Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-11-10

try's performan ce, but from VIII at have seen
last night l should say, entirely apart from
her surprising beauty and considered simply
as q n artist, that Mrs. Langtry without being
as actress of overwhelming power, shows rare
buoyancy and elasticity Of temperament, and
a singular cleverness in grsspiug and pre-
sentIng emotions foreign necessarily 10 her
own personal experience. There is a sunny
brightness about her which was quite en-
chantiug-a brightness such as comes not
from physical health alone, but from GER
tain vitality of fancy and vlvidness of i'm
pulse lowering around every word and every
movement. The glow may not be sufficiently
strong to lend lasting impression to the
one profouud significance to the other
Yet 1t is glow touching and kindlipg the
house with delightful radiance of its own.
warm and strong enough to beautify charac-
tiers like "Hester Grazebrook," "Kate Hard
castle" and "Rosalind,n which she has wisely
chosen. Impulsiveness makes her whole
performance-not the impnlsiveness Of a
tragic nature but that of a graceful
and generous womanly temper. Such is
Mrs. LsDgtry on the stsge-a thing of light,
a woman, sensible, gracious, charming, above
all thoroughly a woman OF the world in the
best sense, less concerned to inspire enthu-
siasm than 10 diffuse around her au atmos-
phere of pleasure and happiness; a woman,
in short, az exquisite and fascinating as ever
ruled drawing room. Light and airy as
her nature is, it ia tremendously developed.
This harmony is go complete that the ordi-
nary observer may undervalue it, yet il is in
its perfection kind OF genius. To see and
hear her is 10 be content. Her eyes are soft
and yet sparkling with good sense and good
feeling, her movements are elastic and grace
ful, the whole woman il essentially womanly,
blending much of genial, bright tenderness
with visible force and energy. 1t Is this COM
| bination Of strength Of character with suav-
| i'y of sentiment which qualities Mrs. LangtTy
| 30 beautifully for the stage and pre-eminent-
| ly for light, gay, brilliant parts. She will be
| seen at her best one day in parts in which
pathos is blended with playful
ness. As Rosslind" a character Sd
| much more worth her genius than that
| which she opened last night, l fancy she
| must excel. She seems herseIf-and this is
| no small advantage-fully TO understand
| her own nature and to have taken the right
4 measure of her own powers. The best por-
trait of her, perhaps, is 10 be found in the
| lines prefxed by Voltaire to his 'Zsire,"
and addressed to beautiful French actress,
I Mile. Gaussin, and which my brillisnt coun-
| tryman, Richard Lalor Shell, qloted in his
dedication of the play OF adelaide to still
more beautiful Irish actress, Mrs O'NeilI,
at time when, like Mrs. Langtry, she had
Just passed from the smaller sphere of pri-
waite life to the larger of public theatricals.
I Ce sont ties yeux-ces yeux 81 pleins de charmeE,
| Ia voix touehante, ct ties sons enchanleurs
| Qui du critique ont tait tomber les armes,
| Ia seule vue adoucit les censeurs.
Nor are less apt to Mrs. Langtry's per-
! formance of last evening the words with
which Shell accompanied the quotation;
| "The part was written for you. In adapt
ing it endeavored TO combine beauty, in.
telligence, and feeling. And though you
have not yet attained the perfection of me-
| thod, 1 knew that your representation oil
such a part would not be the effort of art
but the spontaneous effusion OF nature
Mrs. Langtry called several times dur
ing the evening and thrice at the close 10
receive exuberant tokens OF appreciation.