The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-11-30

Fredericksburg. Va,
fyvc cannot. Perhaps some OF our req d.
ers can.1 -. s5
A No,e 20 tho Dispatch ora Drama.
or ALL sad, bad things under the sun,
had actor ia the saddest. Sometimes bad
hov can be thrashed good, a bad gira IN
given cases can be kissed into nobility,
lad tooth can be pulled, and bad BOOK
can he praised--can be improved 6g tack.
inc an ELOQUENT bit OF praise to the edge OF
it Rut neither thrashing, kissing, pulling,
NOR nrassina, IL seems, can draw any put
Aad blood ontof a bad actor.
Th;s individual Is generally sally, sorrow
s,,i soar, lie comes by gracelessness
shrough royal right. The liquor OF his
veins Is green and stagnant. All the gnomes
and yenii Of stupidity, gathering from the
four winds, played drum upon his head as
his birth. His uttcrances are as tuneless
as The hinges OF that gate through Wntsn
nasscd the greatest OF aefors, that prISat
s.a;nr whose subtle iinpersonation Of The
Sernent is tho wonder of all time. ForSear-
snp ma literally to shrees, for dashins our
sense OF art 30 dirt, fer raVing, fastin2,
wri~rlin., wrthing, no has diyincsg got,
sranersaJ yreroeatfye. So, OF all sad, BAD
things snder The .susa, bad actor IS the
saddest
II IS WHISPERED test the company at the
Theatre last week WIS unsatisfactory. The
.Dispatch, sand rs it IS, almost said so once
or twice. But, good or bad, it does not
make mach difference now. Me. Ford mas
IN his day presented us with pretty good
comp4rics. He Sas also presented us occa-
sionallr with erusty, crooked, cracked
mechnuisms wLSch he in an amiable mo-
,,ent eod With stroke OF fiction set down
as men and women.
Such has been the case, and snch is likely
to he the case. II we submit to gulllng,
then gull as to the utmost; give us fr'sks
and frauds and shams, pile them capri.
ciousIy M sky-high, and let us equip"
them down! We may get some salt accl-
debtais, and salt is PURIFYING
Some, however, suggest careful discflmi.
nation. To one party, in fact we should
always give patronage and praise; 10 me
other we should not even YIELD the crumbs
OF the table, simply because acting l.aZa-
rus whenever they are predueed, are not
reputable beings; as Lazaruses, 1t is all
right and proper to entertain them at the
palace back OF the city cemetery, but rs ac-
fors--we ought to decline. 1t s the duty OF
every individual in some wager other TO
contribute to the support OF true players,
and 1t is equally the duty OF every one to
ignore those who are such only to their
vanity.
The man, woman, or child that witnesses
and applauds person who playsThe part OF
the Moor OF Venice, after study'et gay
or two, could stomach any pill that the dla-
boIical ingenuity OF the most rampant ply
stefan could compound. Genius ttsGa is not
proof against failures iE frst representa-
lions: Nelson, who, whatever her defract-
ors NAV say, has what is known to US as ge-
MUS. plaved Viola here for the first time IN
her life. and, sweet as it was and wonaerful
as it was, it fell stort of perfection. Any
body wi o wishes to gain knowledge OF the
labor necessary for first representations
should take up Frances Ann kembie's rnta-
nitely beautiful, tender, passionate. touch
ing description OF her studies, trep'datiehs.
hopes and tears prior to playing juliet.
IL this Is so. how peurile must be the kin
dred efforts Of ordinary people, with nc
study, truly so called, but only with idle
words stuffed into memory. 1t is astound-
ing that 1t is done. It is still more astound-
inc that it is allowed to be done. And it
transeends all other astounding things, this
applaudng it when it is done. Such lnno-
cent creatures should patronize the public
schools, not the public piay-houses they
appear to want sense, not tragedy-bralns
with which to appreciate poetic thought. |
And what such actors should get is-critl- |
cally slapped: reproof, pungent and pro-
nounced, is what should reward such precip-
ttate folly.
To those who love every line that Shak-
speare wrote more than it is possible to love
aught else, to those who turn daily to his
delicate truths and wonderful beauties, to
those who hang upon his eloquence. because
it so far SURPRISES in richness and variety
o,,I ;folif Uol1 aIn nf an-tn
such and to many besides these it is acutely
painful to hear his marvellous words ruth
lessly mangled by simpering clowns and
intoxicated numbers. Most men have lost
all hope of ever seeing Shakspearian plays
perfectly produced. But cannot we have
the exercise of some sort OF intelligence and
discretion? Is it too much to ask duke
to walk well and prince to speak well?
Is it wrong to request-nay, is it not our
right to demand-those who mount the
stage to pay the price OF the step by wash
ing their hands and mer1orizing their parts
A prepoSsessiDg person, with little OF 1n-
telligence and a strong mind, can pass mus
ter In humble characters; bat against the
tFstarring and gathering" Of such thing
all should vigorously protest. 1t is the
business OF every man who takes pleasure
or interest in drama to see that such folks
arc hCpI III luCil pilCSss 5uSt 40 oSaS"S O.
kept, to give security and beauty to real
power. They may even be jewels in their |
way, and, as most men know only too well. |
Jewels lend most singular establishment to |
rarest female forms. But suppose jewels, |
by some unheard-of witchery, usurp the |
functions OF women! Not any more ridicu- |
lous would this be than the unnatural swell |
Ing OF O nebulous speck into a star, the |
putting OF bright page into dull TRACE |
dian. the strange development Of Osric-
dainty, exquisite Osric Into the abortion !
OF Danish prince
What is playing the mischief with the |
stage to-day is the throngng upon it Of the |
in ,ipid children OF stupidity. And the
thing to do is-taX TO the utmost stage.
re sources. If these do not meet require
ments, slash into their ranks, open up their |
files, so that better men can make Roadway, I
moving to the front, not spasmodically, but |
gradually through deep study and reite-
rated effort. Put spurs to these, also, and |
il many chance not to be OF true metal,
thrust them aside. give place to others OF
50 metal more attractive" But do not |
through mistaking plety undertake this i'm.
possibiiity--to brush from the stage thosei
tho may have tainted characters: lash and
cut away the yirtueess art of the stage, aud
let It's yirtueless women alone; for 1t will
be found as startling as 1t is true that these
are the very women that often most signaliy
succeed In giving beauty. stateliness, and
fresh, fair power to assumed characters and
In investing them with supreme and unap-
proachable purity Plnck away IN IL " ,ra y