The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-01-08
EDWIN BOOTH AS RICHARD III At BOOTHS
THEATRE.

Edwin Booths return last evening to the theatre
he built and made famous, after long absence. dur.
Ing which has travelled many miles, 10 Of the
dramatic events Of the year. And that this fact
appreciated was evident by the large audience that
assembled to welcome him home. An interest
ing feature OF this performance was that the p.
original Shakespeare version OF "Richard I'LL"
was used, and no, Collsy Cbbers, which 80 long
held the stage by right Of tradition This version
was edited by Mr. William Winter, ana Is simply
condensation and new distribution Of the original
text, with little rc-arranging OF the scenes. The
play Is In six acts instead Of Ave. and the sndngs of
some Of the acts different As q reading play Mr..
Winters Is better than Cibbers, but the lat
ter Is the best for acting. The galleries will
miss such iavorte expressions as "Rohard'a
himself agan" and ''OH with his headi So much
for Buckingham |" as they were Cbber's, and have
been stricken out. No new material has been in
troduced. Mr.. Winter has zoo high regard for
Shakespeare to tamper with his text.
Richard Ill SLOWS the influence OF Marlowe upon
Shakespeare In this play the subject OF the fortunes
OF tho house OF ork Ia continued from whore II was
lett OF in Horny VI Margaret OF Anjou Is kept on In
defiance Of history but 10 work out tho ends OF art
In the opening OF this play Richard s brought
face to face with "in the perfect completeness Of
spssre's characters: &c does mot murder from
feelings OF revenge or jealousy, but for power He
them out Of his way, and there is Sro.ssqus humcr
in his wickedness-
simple. plain Clarence! 1 do love thee SO,
That will shortly SEND thy soul to heaven.
Ifheaven will take the present at our hands.
Richard has repuguance to his crimea After q
bath in blood no rises refreshed and ready for an
Other plunge. HIS wooing Is so CHASTITY AZ to be
almost Incredible and his success surprises him.
self. "rhe plain devil aud assembling looks" were
his side His intellect SO brilliant, his mind
SO supreme that we cannot but ieel admiration at
times for tho from the sheer force OF his charac
ter His mother describes him when she says:-
xrievons burden thy birth to me;
Tetchy and wsyward was thine infancy;
Thy prime Of manhood. daring, bold and venturous:
y n Sa yea M I'm
Mr.. Booths Richard 10 admired performance, and
one that has often boon mentioned In these columns.
II is fine and intellectual but 10 not and gor.
energy he depicts Tits wretchod man, deiormsd ia
morals as well as In body; this unhappy cynic,
will that he brushes oil who stand in
his way. Mr.. Booth brought out all these character
stics with rare ruthfulness, and his Interpretation
livery Of the he was far from perfect trausposng
whole sentences aud miscalling many Of the names.
This want OF perfection in the limos was noticeable
in most of the company
Mr. Booth was called out at the end Of each act
and at the end OF the last act q speech was
demanded. To this demand no replied in as few
words possible as ws:-"Ladies and gentle.
men-I can hardiy say anything moro to you than
have already said tonight l will only repeat the
words which you see on the programme Welcome.
my fair guests Once more shower welcome on
you"
The support last evening was generally FAIR Mr..
Mines Levick excellent rs Clarence, and Mr..
Cary, who appeared In Now York tor the nrst time,
was an acceptable Elizabeth. and Mss Mary Wells
an imposing Duchess Of YORK. Mrs Waller played
and continually suggested her Meg Merriliss. Sir.
Wheelock, Mr.. Lcvlck and MIS- Waller wore called
before the curtain.