New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-03-15

Brief Dranasic Review-Mc Wade's Rip
Van Winklc.
Time was when Hazlitt and Schlegel
wrote delightful essays ON the drama, and
silver-lipped Leigh Hunt gave the public
much that was entertaining about the
actors and actresses OF his day. And later
still, we were treated to fine, carefully con-
sidered criticisms by such men as Hollings-
worth and Uxenford, who held that no one
should aspire to WELD critical pen unless
he was thoroughly acquainted with dra-
matte literature, and had acquired that ex-
perience of the proprieties of the stage
and the necessities OF personation of char.
acter which are essential to a writer on
dramatic art.
In this country unhappily, dramatic
criticism is too often contided to inexperi-
ence, and SO it has degenerated into mere
notices, similar to those given to goods,
wares and merchandise, This is all bad
enough; but when some of our so-called
critics make haste to demonstrate how ut
terely ignorant they are of the most Ordi
nary matters connected with the stage, one
is tempted to make a bonfire Of the morn
ning's wet newspaper"
For example, few days since city con-
temporary said, when speaking of Mr.. Nc
Wade's Rip Yam Winkie, that Sothern and
Owens had elevated such "unimportant
characters as Lord Dundrea,y and Scion
Shingle to the highest grade" And SO the
idiotic drama, OF which Sothern is the repre-
sentative, and downright low comedy stand
side by side with the splendid creations of
Shakespeare Massinger, Knowles, Lord
Lytton and the rest.
Now, suppose we enlighten some of the
writers we have in our ''mind's eye" touch
ing Grip Van Winkle," of which much in
the shape Of Gratiano's logic has been
given the public. They seem to think that
no other version of Washington Irving's re-
| markable legend was ever known before
| the day that Boucicault helped MIR. Je1fer-
son to fame and fortune. Hackett was the
first Rip Van Winkle, and Burke, Mulhol-
| land and Glenn followed the renowned
| comedian. Jefferson was the fifth per-
former, and adopted the old two act version
| of his predecessors, but failed to impress
the public. In London Boucicault rear
ranged the two act play, and then it was
| that Jefferson let Bob Acres take care Of
himself and bounded into popularity as
Rip Van Winkle.
| Mr.. McWade's adaptation is an improve
ment on the "Trip Van Wrinkle" of Bouci-
cault, for the simple reason that it adheres
more closely to the legend. Irving deals
chiefly in description, and hence the adapter
| is compelled to furnish the dialogue
necessary to the situation and peculiarities
| of the characters. Save Tedder, there is no
incidental character named, and only few
sayings, Of which his toast is an example,
are put into the mouth of Rip Yam Wnkle.
The dramatist is, therefore, compelled to
create characters, language and scene. He
can only follow Irving so far as to give the
auditor proper idea of that most improb-
able of all things, a drunken, pipe smoking
Dutchman sleeping for twenty years in the
| kaatskills, and returning to his native vii
lage to find everything changed, and to be
told by his daughter that her mother died in
consequence of bursting a blood vessel
while cursing Yankee peddlar. In Mr..
McWade's adaptation the original two act
drama is partially rearranged so as to re-
tain few essential lines, but the plot from
it's incipiency to it's elimination is the idea
of the peIsonator, drawn from the legend,
and following the landmarks of Irving with
great fidelity. 1t is more wholesome as a
domestic drama than either Hackett's or
Boucicauit's version. For instance, Nc
Wade does not allow Rip Van Wrinkles
wife to live and marry the man who was
the cause of his ruin, moral and domestic;
Rip is not allowed to return 20 drink, the
curse of his earlier life; he is not permitted
to lie to children. On the contrary, Rip
shows desire to become good man and
a worthy citizen of the new republic.
No inconsiderable comment has been ex-
pended on the introduction of dog as the
companion of Van Winkle. The skeleton
of his canine companion, as introduced by
McWade, serves one useful purpose at
least, to keep up an illusion as to time,
just as the presumed growth of q twig to
the dimensions of tree indicates to the
audience the duration of Rips sleep in the
Kaatskills. And then again, what painter
would ever think Of transferring to canvas
Irving's ideal hero without those necessary
accompaniment, the dog and the gun |!
And if the bones and body of Rip himself
were held together for twenty years, and
even the stock of his gun is found to be not
wholly decayed, what objection can be
urged against the skeleton of the dog re-
naming intactl The fact is, in all adapta-
tons from legends of an improbable char
acter, great latitude is allowable both in
| language, situation and scene
| He, therefore, who can produce the most
| interesting and wholesome version deserves
| success. This McWade has done, and
while every one of taste comedies to Mr..
Jefferson all that belongs to his splendid
abilities, let us, also, concede to Mr.. Nc
Wade the credit of improving vastly on the
| versions of Hackett and Boucicault, and
giving us Rip Yam Winkle more conso-
| nant with our moral tastes and our desire
that the celebrated legend Of our great
American Goldsmith shall be just as closely
| adhered to as is possible for dramatic eff
| feet
En-, PEASANT Of the toast Boucicault has
it: MAY you all live long and prosper"
McWade substitutes '"happy" for "pros-
per-" as more in keeping with the utte1anee
of simple and uneducated man. We sus-
pect that Irving himself would see the pro-
priety of this substitution.
All said that can be said, McWade is ris-