, truthful words Of Cordella, and greets
the exaggerated expressions oil his other lalse
daughters.
lie becomes the victim Of ingrstitudc-th
insane victim Of filial neglect The character
demands not only sympathy that is, the power
Of feeling ,oiLi, but ability TO present thai
status to the audience. In both these rcspect'
Mr.. Forrest met the highest expectations Of the
brilliant assembly who viewed him with criti
cal eye.
The feature Of Mr.. Forests acting which de
serves more than ordinary praise, is his con
sceniiouSness He believes that what IL worth
doing at all isworth doing well. Therefore. he
L all 10 tl.,
power OF the character. To him there j,
nothing great or small" and the tie Of biz
'andal claims as much attention as the utter
| nnce Of passionate words. lie was the old
cre'lulous King 10 dress, appearance. manner
and words. His acting indicated the difference
between cl,oler and passion, showing that while
he could represent the petulance OF tho one, he
| could rise to the dignity OF The other, and awe
his audience by The sublimity Of his power
Mr.. Forests acting is like picture, where all
the tints and scenes are subordinated 10 an
Unity Of effect. There is nothing which mars
the harmony Of The representation. 10 accord
ancc with this Tstleiic principle, is bis rigorous
obedience 10 the law Oi climax. Ills acting IL
| CiifnacteTlC 30 Wncn 30, tnat inc uuulInCc are
vetoed from saying this is The best point; for in
each scene, though he was adequate to its de
nands, be Impressed his audience with the CT
c.Lsior feeling, that there was something hghel
IN reserve and in this they were moi dssp
pointed. The interest oi the play culminaicd
in the death OF Cordcia, and the audience
borne along by the power of the actor, wer,
prepared 10 sympathize with tho de,~uenent, ,ant
enter into the passion OF The broken hearted
King when he died on the corpse Of bic daugb
ter.
10 other days, Mr. Forrest would have mare,
this play by excess d passion now, study ant
age have SO moderated his temperament tha
his representation Of King Lear may be pro
nolpced as one Of the most truthful preacnta
tons Of the Shakspcaran Lear ever projected
on the American stage.
Mr.. Forrest is n culnGinating actor, but hi
mariuiu,n is not yet reached.
Mr.. Mccullough. who represented the par
Of Edgar, is worthy Of all praise. lie has th
merit rare among young actors, Of not ovcI
doing his part. lie induces the expectation
that ha is capable Of better things. He doe
not exhaust himself and the audience by
single effort. Every one was saying, " fo
can do better, SIR"