The New York herald., 1877-02-13
ADJUSTMENTS.
MISS NELSON IN s'cYMBELINE" AT THE WALNUT
STREET THEATRE, PHILADELPHIA.


MISS NxlLsoN IN s'cYMBELINE" AT THE WALNUT
STREET THEATRE, PHILADELPHIA.
Tho oldest theatre in the United States was crowded
this evening from parquette to galleries with one OF
The audiences OF the season, the attractions De-
Ing the first representation of cymbelIno on It's his
loric STAGE for nearly soventyhve years the homo OF
the drama, and tho first appearance OF Adelaide
Nelson In tho character OF Imogen. The young ac'
tress had warm reception, and her Interpretation o
tho role was watched with deep interest She was
called before the curtain the end OF almost all OF the
acts and was presented with profusion Of How
ers. The play well received and would have
been more successful had tho audience known It as
well as .Romeo and Juliet or "As You Like ~ but
TO the majority OF those present II was almost wholly
strange both In its and action Tho scenery was
excellent especially tho bcdchamber Of lmogen and
tho forest in tho fourth act.
ssCymbeline" is play little known to tho public.
and this fact proves the greatness Of tho service tho
stage has rendered Shakespeare Not only is ono
OF his beautiful dramas but 1t contains one OF
Tie nobest OF his types Of womanhood, ana YET De-
not acting play In the general sense oi
the word its merits appreciated chiefly by STU
dents This Is difference between the drama wnen
IL Is shut up books and when 1t Is revealed on the
stage. Shakcspeares rue Is royal and though more
than 30O years Lave passeu siucc ne 20 NV
only the foremost figure literature which Is not
strange but also remains tho master OF the Engish
stage which IS in ways remarkable. Shakcspeares
immense genius for words and his extraordinary
vocabulary aided In making modern English what
It is He may be said to have fixed the language and
thus have preserved his thoughts In the amber OF his
own expression No since has cqualled him IN the
variety and far reaching power Of his diction Books
are not subject TO the change Of intellectual fash
ion. What Is good them generally lives and Shake
speare by the greatness OF his intellect secured the
place OF honor the libraries OF tho world But that
he should still be the supreme authority tho stage
is singular, for the stage 1uctuates- reflects the
fashions the passing generations and this the rea
son why many works intellectual value written for
the footlights alone have been banished 10 tho OBJ
scurity OF the study Their substance remains fresh
as at nrst, but the forms obsolete
The plays generally admitted 10 be Shakespeare's
aro thirty-seven in number 1t Is surprising how
many retain their popularity the stage Ho wrote
thirteen tragedies OF these six may be said to havo
no rivals In general estimation. They are 'Hamlc"
"Othelo, I" "Macbeth." "Lcar," ''Romeo and Juliet'
aud sJulius Cesar" Four others frequently
played. "Coriolanus" was brought forth from the
library by Kemble Forrest. and is now success
fully acted by John Mccullough. 'sTimon OF Athcns''
and "Cymbene" cited occasionally, and "An-
tony and Cleopatra is produced opportunity
for splendid effects OF scenery The only tragedies Of
Shakespeare that not hold the stage ~ roius
aud Cressida," 'Titus Andronicus' and "Perclcs"
and many scholars doubt that the latter writ
ten by HIM.
Turning to Shakespearo's comedies and dramas we
hnd equally large proportion OF them still popular.
They fourteen in number, and nine OF them are
produced every at the principal English speak
ing theatres the world from London to Van Demans
and Tbac fha ssTcmn naet, ~ incl Ahnut
Nothing" "The Comedy of Errors" "Midsummer
NIGHTS Dream" .'rhe Merchant OF Venice" "As You
Like It,'' ''The Tanning Of the Shrew" "Twcnh
Night" and s'The Winters Tale Qeite as popular
these is 'The Merry Wives OF Windsor" which is
played Whenever heaven Is kind enough 10 send tho
stage Falstur like hackett or Dc Bar
The only comedies that made familiar by the
actors are .'Tho Two Gentlemen Of Verona, "Love's
Labor's Lost" .:All's We'll That Ends well" and
'Measure Measure" and each Of these OCCASION
ally produced In the latter Miss Nelson recently
played Isabella with great success
OF the ten histories four recognized as standard
acting plays, namely, "King John,' "King Henry
w." .sRichard ILL.," and sHenry WILL" "Henry
VI" is partly embodied In Richard ILL.," In the
modern acting play The second part of ''Henry ""
" also performed sometimes that We have only
'Richard H. and the threc parts OF "Hcnry VI"
which may bo said to be novelties In the theatre BY
Edwin Booth, however, "Richard II'' has recently
restored the stage in all original beauty.
Thus the mighty intellect of Shakespeare un-
folded equally on the stage as In the printed page
This not be said OF his contemporaries There is
Middleton, whose witches Shakespeare's hags have
charmed with superior spells into oblivion There Is
Webster who known to the stage only by his Duchess
Of Malh." Thsre is Massingcr, who Is remembered
alone by his "Ncw Way to Pay Old Debts" Not
Of the great mcn-MarIow, nor Hey wood, Decker
who wrote when James King Elizabeth
Queen; nor even Mr. Bouccaut the most prolific oil
living authors whose plays number 250can claim for
them popularity proportionate to Shakespearcs
though, of course, Bouccauts appeal to posserity
yet be adjudged That the greatest thinker of
race, the ''myrad minded shakespeare should DO
The most honored dramatst in any language. aud the
ruler of stage is fact very high Importance Tho
vauc OF his influence thus exerted cannot be meas
used, but we may imagine what the stage would be II
Shakcspeares intellect taken from that busy,
dazzling world and shut up in books alone like
,clects of Milton, Bacon, Plato and Goethe
1t Is to Miss Nelson that we are indebted for the
restoration OF "Cymbene" to tho modern STAGE and
Is crcditabic to the intelligence Of tho lovers Of
Shakespeare the United States that they should have
demanded this production from an English artist who
had performed 1t in her country. II was
never u favorite in England though Garrick, Powell
kembe and Edmund kean played Posthumus, and
lachmo Of Cookies greatest characters. Mrs.
siddons Is said to have acted lmogen with all
her wonderful power. and Mrs Jordan was
famous in tho r6te. Mrs West played
lmogcn at Drury Lane in 1929 and Miss Jarnan ut
Covent Garden IN 1921 Since then Mrs. Charles
Kean has been the principal representative of the
character Mr. Phelps produced "Cymbeline" ut
Sader's Wells about twelve years ago, aud, If
not In error, Miss Atkinson was the heroine In this
country It is almost unknown to the stage although
Qra.