Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-02-20
Fechter 5 +" Hamlet. .

HE New YORK EF6I1tNy o d.
Tuesday has the following critique
upon the performance to which all
eyes in the great city have been
turned for weeks:
In presenting hIr. Fechter in slam
Iet'' the management Of NibjO's plays
its TRUMP card. There has been in all
theatrical circles a lively interest in
the Interpretation Of the part By this
actor, and the theater last night was
therefore crowded by the most critical
audience assembled in %his city since
the first night Of Booths present pro-
duction of the tragedy.
Mr.. Fechter, on appearing on the
scene, was greeted with the most cor
dial applause. He was simply dressed
in ''sOlemn black" and his hair was
of an auburn tint. COMPARING his
personal appearance with that Of Ed
win BOOth-and during the whole
performance sUch comparison was in
evitable-eveTything told in favor Of
the latter. In rich depth Of voice the
American actor, too, is far superior to
his foreign rival; and, indeed, in all
those scenes which are OF a solemn or
supernatural character, Mr. fletcher
appeared 10 a disadvantage in COM
parisOn with his American rival.
Fechter's Hamlet isstrangely want
ing in dignity. 1t is lul Of passion,
it introduces novel points, it lays
stress on particular words, and It IS in
various ways decidedly suggestive.
But it is lacking in grandeur. In the
sOliloqnies we miss the famed ''natu-
ralness" for which Mr. Eechter wac 50
highly eulOgized before bis arrival
/ here. Those sOlilOquies are not given
as If spoken by a man in deep thought,
but are detained to the audience in
excitable manner, as if Hamlet" were
trying to convince q crowd Of hearers
rather than himself. In the scene
with his mother bIr. Fechter was very
effective; and IN his fencing bout in
the hst act, and his sudden attack on
the king" he elected special APP
plause. Indeed, throughout the entire
play he was warmly received, and
after each act was called before the
curtain.
During the evening a feeling Of dis
appointment was expressed among
those gathered in the Hobbies 10 discuss
the performance. All acknowledged
that Mr.. Fechter produced several
new points, and gave a version OF the
part in many respects original; yet, as
in the ease Of Mr.. Fechters debut IN
this city, public expectation had been
so iniudiciOusly heightened by exces-
sive preliminary iaudatiOn, that no
reasonably good acting could have
satisfied the high anticipatiOns OF
most Of the audience.
And yet, after taking 50 many eX-
ceDtiOns to Fechter's acting, it must
be acknowledged that it leaves in the
mind Of the spectator a yearning to
see the man again. If not what was
eXpected-if not q success IN realizing
either to the minds eye, or to the
bodily organs Of vision, the received
ideal Of the moody Prince Of Den
mark-it still makes its mark, and
every evening this week NiblO's VIII
be crowded By audiences bent on COM
pairing notes about the new Hamlet"
The New York UOrid says Of the
great artists PRESERVATION of Hamlet:
Nj. Fechter. as & deliberate innOVa-
tor, deserves considerdte treatment.
1t should not be forgotten that he is,
Notwithstanding his parentage, Il Pa
risian artist who has never excelled IN
classic tragedy Of the French school.
He comes to the Interpretation Of the
most subtly difficult Of English plays
with peculiaritjes not only Of temper
ament but of education, which, while
they fitted MIN for the assumption OF
strictly romantic roles, were not such
as to insure his success in "Hamlet.
ROmanticism is not exactly the thing
to make the reality Of the Royal Dane
keenly feItOr freely understood. And
in Mr.. FeChter's hands the character
takes this melO-dramatic cOlOr1ng.
Still it is boldly conceived and harmO-
niOusly embodied. 1t Is above al
| else in some degree a new conception
Quarrel As we may, and cream
" shall with uuch thaJ Mr.
I Fechter iDaBates tn Hamlet, this
one atct stands out clearly after ali
complaints have been heard-that
the actor has his own and no other
mans idea of the creation, and pos
sesses in a remarkable degree the tai
ent of expression To make it under
stood BY others. He makes fewer
points than Mr. Booth, but when
ne does make them they have n spOn-
taniety which, il rOD5 the Denchers in
the gallery Of an opportunity to stamp,
is nevertheless one of the finest evl-
dences of real art. The s~OlilOquies
given in that cOllOquidl style, which
would be pieasantif It were not beset
with m-annerisms Of u~tteTance, We're
neither aTEumCntatiVG nor eXpOStuia-
tory; they lacked utterly the set
speech phrasing and the ge5Gcuiatiug
to the dress circle, which have grown
round them and are nov supposed to
be a part OF them. In SO far rs ne
could assume it he was (as was
said Of TaIma in the same pOsitiOn)
zone man among two thousand silent
spectators interrOgating thought con-
corning the destiny of mOrtais.7 The
crushed and abject" Hamlet Oft the first
act mergeS into i fiercer being as the
play progresses, and in such Opp0rtU-
mites as those offered BY the friendly
Overtures of the q King" the taking
leave of 81 POIOnius, the advice to the
players, and the later and more ener-
getic scenes in which defamation
mounts into a struggle, Mr.. Fechter
shows the same quick, picturesque in
Stinct which was SO marked a feature
in his melOdramatic representations.
The ghost scene Of the first act was
given with an entirely new effect. As
usually represented, the phantom
walks on and OF IN a painfully
corporal manner. By an ingenious
device il is here made to fade from
sight without leaving the stage. In the
first interview Mr.. Feehter gave way
to a parOxysm of fear, and in the sub
sequent appeal spoke so rapidly that
ne was scarcely fnteliigible. At the
conclusion Of the scene, when the
ghost has departed, the anguish of his
mind is expressed in a torrent of
words not more than halt OF which
would be caught by his listeners if
they were not familiar with the
speech. The first act, indeed, is typi-
cal in its yehemenCe, It's hurried ac-
ton, its strong poetic and picturesque
enthusiasm, and also in its impas-
stoned extEavagances Of the repre-
s~entatiOn. Something Of impa-
tience mars the prineely demean-
or, aud the attempt to mark
subtle transitions OF thought by
changes of manner give to the charac-
ter at times d spasmOdic and over
wrought air, especially as these
changes are made in accordance with
Mr.. Feehter's sense of the picturesque.
1t seems hardly necessary, and GER
tainly not natural, for a man, even OF
"Hamlet's'' exceptional disposition,
to assume a pose at every mental res
ervatiOn. or make an arm sweep su-
Derb at every process of ratiOcinatiOn.
ri EAna - TT-geFaF 70 avnmf-n III L