New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-10-11
THE DRAMA.

FiFTn-AvESCE THEATER-TwELPTH NIGdr.
Seven performances of Shakespeare's comedy
of Twelfth Night" have given the Fifth Aveno
Iheater aud seven moro performances OF it are prom
ised As You Like 1t" then revived and alter.
mated with Cbbers comedy Of "Sie Would and She
"ou'unL Mr. DAILY. it will he seen, aims at high
marx and displays an intrepid spirit in hrs management
OF TINS theater Accordingly the enterprise s that
deserves 70 be commended and encouraged In the hearth
est mood OF sympathy. High purposes are not so com.
mon In theatrical lfeOr for matter In lie OF any
sor-that we can afford TO leave them unrecognized
While, however. we honor the effort, VIC must not
over-estimate its result hr. Days revival Of the
Twelfth Night" has achieved o success which
IS substantial bur not brilliant. All that the
taste. beraty. and enterprise OF the manager coud
dohas been faithfully and thoroughly done scenery
Tor the piece has been paintedand painted exceedingly
well-by Mr. James Roberts and and Mr.. Louis Dunocq
the former OF whom furnishes exteriors that are really
Tor wealth OF fancy and richness and decacy
OF color and the latter Of whom furnishes interiors that
sngusry excellent for their abundance and finish OF
detail Very rich and handsome costumes have likewise
been provided, together with ali needful stage appoint
ments Most OF the dresses employed we should observe
in passing are Greek and not Italian The Of the
heater hitherto has been to dress this play in Venetian
clothes Of the earlier part of the seventeenth century:
for the that Iyria ia which the action Of the
comedy proceeds, then under the dominion Of the
Republic of Venice. Departure from that custom.
however, perfectly allowable-since the piece
defines only the place and the period OF the action
and In its characters and nomenclature, considerably
mixes the elements Of English, Spanish, and Italian
nationality. nyria might have followed the customs
| Of Venice, might have followed its own. The
point not particularly important. certain
OF uniformity Is desirable, aud that has been attained
Shakespeare wrote the Twelfth Night" in 16O0-01 The
first performance Of given the I'd of February
| IN the latter year, in what used the dining
hall M fhanr
period, with slight mixture OF Italian have been used
In the present revival With slight exception. too the
piece has been well and will say at once that
the general representation OF has evneed great deal
Of study thought and Jealous desire to excel Shakes
perean actors though, not made In day. Most Of
the performers In this instance entirely the
parts which they were called upon depict The result
| was precisely what might have been expected Mr.
Davdge who has studied and played in Shakespeare for
many years. enacted Sir Toby Beeh, and gave definite,
accurate and exceedingly humorous personoton Of tho
character which dwarfed entirely eclpsed the acting
OF all his associates. His Sir Toby win add. not
noisy sot, but man Of mind and wit vulgarized by
| the bad propensity for drink. Mr.. Clarke's
| Malrolio stood next In critical estimation. IL
fine type Of solemn concer but 1t lacked substance
and sincerity and therefore 1t inspired no sympathy
shakespeares MdIroo awakens pity well as our
laughter The weakness in Mr. Clarke's performance
however not weakness OF ideal but OF execution ;
and considering that he played MarOlo before Inc
merits great credit for playing 1t so we'll Miss Fanny
| Davenports Maria deserves mention as thoroughly
good performance instinct with the spirit or good
natured mischief and easy and in method The
Of the performances did not rise above the level OF
respectable mediocrity. Mrs. scOtt-slddons was the
Viola and Mrs. Scott siddOns is OF lovely person
and imaginative mind. whose presence pleases the eye
and whose sweetness charms the Of beauty and
symmetry. She did many pretty things as VioIo
Her stimulation Of amazement and delight at tn o
nrs.fas Ion ina n
woman disguised as man-was particularly delicious
But her sentiment for the most part, mawksh and
nsipid and her ylyacty frequently seemed like afecta-
ton sing-song, de-away style OF delivering the text
contributed this result In motive, though the acting
OF Mrs ScottSddons always seen TO be good She mas
been very warmly welcomed at this theater but VIII bet
ter deserve that welcome when she plays Rosdnd. We
turn from the uncOngenal task Of noting defects In
spite Of all shortcomings this delicate shakespeareian
comedyin which beauty and humOr are so deity woven
into golden network Of romance and poetry-has ex'
erted powerful charm upon the public mind Ihis
with the greatest satisfaction Shakes
peare need the theaers but the
the pubc-need him. and they profit to an immeasurabo
extent even by inadequate interpretations OF that mag
nificent. wise. and tender poet.
DRAMATIC EVENTS TONIGHT.
The opening of Mr.. Tayleure's comedy season
at the French Theater is assigned for this evening We
remind readers Of this agreeable fact and ence more
note that Mr. Chanfrau will appear in Mr. De Walden'
play OF 81 SAM" which IS cast as follows:
James Puhy. C. Bang. Miss Irving
R De- avs w Bsnsi: Mis-. q I,Sssy
GeS Roslyu Philip. Lady CrOpsy. Etge
Sir A.kton........J. G. Boyd MaiAn.......an R,evea
Mr. wallack's revival Of AN Unequal Match is also
set down for tonight and 1t certainly merits the
particular attention of the laygong communy-foi
the piece very pretty and the acting Of we may judge
past performances OF the play at thistheaterl VIII