The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-11-11
I'M USE III e N T s.
King Lear.

II ,s only Shakespeare who can make the
| great types OF human power and passion as
worthy OF each other as OF his own transcendent
geuius-it is only "klng Lear' which can equal,
without repeating, "Hsmlet," and "0thello," aud
Macbeth" II the noble Moor exhausrs for US
the painful, breathless sympathy, which suffers
with the great heart tnot easily jealous but per-
picked In the extreme;'' II the melancholy Dane
puts into "those wise saws which cut so deep INTO
the core Of lRe," the inmost musings OF the sor-
rowful, doubling heart OF man; If In Macbeth the
mighty wrestle Of will with conscience, and or
ambition with loyalty and faith, shakes the struc-
tnre or our common nature to Its lowest oase-if
In all these the Tyre OF humanity mas oeen stfucA
through almost its universal compass, the mar
mony would still lack perhaps It's supremest
chord. without the sombre music which only the
infinite sorrows OF the discrowned King could
adequately supply. There must still be the un-
utterable contrasts OF this last marvellous picture,
In which to the outer calamities Of his Chal-
dean prototype, "Lear'' finds added the sharper
pangs Of unnatural ingrattude and monstrous
hate there must still be summoned from the cav
ernous depths Of evil Regan and Goneril to
point this supreme moral; there must still last, yet
S'SN~
the old Greek drea med OF Antgone, to emooay
that ''soul OF goodness" to whose eternal ehls-
tence, even In the utmost tyranny OF wrong
Shakespeare Is never weary Of bearing witness.
To the Interpretation OF This sublime concep-
tIon, Mr.. Forrest brought last evening all tue
powers OF his great genius, aud, had ne oeen
adequately supported, there can be no question
but that the success OF the play would have been
as complete as was his own triumph. But the
action OF "Eng Lear'' Is so evenly distributed
among the subordinate characters that 1t Is per-
haps impossible for an ordinary stock company to
do ir Justice. Thrown upon his own resources,
however, Mr.. Forrest was more than equal to the
necessities Of the hour. Before the first act was
over he had struck q chord in his hearers hearts
which never failed to respond through the whole
gradual unfolding OF the pitIful drama. The ter
rible curse in the last scene Of the first act was
given with magnetic effect which first chilled the
whole house INTO breathless silence and then drew
forth round after round of applause, which would
not be st.ed until Mr.. Forrest appeared before the
curtain. His "Klng Lear'' Is by far, We think,
his greatest, because his most finished aud con-
sistent impersonation, and Is perfectly true to
Its ideas.
.sVirginIus, ~ which Is underlined for tonight,
has been called by Hazitt the best acting tragedy
Of the modern stage. Sheridan Knowles, its au-
thor Is the Burns Of dramatic poetry, "uneducat-
edn In the sense Of preferring nature to art, and
simplicity to variety aud complication. The title
role is one which affords room for the most pow
erfol and passionate acting. The play was writ
ten originally for Macready, and all the great
tragedlans, since his time, have made it favorIte
study, while Mr.. Forrest himself has woD some OF
his highest Iaures in it. He will make his last
appearance this evening, aud we hope Charleston
will turn out in force to speed his parting.