The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-02-19

An overAowing house greeted Mr.. Fechter
At Niblo's last Monday evening, on the oeca-
don of his first appearance as Hamlet. he
had q warm reception, and gave the audience
a truly original, If not satisfactory, reprcsen-
tation of the character. We give extracts
from some of the criticisms of the New YORK
press:
Taking the sense of the houses as our opin-
ion. we should say that Fechters Hamlet is
Sreat success, for he was recalled at the close
or every act, and In each case 1t was evidently
a recall too general to be atrick; but lnere was
more of generosity to the stranger than )uas
ment In It. Fechter's Hamlet Is but mool,
1ication of his Ruy Bias and his Lagardere, ana
his Iaoardere is not further behind that OF
Wheatley than his Hamlet is behind that OF
Booth. His German accent and MS Frencn
sing-sonG measure OF elocutlon 40 not nieeS
the American idea He wasted MS anlinuli-
tion with his rapid firing where precision IS
demanded: he permits his sudden excitement
10 carry him to the straining of his voice for
an Inadequate compensation in the enect;
me deep meaning of the simple words Oh
his author Is lost in his hasty deliverance,
and his finest perceptions IN gesture, LOOK ana
slnp-song, Franco Teutonic lntonation. his
excitcment on his first encounter with the
ghost makes it difficult to understand Wh2t ne
says, and yet there is nothing startling In his
excitement In his conference with his
mother. he ia as usual. in too much y, a nurIy
% DO Justice to the occasion, and still with
that peculiar Gallic twang ne taxes us away
from Denmark. He fails IN MS RAPID anu loi.
cipn accented utterances, not only TO impress
his words upon the hearer, but tails TO satisfy
VA that such impetuosities of youth are appro.
pirate TO the part, and fails to establish the
Illusion that Mr. Fechter is still young enough
FOR Prince Hamlet.
From the Tribune.l
Ia in poetry, 30 in acting. Hr. Fechter's
accuracy Of costume and mastery OK stage ousl-
. tness were not points to be frst regardeo.
What we looked for, In the beginning, was ar
some evidence of genius in Mr.. Fechters act,
:. ingNfor the sympathetic, informing, electrical
spIrit, that is, which makes men great, anu
which we had been led to suppose was possess
cd by this actor in an extraordinary oegIee.
And that We did not find in either bis Ruy
Bias or his egardcre-although both these
presentations disclosed distinct and signai
heanties which we must not be supposed 10
iisnarare. And we do not find 1t In his Ham
let. What we do lind Is well-studleo ana
Vell-executed ideal of tie character, dlfier-
Inc in no important particular frorl the
Conventional Hamlet of the stage. Mr.. Fech,,
tar. It is true, wears yellow hair, anu
ia physically stout; and the Danes are yellow
haired people. and the Queen says that "onr
son is fat Stout Hamlets, though, nave neen
seen before, and Kemble's portrait, II the OIL
ginal is to be trusted, wore yellow halT: ihere
Is nothing extraordinary in this ~nae we
look for in Hamlet is poetry. We do not sec
that in the Hamlet of Mr.. Fcchter. The test
scenes are the Ghost scenes. MT. tecnter
treats them in an entirely conventional man
ner. The great act of this tragedy Is the thlrd
Mr. Fechter was as mechanical as coS-wneel
throuGhout the whole of it. All old actors do
the same business in this part. Nr. Fechter
die nothing that we have not seen before, un-
less it was to hold up the portrait OF BamleC 8
father as a barrier against the afectionate
demonstration of the halt-crazed QueenE.aI,o
this, under the circumstances, is Stage trlch.
From the world.l
Mr. Fcchter, as deliberate innovator, de-
seryes considerable treatment lt snoulo not
he forgotten that he Is, notw outstanding MS
narentSpe. O Partisan artist who has never e1-
ce.d In classic tragedy of the. French schooi.
He comes to the. Interpretation OF tne moSt
subtly difficult of English plays with peculiarl-
ties not only Of temperament, ont OF eaucatlon'
which, while they fitted him for the assump-
tion of strictly romantic roles, were not s4ch
as TO insure his success in 'Hamlet. no
manticism Is not exactly the thing to make the
reality OF the .sRoyal Dane" keenly felt or Tree
ly understood. And in Mr.. Fechters hands
the character takes this melo-dramatic color
ing. Still it Is boldly conceived anu natillo-
niously embodied. 1t is above all else IN some
degree new conception. Quarrel as we may
nutes to "Hamlet," this one fact stands ont
Clearly after all complaints have been heard.
that the actor has his own and no other man
idea of the creation, and possesses In q remark
able degree the talent of expression 10 make IL
understood by others.