The Portland daily press., 1883-10-26
Mr.. Irving and Miss Terry
New York Times of Oct. 22l

New York Times of Oct. 221
Mr. Henry Irving and Miss Ellen Terry
were brought up the bay yesterday on Mr..
Tilden's steam yacht Yosemite, in which
Mr. j. w. Florence and Mr.. Lawrence
Barrett had gone to meet the distinguished
English actors. The Brittanic, in which
Mr.. Irving and Miss Terry crossed the ocean
arrived IN the Lower Bay at midnight on
Saturday. Mr.. Henry Abbey, Mr. Schoefia.
his partner, and some newspaper reporters.
who had gone down to meet Mr.. Irving ON
the steamboat Blackbird, were transferred
to the yacht. Mr.. Irving wore pea Jacket
and trousers of rough English cloth, and
slouch hat. At the first glance his features
suggest sort of combination of Edwin
Booth and Oscar Wilde. Miss Terry wore
a travelling costume of heavy goods in
brown and olive check. Her hair is golden
hued, and she is tall and slender. Mr.. IT.
wing submitting gracefully to the customary
interviewing" anticipating, however, the
inevitable first question of the reporters.
/ "What. do you think of Americap' by ask
| ing 1t himself, and declining to answer if
until after more intimate acquaintance
| with the country.
Mr.. lrving's manner was tlrat of pol
ished gentleman, with tinge of the naiyete
OF the man OF the world. He was himself
| perfectly at ease and at once set every one
about him equally at ease Bright. ouick.
pungent,it was pleasure to listen to his
chat There was none of the drawl and af
recitation in pronunciation which MANY
writer's have said was characteristic. SPIN
| English, you know" he said, and YOU must
excuse me if | speak in English, as it is
more natural to me than any other tongue,''
| evidently having in mind these circum-
stances. II hope my English mannerisms
OF speech" he added, "will not offend and
| be too severely criticised. You know the
English people overlook in your actors what
are termed their Americanisms.''
! OF Mr.. Edwin Booth Mr.. Irving said:
Mr. Booth was deservedly popular in Eu-
rope, and in England particularly In nv
/ opinion Lear was his greatest success. II
was magnificent piece of acting, His
Othello, Iago and Bertuccio were all well
done, and pleased the public. His Richelieu
| was not SO successful because 'Richelieu, is
not popular play in England"
What has been the principal factor in
arouslng the interest in Shakespearean
plays in England?"
England is filled with Shakespearean
Shakespeare more than he was read 25 wears
ago. Our fathers knowledge of Shakes
peare was almost wholly derived from the
theatre. To-day his works are textbooks, .
which OF bis plays is the most popular
in England?''
Hamlet unquestionably. The next
one? Singularly enough it is not Julius
your country. 'Othelo' would be probably.
but it wants two good actors, and it is hard
to Ind such for such characters as Otbello
an1 lago. Salvinis Othello was spoiled bv
an lago who could not play up to him.
Julius Caesar is not played in England be-
cause we havn't the actors to play it.n
When the theatres of this country and
their patrons, and the differences between
them and those of England were spoken Of
Mr.. Irving asked: "Do your people appland
situations. recitations or the tricks which
actors sometimes resort to to gain an
plauser' Being informed that appIanse
was about equally distributed between the
three, and that Hamlets soliloquy, begin
ming To be or not to be,o was freouentIv
greeted with round of applause, he said:
~ never got hand on that soliloquy in nv
me, ana l am glad TO know that Americans
appreciate reading as we'll as acting. Yon
remember your Edwin Forrest once stopped
IN the middle OF play and said to his au-
dience, You must applaud, or I cannot
act,' There was much truth in that. For
the sake of the applause which encourages
and incites an actor to his best work retain
the pit III my theatre. / like the applause
Wmch comes from there, for society people
who occupy the stalls do not indulge in an
plause except on the temperance of some
old favorite, when they wave hats and
handkerchiefs and generally make an exhi
bltion of themselves. an glad to know of
the American habit of applause from ali
over the house, for such applause does awav
with the suspicion of claqne, which is as
annoying to good actor as TO an audience |
Real enthusiasm and honest recognition of |
merit is the actors greatest encourage |
ment."
In referring to the play of "Louis XI..v
Mr.. Irving said that Boucicault had made
an adaptation of it for Charles Keen. who |
first played it in England. "BoucicauIt. I |
don't doubt, would like to teach me how to |
act 1T, but don't think that the brogue |
would make the character any more popular |
than it is in England, at least" Miss An |
derson Mr.. Irving had met, but he had not |
seen her act Her success in England is |
however. assured both socially and finan- |
cially.
Mr.. Irving was asked if it was ture that
he was to be a guest of Mr.. Vanderbilt.
''Oh, no, shall be no ones guest. heard
strange stories about his having had great
mirror constructed Tor my use, so that /
might pose before it. You may saw he
said with laugh in both voice and ewes.
"that | carry mirror of my own about with
me constantly because am so fond of post
ing before it so that may see my beautiful
form and features almost constantly.
''This interviewing isn't so bad, after all,''
he continued, sits not trying ordeal, and
rather like it." Then he accompanied Mr..
Florence to the deck to get his first sight of
New York. He took long look about him,
and, turning to gentleman who was beside
him, he said 81 never saw anything like it:
it is beautifulp'
Miss Terry was on the after deck when
Mr.. Irving was being subjected to his inter-
view. She sat in a deck chair leaning against
the rail- She is not what would be called a
pretty woman, for her face is thin and rather
peaked, and her chin too prominent. But
there is intelligence in the face and when
she smiles and speaks there is an indescrib-
able something which fascinates. Possibly
it is the deep blue eyes which almost seem
to speak.
10 the Tlmes's reporter who asked her,
'if you were to send back word to your
friends at home what would it be?"
'Tell them | never loved home so well as
[ do now" Tears filled her eyes, She
clasped the rail and turned to look at Castle
Garden. With forced smile she said:
'sThis is New York, is it not?" and quickly
added as she placed her hand on her breast
tOh, feel as though I should burstF' She
turned again toward the City. This time
the handkerchief had to be used before she
had so far resumed control of her feelings
IS to be able to speak. Then she said: 'This
makes my nose red and don't like it to be