, 1876-03-19
Mrs Waller and Her Performance Of
Meg Merrihes' Popular
Indifference,
Decline and Fall Of Negro Min
strelsy in Chicago.
{. Bafatka;s Benefit --MusicaI College Sol
ree---Apollo Club.
The "Atlantic Monthly" on Won
BuloW---Foreign Musical
Notes.
THE DRAMA.
IN CHICAGO.
GEY NANNEHlNG.'

TN CHICAGO.
*'GCY MASNER1NG."
vsy,rr Scott had the genius Of great sto1
,.,.sr m legends Of the border, old vome1
ts,es and IN Skeletons OF roEaances hidden
thc chron,c1es Of the carly English writer's, !
<,reaseo in fresh attire aud introduced aner
the world T1e did not possess the greatly
faculty in high de, !ree' and he knew it. Hen<
it 10 be attributed to him as virtue Taths
than fault that he OF. erc'sed wonderful sell
RESTRAINT in the use of the ample material fha
fell into lis hands. He j. III tno SUBSTANCE Q
the original as he found IT, aoatn9 70 IL Ii
surroundings OF the period TO winch 1t Belongs
and covering its nakedness with MS smooth an
tl,uing d.ction. The opportuln t'es LOT Doll
characterization or strong situation WHICH pre
Aerted themselves in the course Of his "ork h
otteu allowed to pass unimproved, e:t.2er Do
cause he ris,rrstcd his powers or because III
1eyc1enced the truth Of history more than III
did the prouptings OF genius. The high art OF
Sir Walter, it is apparent. was in narration. Fur
uish him with the material and be could
tell your own story hundred times better
xhao you could tc. 1t yourself Nor would he
.i.siolt or mauge it. He would embelllsh it.
rerhaps. filing ont the imperfect ou:!iues OF
:uCt Ut tits mont Le would introduce an Incl
dent fron another story. and ut tbat he woujd
indulge IN q pleasant excu1susi but the mate
xiai facts aaa allegations OF yo1r story he would
p1eEerSc. In oil his wanderings he would not
preach. though sometimes he 1a:sht prose lie
had nothing dldactic in his composition. He had
tho faculty ei narration in AL emmett degree
that aud only tlia..
We cannot CONCEIVE that anxhcdy at all COM
},etcnt to judge would say that Sir Waiter pos
quietly made in tao popular dsnmAtiza:ion Of
Guy Manner1u=." III which atiss Cushnan Won
her gteeuest laureis aud Mrs. Waller hez latest
oues. The revival Of tie play in tbis city
during the past week has given fresh
Whole. considering Meg -utrr7iies. as she WAS
originally intended TO be, Il subordinate cilsrac-
Ter. The play has been taken, with scsrceiy any
ntte,atou. directly frem the novel. The loves
OF Jt4;4a Ndnnering aud Henry Esrtrdn a1o re-
-N.rtrG'a is made to marry Col. lN1aneTlny III
obedience to nomc strange idea Of dramatic pro-
1>7.ety: and Eoiainis Sampson ia thrown il 70
,nake fun for the audience. 1t is = notlceabis
fact, by the WAY. that the grosesque and foolish
ride OF Lom,nic Sampson is shown in the play
to til: exclusion Of those auaiabie qualities
which he 60 abounded. But the drama follows
the novel Is faithfully could be expected
laceed, more faithfully than would Ia expected
from dramatat OF acknowledged power. Tne
Grametlzation ID worthy Of Waiter Scott; i. ia
euch piece Ct work as he would have done had
lie attempted TO adapt his work for tho stage. The
}aucit9 Of ldeas and Essentially undramatic char
acter of the p!a;. aside from the part of Neg
-Merrits. is shown By the fact that the first act
and the greater portion Of the second iu which
~Tf3 does not atlear, Invariably drag heavily
And weary an audience almost beyond the
hounds OF endurance The restlessness which
PREVAILS throughout tie house before tbo en-
trance Of Meg il apparent to the most casual OBJ
Ecryer and The loud applause which grceta her
as as much all indication If relief as togen Of
welcome When Meg disappears, the former
81,
the ecccntsicitiea OF Mr.. Dandie Dinmont, who
ss introduced not for this purpose, but because
he happens to be in the story. We do not find
IN this treatment of the material provided by
Sir Ndue7 any trace Of the genus which the
old dTamAti6ts brought to bear u!Ion Boccacclo,
Froissart- aud 1Iolingshcu. The aim of the dra-
Io2tist s4o1ld haye been to MAKE good play
even 1t the expense ct some violence 10
the details OF the story. II -feg Mc:-fiies
is tile principal dramatic figure in the group she
should have been made 30 early in the actio,.
1lse title OF the p]ay should have been 81 Meg
NazTihea," not Guy llannerlnc,' for there is
nothing in the whole history Of the latter to en-
title him to place on the stage unless it be his
early astrological predictions. which have too
remote q connection with the MAIN action to be
.lbe0 without alteration.
MRS. WALLER As MEG MEAR11IEs
The conception Of Meg ,Merrillcs which Char
1o:te Cushmsn and Mrs. Waller formed almost
simultaneously sunk, 70 a great extent, the
gypey in the witch. 1feg glides upon tho stage
suddenly aud swiftly, aud shows herself III snch
a mysterious manner that one can imagine Ler
t. h1ye been dropped from the clouds. or sent up
on 3 trnp-door from the regions below. There
are SERIOUS objections to this e1aitation OF
The witch-lko traits Of Neg. The age
Of Guy Mdnnering WAS not the age OF witches
For long time even the witches Of Shakespeare
we're baniehed from the stage, though he lived