The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-04-15
AMUSEMENTS.
foo,h.s FAREWELL srformance-A Brill
liant Success In Rirhelteu.

Mathis FarewoliP crforuaance-A .Brtt
liant Success In Rtchelieu.
1.ast Saturday night Mr.. Junius Brutu'
Booth, with his talented wife and dne com
paw, closed their highly successful season Q
six nights at the Academy Of Music. The I'm
preston left as the result of their visit hal
been, on the whole, exceedingly favorable, an'
Mr.. Booth has In most of his representation
fully sustained his high reputation. 1T wa'
only in the characters OF BeneoicA an.
Romeo, on Tuesday and Friday nights, Una
room was LETT for any serious adverse CRU
cism: while in the far more exacting ana oln
cult roles which he assumed on tae otne
evenings of his engagement, his Hamlet
Richard, Iago and Richelieu, were each O.
them models OF dramatic lmpersonation.
1t is not, however, too much to say that hr
Booth achieved his most complete success II
the impersonatioR, last Saturday evening, O.
s.Richelieu," in Lord Lytton's historical drama
of that name. The role Is confessedly one o
the most difficult in modern English drama
the very inoongruitles Of the character which
attracted the metaphysical mind of the autnol
and made the life of the iron-willed cardinal a
ft study for his keenly analytical genius In
yesting it With uncommon difficulties OF rep
reservation. The Richelieu of the author Is a
bewlldering combination OF divergent pas
sions. all of the utmost intensity, and each
visible In turn and. asserting its supremacy.
while the human frame in which this battle OF
the passions Is forever raging is a frame trem'
bling and tottering with infrmi.ies Of age, a
body almost, crnmbling with d~ecaysbefore the
grave has closed over 1t, a worn figure OF a
decreplt, dying man. 1t is the apotheosis OF
moral power joined to the aptithesis, OF physl-
cal %decrepitude; it is the indomitaple soul
lashlng the WORKOUT body into miraculous en-
ergy of action, and wrestling triumph from the
conditions of defeat. 1t will be admitted that
this s not a role that Is easy Of conception or
execution, and 1t must also be admiteo
that Mr.. Booth has succeeded rarely
In both his comprehension OF the cnar-
acter, and his reproduction OF Is TO mis-
audience. The exacling makeup OF the char
acter was managed to perfection, and the.
audience saw-not Mr.. Booth, not any man OF
this century or country-but the Veritable face
and figure of tho stern old cardinal, with his
saunt cheeks, his massive forehead, his bril-
liant eye, deep sunk beneath the shaggy eye.
brows, but flashing forth that lndomitao'e Will
that kept alive the failing body, and his now
ING hair and soldler-like beard, not Whitened
with the SHOWS Of peaceful age, but grlzzleo
and iron-gray with a life OF battle. NOT were
the conflicting emotions which swsyed this
master-mind, comprising the whole range OF
human passions, less skilfully portrayed. Inc
audience saw and felt the rapid alternations OF
love, hatred, anger. craft, Jealousy, all con-
tolled and moulded by ambition, and culmi-
mating at times Sin outbursts OF scorn aud rage
that were sublime In their intensity. Such an
outburst was depleted In the we'll known scene
where RicheNeu, npon jules appeal for his
protection, meets her enemy's argument OF
powet with his weapon Of spiritual authority,
draws q magic circle round the lady and dehes
her pursuers to enter 1t, while he hurls upon
their shrinking heads the bllghtlDg curse OF
holy Church. In this scene Mr.. Booth Was
grand, and throughout the play, down to the
last supreme moment when the feeble cardinal
springs with almost superhuman energy from
his dying couch and confronts, dlsmays and
routs his enemies in their very m OF
triumph by one master stroke OF genius, tne
impersonation was powerfully sustained and
the complex character presented to the life
OF the other members Of the company much
cannot be said except Of Mrs. Booth. THIS
lady il without a doubt the most talensed,
finished and cultured actress that has defgnt-
ed a Charleston audience for many years.
Her 'Julien Of Saturday night was simply per
feet. The role is not one that Is especially
prominent In the construction OF the play,
and. In fact, there are but few dramas In which
the whole burden OF acting and the whole In
terest of the plot centre 80 completely upon
the leading character as In this case they 90
on Rlchelieu, but what there was Tor hrs.
Booth to do vas done with such consum
mate grace and dlgnily as to prove her an
artist of rare skill snd merit. In the inter-
view with Baradas, the look Of indignant scorn
with which she repelled his advances, and
the devotion with which she chose TO snare
the death of her husband, Mauprat, rather
than purchase his life with her dishonor,
were superb pieces of acting, and received
the emphatic applause Of the large audience.
The other characters were fairly rendered,
but the support was not, on the whole, 30 good
as the merits Of the leading actors deserved,
and the company might be improved, and the
honors of the performance rather more eqult-
ably distributed, by a judicious wedding out
OF some of the members.
Tho mart,netti.Ravel Troupe.
This splendid company OF pantomimic artists
open at the Academy OF Music this evening,
with two of their best pieces "Jocko, or the
Brazilian Ape,n and !"Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake,
Bakers Man, {" and from the large sale ORE.
served seats on Saturday, a very full atten-
dance is expected. The company has just
concluded q brief engagement at Savannah,
and the local papers speak highly OF their per-
Torrance. The News, of Saturday, says:
Alarpe house last night welcomed at the
theatre the best pantomime troupe snls
country has ever seen. The entertainment
Was the great spectacular fairy and comic
paatomime entitled the screen Monster" and
the performance was so far superior to that OF
any other company hat 1t is unnecessary 70
institute a comparison in order to note the
excellence of this over every other panto.
mime troupe. The concluding one act new
comic trick and fairy pantomime entitled
u~Pat.a-Cake, Pat.a-Cake, Bakers Man." TOOK
the house by storm, and Julien Martinetti, as
pnhh1 c1rdoo whn mfnd3 aVervbOdV's busi-