New-York tribune., 1876-05-04
TENNYSON'S "QUEEN MARY"
THE LONDON DRAMATIC EVENT.

PIECE.
IrEou TIE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUSE.l
LONDON, April 19.--Since it became known that
Mr.. Tennyson's 90 Teen Mary" was to be put on the
stage, there has been but one opinion about t-that
it was "a play impossible to act" Nevertheless.
acted it has been, and whatever may be the final
verdict Of the pubc, it is certain that the andl-
ence of last niglt-a very cultivated ana cltical
one--found much to admire and much to applaud
in this eagery-decrieI drama. No doubt the
verlest tyro would readily detect faults which
impair its value acting piece. But
/ shall be surprised if it do not prove to be the
most veteran play-goers who discover the most
beauties. Perhaps the greatest surprise OF all was
to find that the diction which in reading seemed by
comparison with the elaborate splendor OF Ienny-
sons usual style a little commonplace, seemed, Wheh
spoken sInguary energetic and rich. This also, OF
course, is by comparison. Putting Shakespeare
aside we have been used to hear little or nothing on
the stage IN recent days which has claims 10 hlgh
literary excellence The contrast between the per-
feet literary form of Tennysons tamest passages ana
the lawless language which seeks effects from mere
eccentricity, was very striking and very delightful
This alone should keep the play on the boards. IL
would teach the English people the English Ian
guage; of which many among them know consider
ably less than they do of foreign Tongues.
IL is needless to say that between the Queen
Mary as published and Queen Mary as acted last
night at the Lyccum, the difference is very great
A great deal has been Omitted something has been
added More than half the percentages of the poem
nave disappeared from the play Out of 10. but Il re-
main At least as much of the tcxt-Judglng
roughly for have made no caiculatlon-has passed
between the scissors Cranmor is wholly out, ana
with him nearly all the ecclesiastical scenes and
speeches Cardinal Pole does not appear, nor Bonner
oor Thrlby. Wyatt and Stafford not heard
M of ihai il
from what passes in the Guldhali and the palace
A great deal else, which cannot stop to recapitu-
tate has vanished with the signal advantage OF
simplifying the movement of the drama. and the
the signal disadvantage Of reducing 1t III
many cases to mere outline that sadly wants life
and color On all this there is but one remark to be
made: that q reduction In the length of the play
was absolutely necessary, and that, ON the whoIe'
;he excisOns have been made with Jud 5ment laid'
with every respect for Mr.. Iennys0n, that
4 would have been still better had he
consented to leave the ungrateful task OF
mutilation and arrangement wholly to Mr. Irving
and Mrs Bateman. Their knowledge of stage effect
md stage necessities-n other words of the laws OF
,he acted dralna-is far greater than that OF any
outsider can possibly be. / hear from everybody
that Mr. TennysOn has shown himself most gracious
and self-denying. and my word of criticism may
mem ungracious enough. But it is plain that the
poet Tennyson has here and there got the better OF
Tennyson the playwright, and that passages nave
been retained for their undeniable poetic beauty
which purely dramatic censorship "ouiu h"Ne
mthlessly pruned away.
All that could be done in this way, however, must
eave the play devoid of some of the most essential
conditions of dramatic success There is nothing
that can be called plot. There is no progressive
development of interest from beginning to end. No
great character is created In the two chief cbarac-
Iers who must for lack of others be called the hero
and heroine it is impossible for any human being TO
take human interest. Such interest as they do eX-
cite is due mainly to their lack OF those quaslhes
Which we commonly call human. This is not MI
rennysons fault indeed, if we admit his right
to choose his own subject He must have known
that he was attempting the impossible; that
Le was choosing for a dramatic poem
subject which does not admit OF dramatic
Treatment without departing-as Victor Hugo did
IN his Marie TudOr-frOm historical truth You feel
TEMPTED t. ask him Lord Melbournes famous cues
ton: Couldn't you let it alone ~ suppose his
answer might be that poetic impulses are not to be
Aimprisoned in conventional laws, That poet Is to
some extent law-gver unto himself ana that all
we have to concern ourselves with Is how he mas
dealt with the difficulties which he wilfully accu-
INFLATED about him. OF how complete his obedience
il to the general canons of his art and to the ord
pances to which in this particular poem he under
took TO submit. In tine whole play there is one ana
only one person who succeeds III enIlStng the SYM
patbes of the audience, Elizabeth, and she Is pre-
cisely the one who has least connection with the
plot She might be struck out altogether, and the
strain upon the spectators mind to comprehend the
drift of events would not be moro severe than III Is
now But for other reasons, tho experiment would
not be a desirable one.
What, then, is Queen Mary as performed at the
Lyceumf 1t is succession of historical taDieaux'
all or nearly all of them fine in themselves, but
wanting that subtle thread of connection which
carries forward the mind of the spectator from one
tn another with an ever ascending interest, 10 the
final scene. No more difficult tas6 could be proposed
IN the most accomplished actors than to conduct a
Derformauce of this kind TO successful issue 1t IS
not wonderful that everybody should have pre-
dicted failure II is wonderful that the prediction
should have been falsied TO such an extent 1t may
be said at once that there is not another company IN
London which could have acted Queen Mary" with
any degree or chance of Purely literary merit
apart. il is absolutely dependent for success on
purely theatrical means Everything has been done
for it, The mounting of the play is admirable, ana
no praise can be too high for the Mrs. Batenan
and Mr. Irving have given to its production. Inc
scenery il new and, what it should be, splendid
enough TO be fit setting to the piece without SUD
ordinating the piece to the spendOr OF the scenery
The costumes are reproductions from portraits ac-
curaie in detail and harmonious singly or taken 10
pether while sumptuCus in stuffs and IN color lhe
piece had been so cOnscienOusy rchearSed that the
first night passed of without pcrceptible slip OF me-
chauical fault of any kind
Nearly the whole strength Of the company has been
mt into the cast; Mr. Forester, who has lately