The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-12-12


ally understood every one Of course will be fitted
for his line Of parts. Even stars will have their
orbits drawn with more restriction. The censor
.t,., "f the stage committed TO the public win be
igidly wieldoL.
,raa, ljs crnius. sbu, not be permitted to play
- ,,,,ro ogc and cx rcrience are absolutely
ncc,ssorv. To the maturCd and triumphant
artist who has the bulk Of large feno"n 20
repose on if he st, the inhmaNou VIII W gwen
that not even the prestige Of great SeAluS Huh
wondcrfuI success c8u give over the faults OF
ANY single characterization. When that Utopia
Of the stage arrives thc critical tastc OF the public
will be more thoughtfully cultured, and it is to
he hoped all partial sentiments will be sunk in
the mutual interest Of love for art
Until that happy hour arrives, we shall be com
pellod in our rCmombranCes Of MrtOTest,t to admit
that he is good reader in whatever he undertakes.
To find fault with him because his physical frame
docs not coincide with cur conception Of" H'mlet,'
would be as unreasonable As to ascribe to him
the final credit Of possessing physical properties
which peculiarly ht him for "C0riolanus" aui
Lear" No actor ought ts expect to be equally
great in all characters. No thoughtful lover OF
good acting will admit that he can. a contraiic-
ton would be involved. The very qaalitos which
render one Characterization prominently good
would make another iusipd and tame The
meat Of one wonld be the poison Of the other.
So il is with Mr.. Forests "Hamlet," and his
Clear" His mere enunciason in bogh il abso-
lutCly perfect His "LCar" is masterpiece. 1t
has been a great study with him: it is great
lesson. No other actor that we know of could
possibly equal IT, With il, however, his "Ham-
let" cannot be ranked. Mr.. Forrest, in the
character of "Hamlet" reminds one OF great
painter, who eNCelS in mountain scenery, en-
deRvoring 20 paint the dew, or Of great musi-
CHM, who forsakes his sOnorous chords in the
vain endeavor to represent in single n0Le5 the
silver accents of the misunderstanding rain. The
character OF "Hamlct" as sweet as IL Is sublime,
and as manly as it is delicate, eludes the grasp
Of the great actor. lie cannot holu the
sunshine in his list. We saw an imaginative
picture once which represented the suhjec Of IA
dream. In the midst Of profound darkness an
eXquisitey shaped vase, filled with flowers, was
hung. The flowers were large and fantastic,
strangely beautiful in form, and made of silver
light. From their stems and petals multitude
of pure rays shot, piercing the DlackneSs with
innumerablc ances of light The character Of
"Hamlet" has many time reminded us Of this
dream-picture. Amid the blaclSness of the crime,
the shame, the agony, the danger which encOm-
passed him, the delicate light OF MS pure religion,
his filia love, his refined philosophy, his tender
sensitiyeness, Illuminated their beauty and gave
forth perfume with its radiance,
The majority of those who witness Mr.. Forrest
have not the opportunity of comparing his role in
Lear with that ofany predecessor. He is the only
| "Lear" they know Of They can imagine noaning
more grand and faithful than that picture of the
! poor, inlirm, weak, and despised old man." So
keen is their appreciation OF It's sublimity that they
could not readily be induced to sanction the rem
dition OF any other actor. In his passion, ia his
ptiable pathos, in bis ycarning tOndness, pre-
served and eyinCed when his mind has most
widely gone nstray, the "King Lear" of Mr.. For
Is n thOTDuuh
| is the excellence that even its spots in the sun
| sometimes altogether vanish, and we see the
! uralloyed luminaTy OF genius
This cannot be sGld o" Hamlgt." 1t is marvel
| Of tine reading Almost every passage, every iota
| of u passage, is enunciated with exquisite tnish
Even in those few passages where Mr.tOrre5t gives
| way to what, in his earlier career, he was re-
minded was his besetting sin, namely, roaring
| and snorting to no purpose the fault was not so
painful as one, ,Inight have supposed il would be.
| Throughout the whole play the absence OF
| metaphysical Hamlet was ielt-a ''Hamleg
whose yeHrnngs were always after the unseen
and infinite and the quietudo Of whose religion
could only find rest In tho bosom Of God. 1t IS
only the magical and sOundesJ touch Of the sun
that can eyaporate the dew-dTops, and trau5i9sa
them into itself; and II Is only the magical iln-
gers Of n histrionic genius of peculiar delicGcy
that can breathe upon the words of ShlkcapearU'1 g
"Hsmlet," and make them all It's own.
tits because we have 30 ample an idea Of what
Mr.. Forests genius has already achieved that
We are thus exact Ia scrutiuzing his rendition OF
"Hamlet." He has many characters in which ho Is
absolutely unapproaehRble. To these it will be
our pleasure 10 make reference as We have
already referred to others.
The debut OF Mrs. Methua SChuoller as "Ophelia'
| | was successful, The role as given by this lady
was peculiarly acceptable, from tho fact chat tn
r Conyentionaties OF the tIaditiOnary stage "ODhe
: | liza" were discarded, and an original conception
| given. Judging from this first view OF her, W
should say that she Is scarcely sufficient mstreS
of the English language to prove what she car
= ! fairly do. Her acting in "Ophga" had tina
e Tepose which We ascribe to the role, except il
9 these scenes Of madness where every motion an
principle is inverted.
THE COMPLIMENTARY BENEFIT TO Mn, Floor
The New Chestnut Street Theatre will, on Wed
% nesday afternoon, be graced by the entire drf
Of matte community Of the city Off and on the stag,
i First we shall have the "uial scene" from th
" Merchant of Venice, with Mr.. John McCullougl
Or Mr.. Lewis Baker, Mr.. Owen Marlowe, Mr.. Il. ]
40 Tilton, aud Madame PoniBi in the cast. II
b. "scr1en scene" from the School for Scaaa
lis will then be given, with Mr. George II. GriIiu
nd 40 "Sir Peter Iea1le," and AeXina Fisher Bak
n as "Lady Telze." MIR. +. MOrdaunt will gi
- his fine rendition Of "Joseph Surface" Mr. J. i
SO Hene and Mr.. j. T. Ward will also be Ia Il
III | cast The performance will conclude with Il
p, fifth act OF Richard the Third, with Mr.. Stua
Robson as the "Duke of Gloucester" Mr.. SaI
a. Hompe as "Richmond," with Mr.. ]. ii. TaylC
Mr.. Bailey, Mr.. BascOmb, Mr.. Donaldson, al
w. Mrs 4. A. CrCes in the cast. In addition TO
n of this, Mi James Garden will recte the famo
~ and sUul-stiTipg Irish poesy legend call,
iat "Shamus OBlien;" Miss Edie Germon will s
or one of her beautiful ballads Mr.. J. l.. CarncrO
N. will sing a delightful song and Mr.. Walter lie
- nox will sing comic ditty. Apart from Il
Va attraction, we can say that the people COu
ans scarcely bestOw their iaVors upon more deseI
es, ing being, as a man and an actor, than Mr.. 10
os Flood, and his e5tmable wife also deserves I
80 benefit through real merit. Remember WednI
day afternoon, the l4th inst.
,st
re THE NATIONAL CmCUs.-The company G.