New-York tribune., 1882-02-19
Mr.. BARRETT IN PENDRAGoy.

Mr. BARRETT N PENDRAGON.
! In his graceful! speech TO the house on the first
night OF " Pendrag0n at the Fifth Avenue Thea re-
the author intimatsd hat NJ Barrett had made the
long, herish'd ideal Hing Artbur living and actual
man. This. of cours, was the language of conpli-
ment-pl asaut and kindly, and not inappro pirate
under the circumsances but not t. be taken in its
literal significance. As a mater OF fact the ideal
htHg Arthur Is person vast and vague so roman
Tie and so lllustrioI IS that no clrcumscrpt on Of
him into an actual form. by wbomsoevrr presented
would prove entirely adequate and salts
factory. There certain subjects and
persons to which the imagination
Is only happy when it can revel in license and
certainty. This is one of them. No realer If
! "Guinevcre" f0rgefs tn supreme art with which
! TennysOn denies 70 the remorseful wife a last
| glimpse of the Kings face. whi h then was
angels" But she his Il Iure, clad in full armor
! sitting upon his horSs-an august an sacred pres
ence--and she ches hin rs. amid gllncing lights
and rolling clouds of mist. he away and
| ishes into the nigh. The majesty of a self
| centred grief. the awful loneliness and the
mystery here the chief r ments OF the grandeur
thus emhsdied Such an effect i an mpos ity
upon the Stage Besides, in this instance there has
been provision for it. The King
ArthUr of "Pendragon" is only to a slight
extent the Hing Arthur of Tennysons Idyls and Mr..
Barrett accordingly. in representing him, has kept
within the limits IF the piece. His perSOnatIon of
PtndrQgOH does not pretend to he an embodiment
of a human angel -naht in Utopia. but is simply
pure-minde J. intel ectual grandly ambitions II.
remarkable for the loftness of his public policy, the
simplicity of his private char Icter the depth and
sweetness of his affections aud the macnanimty of
his spirit. This ful lis beautiful ideal but it still
fall, short of the hinJ 4rthur of whom the world
has dreamed.
An actors art should not be tried by mythical
test. Those who expect to find i'll Mr.. Barrrtt's
performance of King Artbr a realization
of absolute pOetical subimty will be disappointed
That is not his field. Nel'her in physique nor in
temperamont is this actor fitted for gigantic and
leonine assumptions whe her of the awfu or the
terrible His figure Is slender and lacks Lrg lat. HIS
voice-tdough r'h, strong. sweet and full of Sensi-
bIhty-is neither very copous nor very resonant.
And his temperament Is intellectual nervous and
restless. He dom if ever, pro luces anv effect bv
condition. His results ars mostly pro ured by
movement and speech. Tremendous concentration,
noble sustained energy, and br liant fire are the
chief characteristics x OF his acting: but it is not
dis;iuctiyelv marked by reqosc. II exctes it daz-
zles it thr.lls; but it does nos convey
the sense If massive. selt-centred.
sublime personality enshrin-d wi hin it, har total
unconssiouSnrss of self that grand. rugged grace
full mliv.du lity-Wh,ch for example seemed the
Prevalent at r5uta 10 The nature of Daniel Web
ster-i> not one Of isel ~ nt,. Mr. Barrett Is well
known as tn representa- i've o. several royal per
sons. He has been seen as Hing Lcqr hing Ha~Jctb
King Richard, King lanes the rim, and now q x
higJ ArfhT. Iu no one of them docs be- impress by
the solid substance of innat- royalty Vet each OF
them is brilliant hthe attribute, ofa restless am
bitious fiery, and splendid mind, each iii plays
fl,a D., 4.
ful with a hundred graces of execution. This then
Is not actor whom nature has qualified
TO shine with a calm aud ste Ily radiance Like the
northern lights, he shifts and gows, and pales,
and fades. AM fuctuates. The observer who looks
at his hinq ArtbT for he abstract quality of super
nal majesty viii look in vain. The per or1nance is
es,enua ~ manly and human, but, while il ha- the
impetuosty and the isolation of val spirit il is
no; he g.d-hAe Great .on Of the poet.
During The first two acts the King is a busy bust
ling figure, ful of AMBITIOUS and warlike purpose
for the advancement Of his realm, and bent on ami
ma ing hi, XII gbts and couItiers with bis own IN /
douitabe, adventurous spirit. his expeditions |
practical almost frejful mood does not consor with
the Tennysonian ideal Of Hing arthur; but il is |
entirely consonant with the PcndragoR of Nh Youngs
IT gedy and with the characteristic style of |
Mr. Barret's acting. Even at the terrible |
moment when the injured King confrouts |
LaHce'Ot in the chamber of the Queen-a moment |
when just the right pause and just the right silence
would. with actor Of the kcmblc strain be the |
most ovcrpoweIing and affecting eloduence-Fep- |
drd7oH is made botn by author and actor a man of |
prompt movement ready eXpe lent, and fluent
speech; and Mr. Barrett, intense and impas,ioncd,
fills this ituatiOn with a thrilling feryor. The
broken voice, the struggling agony, the dissolution
of nature that probably, Edmund Kean would have
put into thi, of a situation might not serve Nh
Barrett's purpose half as well as the torrent of
frenzy with which now he let's himself be borne
away. here is the same active vehemence in the
farewell TO the ruined Queen, the same
steady tide of lamentation, the same
ndon.irable activity, as of man whom no alllic-
ton render passive, no misery can stun no suf-
rering paralyze. In all this MI Barrett fulhls-ac-
sording to his nature and to that style which is it,
condi ion of the character as Mr.
Young has drawn it and TO have drawn it in a
more abstract and ideal way might have made il
lntt for stage representa- ion. We must make our
imitation roses out f cloth or paper We cannot
nave the frag of the real rose except from the
ose itself.
To judge Mr. Barrett's performance Of Hing Ar-
har he embod uent of u real man and not an
distraction, is, then, he right way 10 discern its
worth. We have seen the work a second and taird
lIne with increased admiration. II is a very brave
achievement. 1t da hes straight away from con- :
7eutonalty. 1t is very Passionate and very elo-
Iucnt. II holds up 10 view, with pe'fect and ad-
nirable sincerity, a high ideal OF manliuess II is
most refreshing 10 the sense of romance. And
While pre- er. III Acting as in al forms If Ara
mat manner which cOrquers more Dy suggestive q
less than by prOlX utf-IauCe.--we hnd that The
irlt ot MS love ana of lis luet hlgh tender and
beautiful. Mr Barretts manner. III the bl ling of :
Ofred Is p rilcu ariy nobl. and the effect viewed
IS drama lc ar, l. uncOmm MY splendid. Indeed d
q our mnd, the actor Is greatest ia the closing n
scene Of the tragedy when the shadows of DEAN 4
Re -ettIug dark around him. and he sinks oe- p
poilcd AMI dcie .rd-a ruin a,ud.t rutus-,y,tl O