The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-10-26
w,Is,CAL AND DRAMATIC.

.,rsys succeed IN hitting the mark squsrey' ana
come of tnem-priDcpally his early enorts-hoWeVer
el they may have been suited to the taste Oh nus own
,,mes have gradually fallen into not altogether III
aooeryed neglect in the theatres The pubuc, II ns
t.agment is not always to be relied upon al the mo
nent is toeraby good critic in the Iohg rum ana
although there are some unacted works ny the carry
syan,atists that are well worth producing on the
stage with little ingenious adaptation, the win
sowing that Shakespeares writings have undergone
Aas pretty surely separated the dramatic gold from
,he dross Shakespeare's plays may be divided into
two casses plays for the closet and stage and plays
for the closet only To this last named class belongs
aIrs Vellthat Ends Wen. Nothing that the greatest
noet of the world has produced can be unneresting
no students of poetry but more than one of his efforts
lacks the dramatic interest necessary TO make them
succpssul in the acting, whatever their merits may
be as literary performances.
AIRS well That Ends Wen is one Of his plays that
have been excluded from the stage. In modern
times it has seldom never been acted, except per-
hans occasionally dramatic curiosity that people
are expected to see a few times simply because
n is a novelty. The Arch Street Theatre
management announce the performance of
last night as the first OF this play ever
given in Philadelphia, and the probabilities are
that IL was as there does not appear TO he anything
known to the contrary. The reason for this neglect
~ not difficult to come at. and 1t is very doubtful
whether the Of this revival VIII he so great
rs 10 give encouragement Tor another attempt in the
The production of such rare play. however. is
matter of more than usual interest to students and
lovers OF dramatic art If not to the general public,
and il is worth while nquirng into the merits of the
comedy with reference to the reasons for its eXclu
sion from the theatres.
AIRS Well that Ends Well is based upon one OF Boo
raccios stories t"Decameron,' Novel Ninth, Day
Thrdl although Shakespeare probably followed
translation or adaptation that he found in Painters
ssPalace of Pleasure, collection OF tales gathered
from various sources. The play follows the novel
very closely in its plot, for lack of invention was
one of the limitations OF Shakespearian genius, and
although he sometimes altered and improved certain
incidents or introduced ones, he oftener followed
his original with what appears very unnecessary
FIDELITY In the case before us il would seem impos
sible for him have made any material Improvement
without an entire alteration of his subject, and AIS
Ucu Th0t Ends Wei is an example Of his inability to
triumph over a dihcult and unpleasant theme
Shak kespearc has done more to render it attractive
than would any Of his contemporaries If it had
fallen into their hands: hut in spite OF its merits
literary effort it is ditiicut to esteem it except as
very inferior work. The cOnjectural date OF its com
poston places after such performances as RjchaTd
III: 7he Merchant IF Frdice; 4 Midsummer
Ni0hts Dye0Dt; The Tdmi1J Qr the Shre,c;
Romeo ard .J,ljet; and Ria9 JohH in which
his genius shOnc with most brilliant lustre.
Thc internal evidences of the piece, however, would
seem to Indicate that it belonged to his transition
pprod after The Tu0 Gtnle5,c0 of PclVn1 and Loves
Loboy Lost ana earlier than the great dramas upon
which his fame principally rests. II is ripper work
than the Two last named, although not as good
either of them for stage purposes but far inferior in
every respect to all the Others. The ubect itself is
onensiycy coarse, and although few sensible per-
sons will not prefer the honest plain speaking OF
Shakespearc's time to the instructions Of some OF
tbe 1ramasts of our own day, yet snch play as
ANS Wen that Ends UeI could scarcely have been
written for the stage except in coarse age and IN
its original shane is not tit TO he produced before
modern audiences.
INDEPENDENTS OF the Offensive nature of many of
the incidents themselves, the spectacle Of young
woman pursuing man who does not love her, and
compelling him to marry her whether he wills on not,
is lar IRON being agreeaben spite OF the efforts OF the
women's rights advocates TO educate us mp to this
point The sweetness of ''tleenas" character and
the whoe-souled affection that she maniiests for
sBeTtram,' secure for her more sympathy than
most persons ia her situation would be entitled TO
but she is very far from being one of Shake
speare's most interesting heTOncs. Indeed,
the play is remarkable for its deficiency
in Characterization. Most of the personages
are exceedingly tame aud commonplace, with the
exception of 'Parolles, who is the real dramatic
hero Of the piece, although he stands long way
behind almost every other comic character that
Ionres in Shakespeare's writings, The deneaton of
character is Shakespeares strongest point AMI the
deficiency of AUS Wei That Ends Wei in this parti-
rular is certainly remarkable. Take up almost ally
one of his PLAYS even his earliest efforts like IN,
ItpO Gentlemen of Verona and LOreS LdJor Lost, aud
the individuality OF every person in them, from
the highest ta the lowest, will he found
marked by firm and decided touches The skill with
which he sketches even the most subordinate char
acters who perhaps have not more than half dozen
lines 70 speak Is marvellous and in view OF this fact
IL is certainly a thing to be wondered at that the
neonle introduced in AUS Wen That Ends wen should
me SO uninteresting. The only reason that can be
assigned for this is that he was hampered by an un.
congenial subject that did not allow his genius full
he was not interested in It himself, and he ha,
FSaued 10 make Il interesting to Others. We &no"
tn, q hos come to be a sort OF high treason b refe
10 ShaEespeare in any other than terms o. Iuudaon
,rtics and commentators compare his works wit
ZACH other, but then each must necessarily he tn
hast of its kind and superior in every respeC
,o the productions of other writers. This is Gel
talnly not the proper way to Judge shake
speare and it is unjust to other dramatist
10 estimate them by different standard than
ssed 10 test the value of his works. Masslnge
beaumont ana Fletcher, Ben Jonson aud otht
of Shakespearcs cOntempOraIieS, have write
nays that are very much superior to Ars Uei IN,
Ends Wen in every particular and that are yei
much better worth Keeping on the stage; ami
called upon to name Shakspeare's most nferO
work we know Of none among the plays that a.
assuredy his that are better entitled to he place
AT the bottom the list than this Notwithstanding
defects ans Vel Tbdt Ends Wei Is full OF noble pa
saqes that have the true SaNespearan ring to theI
and ulladapted as it is to the stage OF the prese
day n win always he read with interest by studen
Wbv the Arch street management should ha
chosen this comedy for a revival we are unable
comprehend when there remains unacted su
work as CUtuIeIiug--a romantic Dlg