The New York herald., 1876-12-05
LYCEUM THEATRE.

Last night Shakespcare's historical plny sThe Life
and Death OF King Richard H." was revived this
theatre. The character oil Richard H., as drawn by
Shakespeare in this play, is perhaps more true to
history than that of any other monarch which he has
portrayed This ia doubt mainly due 10 the length
OF time which had elapsed between Richards death
and the period when Shakespeare wrote 1t was not
necessary tor the author TO blackcn tho character
and deform the person Of his hero in order to
Justify the usurpauon of his Queens grand
father; nor by sophistical reasoning to paate
the crimes Of Henry for the purpose Of
proving his sovercign's legitimacy Hence that
in Richard H. We have airy accurate represent alton
OF that unhappy king. There thrcc distinct
epochs in the life OF Richard drawn by Shakespeare
Tho first while he is still king and his throne unthreat
ened. The second from the time Bolngbrokc invades
England until tho coronation, and the third from
Richards deposition until his death During each of
these periods the actor who undertakes
this part has almost and sop
the various traits depicted are nmcal to each other
In the slightest degree unlikely to be massed to-
gcther In the psychological formation Of the man.
but that the varied viclssudcs oi fortune winch he
Is exposed bring into promnence different oDes ut dii-
icrcnt times thus, during the first period Richard is
a naughty, despotic monarch, covctous his hands
already stained with his relatives blood unable to eel
Tor the woes OF others; mercess prey to base pas
sions ami the easy tool Of artful and worthless
favorltes. After the announcement Of Bongbroke's
wo ind weak vacillatlng man, eager TO blame every
but himself Tor his misiortunes HIS arroga ncc
almost gone, except whom burst forth unkingy
mock humility, and he Is unable to make that effort
which might easily have preserved his crown him.
In the last period all this changed and the dehroned
king Tor the first time becomes object OF interest.
Although at times his undisniied railing ut
dsgusis ne tor the most part resigned and PEN
iten much more easily Is II 10 bear adversity than
prosperity. But the last scene perhaps the most
sad of ALL where he miserably dies, In lighting
for his crown even another English king did
'sweet resignation on the scafOld, but
brawl with InsOcnt servant Mr.. Booths attempt
10 depict these varied changes eminently
fu From one TO another phase OF emotion The changes
were natural and effective, and Mr. Booth may fairly
BIO congratulated upon having added another to his
ALREADY long list OF triumphs In dressing the part
Mr.. Booth resigned his raven locks and donned long
ones OF that suspicious yellow which calls
blonde" Tho change II makes In his personal ap-
pearancc is remarkably happy, as It is much more
suitable to the weak King than the dark sombrcness
which We arc accustomed TO associate with nrmness.
OF the other characters there but little TO be said
Richard takes the entire stage and fills il mpctey.
graced presence, even II those actors had more
equal to their task than the performers OF last
night There was, however, one notable
exception in the Bollngbrokc of Mr. Robinson,
which was u manly and effective rendering OF the
part. Ii Mr.. Booth could rid himself OF certain
nerisms or pronunciation and a rather distressing
habit of gaspng for brealh 1t would be decided i'm
mnnncrism we allude to Is certain affected particu-
larity in pronouncing the last syllabcs OF words-in
fact, making them the only important ones in the
words. MIR. Booth will repeat his performance OF
Richard each night this week, and Will play In "Don
Caesar dc Bazan" at the Saturday matinee