The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-02-11
Mr. Mayo Speaks . Piece for Him
seIf-Rather than Rattle His kwOrtl
He will Abandon Heavy Tragedy.
RICHMOND, Va, February

RICHMOND, Va, February 10, 1857.
To the Editor Of the Dispatch:
Dear Sir,-A falIacious Paragraph once
printed begets credence. A sentence in
type i worth ton Of vocal cxclamations.
Whyy IL saves us the labor OF thinking
for ourselves. We "take for granted I"
rather than trouble our heads with the task
OF examination. lie il q daring thinker
who refuses 10 yield his convictions TO the
pages Of accepted authority, or to that trc-
mendous crusher, the daily critic, who
| arrogaies TO himself the power 10 render
Judgment on situation no one will at
tempt tO defend; and 80 he tumbles into
success-he finds victory by default. Your
critic, in his remarks on my perform
ance of Richard ILL.,. regard ~ both
vulgar and undignjfied. claim TO
possess sufhciency OF intelligence
and TO have bad experience in my profess
sion enough at least 10 protect me from
being thought "abominable and ridicu-
lous," or to have my effort dubbed "non-
sense" Il your scribe aware OF the fact
that / have (tefore his advent. perhaps)
acted Richard before Richmond audience,
and that one OF his predecessors regarded
lay work az worthy Of being placed side
by side with some very worthy opponents
Of the same characterf Or j. he one OF the
fedgling critics who believes that was
born professionally with the buckskin
suit OF "Dayy Crockett" and am so
moulded by the narrow limits OF that part
~ TO forbid my spreading my ambitious
wings for loitier flights. However like
nonsense" my work may show in his eyes,
/ hope il may not be crushing 10 his dig
pif IN hn Of no
constituting the majority OF this commu-
nifty. Although he may convince many OF
yoiir readers that he j. correct. have hope
that they will believe it possible that there
may be Judgment quite equal to his on
the subject. There are those who find no
excellence beyond the confines Of tradi-
ton. 70 win dramatic favor, in their
sense, is 10 come upon the stage reeking
with humidity and mould OF antiquity.
They say. "Don't disturb my reverence by
ject. My blood has crdIed at that
point a. made by Smith The tre-
memdous force of Brown in that
exit speech fairly lifted me from my
seat. The terrible fright Of his dream
scene almost burst the buttons oil my
clothes. | could hear him trembIe, and his
sword ratified until the house numbered
with applause" To abstain from these
tricks is to be thought d6on,iRa6le and ridi-
culOys; to appeal 10 the best Intelligence is
nOlLSenSe. Well, perhaps il is; but shall
not play for that certain something so con-
veniently quoted by your critic. When.
one grows wise by experience there l. for
ever regretiul sigh after that certain some
Hji,J which gave Our ignorance bliss. lie
says | should LET heavy tragedy alone. do.
| shall. or what else il hedcy. | shall try
TO make il as light ~ intelligence can rem
der il. shall thrive by no trick. | shall
have no fayoriie "eyit speeches.
NV sword shall not rattle, and the
buttons shall remain firm on your
clothes. Richard shall be Il mortal and not
a monstr0sity. II by this course | am to
be regarded ~ "dbomindbie and ridicu-
lOtS," and il to treat Shakespeare from this
standpoint is "non-ense," then will re-
turn to that class OF drama in which the
"certaip " SOmethip9' may be recognized,
because fancy il has not been smothered
i'm tradition. Yours sincerely,
FRANK MAYO.
TWe have surrendered much valuable
space to the above. in order that Mr.. Mayo
may express his grievance, and shall con-
tent ourselves with only word or two in
reference to il. The actors vanity is cyi-
IDENTITY greatly hurt at our honest criticism
upon his Richard Ill. The criticism was
certainly not sugar-coated. and the h0melY
truths contained therein were clothed in
plain words, which, il Mr.. Miyo's feelings
had been alone considered, and we had
written FOR his eye and not for that OF the
public. would indeed seem cruel.
His card gives us cause for deep regret
first, that il forces us 20 dwell upon disa-
greeable truth-yiZ., his failure in heavy
tragedy, and that il exhibits IN amount OF
insullerablc conceit when he would arro-
gate to himself the ability Of II great actor
and critic nj the same time; aud then we
are panied to be reminded Of youthful indis-
cretionS. such ~ must have, for the time
being, deprived W. OF reason, ii we were
erer so thoughtless a. to praise his rendi-
ton OF Richard Ill.
We harbOred no ill-feeling in what we
wrote OF the actor on yesterday. In iacf,
we did not for n moment consider Mr..
MAYO OF hi> feelings in the matter; and
should future success in tragedy crown
his efforts and disproye our criticisms and
that OF those who have witnessed his recent
efforts here, il will afford us great pleasure
to praise where we have before ccnsurcd.]