The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-11-20
THOMAS w. KEENE.

P."9e" hch"rd tle Third" to on
+" OF the most appreciative and probabl
& the largest audience which has Assem-
bled In the Opera House this season
Il ana we think the expression of Ii,
l. iaclloh from those who were present
/ Is almost unanimous.
l. " Richard the Third" is one Of th
r most celebrated Of Shakespeare's pro
uuctlons, and with the exception @
Hamlet" and "Lear,n is the mos
ulihcult Of effective representation
: NO play is better calculated to test th,
:. varied powers Of an actor. The man,
different characters in which Richor,
presents himself, gives to the play it
great dramatic effect. He is the hero
the lover, the assembling hypocrite
. the statesman, the buffoon, the hard.
| ened and repenting sinner, the deep.
uyed Villian-and in all these quickly
I changing characters, Mr.. Keene, did
himself great credit-and showed that
he had studied the author well.
The play as rendered by Mr. Keene,
Is not Il literal copy from the text.
Much of the play as we find it in the
teNt' Is left out, and much put in,
winch does not appear there. For in
stance, he gives II scene from "Henrv
the SIXTH" to begin with. While as
we know, the play really begins with
richards monologue,
Now is the winter of our discomfort, &c."
And further on the exclamation,
"Off with his head SO much for Buckinw-
ham,
was never written by Shakespeare, but
is said to have been eXtemporized by
an actor Of celebrity who had forgotten
the text. And again we fail to find
the passage which Keene renders with
such telling effect, which closes with
Orchard is himself again"
The characters of Clarence, Queen
Margaret, and Hasting, each Of which
is worthy of frst-class actor, are left
out altogether. While we feel some
disappointment in not having heard
the dream of Clarence, and the pro-
phetic curse of Queen Margaret, vet
these characters were merely inciden-
tai to the main feature of the play, and
their omission in no way lesscned its
general effectiveness, while their pre-
sentatiOn would have rendered the
play very long and probably tedious.
AS we are indebted to the actor for
much that is not in the play, we are
still indebted to the imaginative and |
inventive genius of the author for one
of the most effective scenes, namely, |
the hand to hand encountre between
King Richard and Richmond. In
point of fact this scene is historically |
incorrect. Richard never fought the
single handed combat with Richmond
but fell OverpoWered by numbers,
while struggling desperately to hew
his way to where Richmond was-and
his crown, which after the battle was
found, as we are told, under Il haw-
thorn bush, was brought by Sir Will
lam Stanley, and placed upon the
head of Richmond, who was then
king, and afterwards reign
I'd as Henry the Seventh, the first of
he Tudors.
Shakespeare has portrayed, in bold {
'elief, the character of Richard in all
is horrible and disgusting deformity,
While he presents Richmond in bet
er light than we find him anywhere
Use. This is probably owing to the |
act that the play was written and !,
irst presented on the stage during the /
eign of Elizabeth, and the author was c
90 discreet to paint the first of her !
llustrious house (her grandfather), in y
ny but the most flattering colors. q
Richard was "a warrior fierce and L
old" and probably not worse in most q
aspects than the average noble of his t
loody time. He had the intellect to o
Dnceive, and the boldness to execute =
is ambitious designs. Circumstances +
lvored him he came of bloody 0
ock Of butchers, and only accom-
Iished by daring actions what more -
mOrous men only dared to think up b
I and wish for. "The tender touch o
pity" as we conceive it, was UNI !,
nOwn to men of his day. Mr. Keene e
'idently entered into the spirit in Ii
hich Shakespeare wrote the play. Il
Ost of his acting was undoubtedly u
ne. n,
While the first part of the play @,
light be said to drag IL little, we think es
e scene in which he allowed himself
he persuaded (?) to accept the crown nj
as superbly done, and nothing could st
I'VE been better than his performance IN
WI SuuhChiD lhNtNihS IbiCtiiiIOIIu' al
he concentration of his malignant M
tie, the tiger-like expression of sat be
action at having at last come face to III
&c with his detested rival, the fact ~
at al depended on the issue Of the eS
ably struggle which was then to W
gin, were expressed in his cOunten- 10
ice and deep, hard breathing, in an III IL,
manner. an
We think, however, there was too lfe'
uch tendency TO "rant' in some ov
aces. He would sometimes "tear no
ssion to tatters,n and was sometimes ell
} furious ain the whirlwind of his "a "a
ssions." The effect of some of these id,
orts was not pleasing. The true phi
MUS rises to these flights with an an
as which does n0teXhaust nor harrass ~ ~
2 feelings of the audience, while the ca
ysical efforts of Mr.. Keene were col
netimes so great when he was All
lshing" himself up 10 his cllmacteric
Il.