The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-06-02
THEATRICAL TAKERS.
The old and the New.

writer IN "AlI the Year Round divides
theatrical takers into two classes-the old anu
the new takers.
Tho old talIer Is hard to please, because ne
has as he tells you, witnessed the perform
, ances of men anG women who really knew
what acting meant" He has seen the tnlnS
done well, he lived when there was scnoOl
of actors, when there was such thing as tne
.agrand manner" when an actor VINO look the
mart of q Roman trod the stage like Roman.
sft Is almost terrible to think What TINS 5alSei S
has seen. He has seen the Kembles. He mas
seen all the great actors, separate and To-
gether. He has seen Munden and FaW'
cett. and Charles Young and Miss O'Neil,
all at their very best, acting in the same piece
He has seen Gentleman Jones. You can eA-
pect him to be satisfied with wnat GOES on 1, INV:
long descriptions he gives OF now tnae snea1 roea
actor did certain scenes, OF his dinerent reau-
inrs. of his actions and gesticulatlons, OF What
!: he did do, of what ne didn't do, anu now ootn
courses of conduct were equally efectlve. he
tells how, in this scene, the great traseo.ail
acting by the throat with such violence that
1.-The public rose In alarm lest the man should oe
!, killed; how, In another scene, he simply re-
;mained. on the occasion OF q greaC Crisis, mo
;, tonless, with his hands clasped over ms nead;
and how the public mind was equally disturbed
by that effect as thinking ne had fallen INTO
draws between his idol and any ofour more mo
dern tragedians. When you went to see Ed
mund Kean in Hamlet or 0thelo, you old not
say to yourself, II nm going to see kean,. put
you said, II am going to see Hamlet or Otnel-
( 5o."tNow, how widely different It is. You
see Busknsock, the modern tragedlan, IN tns
.,or that part, but it Is always Busklnsoek, and
I. .yon!slways feel that It Is so, and you expect
beforehand thnt 1t will be 3d. Then, our taiker
:. GOES on to dispose of the subject. altogether.
:: .:AAs an art capable of exhibiting human pas
sion and emotion, as 3 means OF liitlnS tne
spectator above the low, sordid thoughts
which In the ordinary routine OF me eHSim Si
4 OUT Of himself into sphere lmmeasuraoly
more elevated than that In which he ordlnari-
.iv fi,fis himself: 6s an agent possessed OF those
Glorious capabilities, the English stage, sir,
may be said to exist no longer"
The talker Of the new school, Like the talker
nfthe old school, is hard to please; but for
( inherent reason. he Is hard to please, because
hefB 30 lreadfdlly knowing. Heis acquainted
4 With dl the stage traditions, and settles exact
w what are the points which an actor who un-
Z derstands his business ought to make IN every
part he plays; knowing all this and great deal
besides, he is down upon any member OF the
profession who does not please Iilm, with re-
ientless severity. He has been to Parls-tne
theatrical amateur, has always just been TO
Paris, as the artistic amateur has always just
!; been to VenIceSand has come back
with standard OF criticism so elevated
that no English actor can hope to come
up to 1t. ~ saw the play In Paris" ne says,
TN alusion to some drama (from the tTenchl
which Is creating furore in England, "and L
do assure you that after seeing Mouche IN the
principal part, it is impossible not to regard
E1ys performance Of the character, over here,
as something almost am0unti2g to sacrlieSe.
he misses every point in the piece. He lets
tevvery opportunity slip. He has so little COM
.prehension of what he is aiming at, that he
never gets hold Of his audience for single
moment from beginning to end: could do
tie thing better myself Hanged Ill couldn't! !!
Strange and unutterable presumption, which
would seem absolutely incredible II we dlG NOT
meet with instances of it every day: There
are some circles in which one never listens to
he description of theatrical topics without
hearing the law laid down by some amateur.
who has been In the habit of playing at acting,
In the feeblest and most dilettanS fashion, and
whose braggart talk reminds sone of the fop In
Henry the Fourth, who provoked profession.
ap Eotspur go eXctisably.
All, If this talker did but know how much OF
study and labor and experience 1t has taken to
Ht this actor whose performance he crlticises
to take his place Oh the stage as an audible,
visible, Ineligible exponent of the part which
he has undertaken to embody! II he knew
this, surely he would speak o little more res
pecffully and little more dif6dently In criti-
clsing his Victims performance,