The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-12-31
MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC.

MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC.
Mrs, Scott -StddOns as LADY Macbeth"
Last evening Mrs. Scott-Siddons appeared as
"Lady Macbeth" to the largest audience that
has yet attended her performances. We are not
among those who think that an exaggerated
physical development is essential in the actress
who would successfully represent this charac-
ter; on the contrary, we have always been In
clined TO imagine LADY Macbeth" as little
woman, and that Mrs. Sddons approximates to
our ideal rather prepossessed us In her favor
that she lacks the thews and sinews OF Char
lotte Cushmsn is, however, apparently the only
qualification she has for the part. How much
her success In comedy roles was due to her very
attractive personal appearance, her engaging
manners, and her lively and animated style.
rather than 10 her merits as an actress, was
made painfully apparent when she undertook
to interpret this stern tragic character.
The reading of the letter, and tho subsequent
interview with Macbeth" the inciting him to
commit the murder, and the awful scene where
the crime is consummated, were rendered In a
ranting sty ie that any school girl with sufficient
sell. f.possession to appear before an audience
could easily have equalled We have never
seen anything more crude or unsatisfactory
from an actress who professed TO understand
the rudiments of her art. Mrs. Siddons' ges-
lures were neither elegant nor appropriate
The words,
.'Yet do fear thy nature:
II lis too full o. the milk OF human kindness
ITO catch the nearest way.'
she illustrated by violent clutching at the
air as If striving TO catch something; and In the
passage,
"Hie thee hither,
That may pour my spirits In thy ear,
And chastise with the vigor OF my tongue
Which fate and metaphysics aid doth seem
To have thee crowned wlLhal,
she beckoned violently, as II to hurry MAC
beth" on the stage. and indicated the golden
round" by describing a circle with her finger
above her head. And so we might go on mul-
tiplying instances OF similar character
Mrs. Sddons' elocution, too, was papably de-
fective and her emphasis W IS almost invariably
given in the wrong place. We do not argue for
traditional usages in matters Of this kind, and
II an actress can evolve a new meaning, well
and good. The effect of Mrs. Siddons misap.
piled emphasis. however, was to make nom
sense Of the text, and to our mind she had no
particular idea OF any meaning to be expressed.
All these peculiarlties may be evidences OF
genius, but we do not think so.
The first indication Mrs. Sddons gave that
she had any clear conception OF the part she
was playing was in the scene in the third act
Immediately preceding the banquet, the first
scene in which she appears after the murder oil
'sDuncan." Then her manner was subdued
she seemed distran and oppressed by
the weight of her crime; and while
endeavori ng to assume an air Of ease and un-
,constraint before the attendants, and to en-
courage her husband, she cluDg to him for sup
port, and the remembrance of "Duncan's',
blood occupied her mind TO the exclusion of
other thoughts. During the banquet scene, too,
while Macbeth" was raving at "Banquo's'
ghost, only by an effort was she able to rouse
herself to the task of explaining matters to the
guests, and more than once she sank back in
her seat as II exhausted, nervously clutching
at the arms of the throne and drawing her
robes about her in a preoccupied way. This Is
how we understood Mrs Siddons and whet tier
1T was q correct Interpretation or not, ic1s
scarcely necessary for us to discuss now. AT
any rate IL was intelligent acting, which is
much more than we can say for the previous
portions of the performance. The sleepwalk
ing scene was tolerably well done, although it
seemed an effort rather than an inspiration.
Mrs. Siddons is evidently at her best In come
dy, and such heavy tragic part as "Lady Mac
beth" is certainly beyond her powers. Not
having seen her in Juliet" we will not under.
take to say whether or not she is equal to
juvenile tragedy; but we beg her to remember,
in any case, that rant is neither forcibe nor
expressive.
Mr. Harkins played "Macbeth" like piano.
rama man explaining the pictures He was
extremely confidential with the audience and
appeared to think that they would not be able
to understand the drift OF the argument unless
he explained 1t in a pleasantly familiar sort OF
way. Some of Mr.. Harkins readings had
the merit Of novelty at least, although
the style In which he mixed up the text can
scarcely be considered an improvement on
Shakespeare. AS for the rest of the cast, the
prompter was the best man among them, for
he did give the unadulterated text so that it
could be heard to the remotest corner Of the
house
We wish that some enterprising manager
would forget the traditions OF the stage, and
oblige us by announcing Macbeth" to be per.
formed without Locke's music. We think that
Locke was humbug, at any rate we are sure
his music "entire' is nuisance that we
would gladly see abated.
The City Amusements.
AT THE ARCH 4 Flash of Li0ht1li1o will be