Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-02-13


the FIRST time before aGerman audience. Ma
ture has most richly endowed this great arts,
with all the requirements which, forming an
harmonious combination, tend TO make the
representation OF the part OF Hamlet" By Ed
win Booth an STtistic whole, ever to be sd-
mired and remembered BY every lover OF
a5thetic beauty in drsmstic comedy. HIS
profile ia OF clear, classical cut; his forehead
high; his face long and oval. A head OF the
finest Etrusean type Is crowned by heaVF
flowing hair Of darkest hue. The skin ls OF
almost transparent paleness. The great black
eyes are illuminated by a mos; wonderful
light, and so deep and searching Is their ex-
preston, that it may be closely observed
even from a distance.
His person is tall, supple, and full OF sym
| mstrical charms; his well-proportloned
limbs are mobile, yet firmly knit, and bis
entire figure is full Of harmonious grace,
giving TO all his movements a plastic beauty
| rarely bebeld in modern representatives of
| stage heroes. II We are to speak OF his con-
ceptiou OF the character OF Hamlet" We
| fad ourselves confronted by an almost un-
| surmorutsble d;feulty-that'y una
bic TO make comparisons. The tra-nar-f-y
"Hamlet" of our German stage has, il Il
| true, been varied by the glorious renditions
of such artists az Dawson and Devrient, and
Rossi well Salvini have given us a
glimpse OF their strange but withal impos-
ing chsracierizations of the melancholy
Dane, imbued with Ia fiery Southern
| spirit. Another and an altogether diff
ferent Hamlet" confronts US here
Booth seems TO take the cue for his
whole conception OF the part from the lines
| commencing the famous monologue: 20,
| that this too, too solid flesh would melt"
| His spirit seems reb+lli0us against the cum
| bersome body, seems even DESTROYS to shuttle
| of this mortal coil" and throughout the
almost deathly calm which pervades his be-
| ing, fiery aud untamed longing to escape
the burden imposed upon him by Fate seems
| to agitate the iunermost recesses OF his ma
| ture, pouring forth now and then those
| splendid outbursts OF mpsssioned eloquence,
| which seems TO thrill the hearers very soul,
as the wonderful play of the facial muscles,
and the soul-searchiDg glances from the
burning depths oil his eyes enthral the hearts
| OF the audience, although the utterance may
Y be in a langr age not familiar to all. But
] genuine passion speaks in accents under
stood everywhere, and thus Mr.. Booth,
10 his frat presentation of Hamlet at the
Residepz Thea'er last evening, has added
| another conquest 10 the many which already
| form bright leaves in the laurel-wreaths
handed to him by his delighted audiences in
| three countries. The verdict of the public
of Berlin given last night agrees with all
former judges of Mr.. Booths Hamlet in pre-
nouucipg it a masterpiece of the actors
genius, grand in its imposing quietude, tow
ering above all his rivals IN its passionate
' utterances and beaut fed into a stage figure
| of fascinating proportions by the fmmeasur-
ate grace OF Its representative. Pens much
ADLER than mine have heretofore undertaken
to delineate Mr.. Booths rendition of Hamlet
| in all its intricate details, and yet even they
| ahI to f,lI hara 10
bestow their praise most lavishly. OF per-
fections there seem to be 80 many, Of
faults SO few, that we do not
know to what portion of the part, as he rem
ders it, We should accord the most unquali-
fed laudations. If one thing seems to us
more exquisite than another it would proba-
bly, be that powerful climax in the scene
upon the ramparts, when, after having re-
vealed TO him the tragic story OF beloved
fathers murder; he ia crushed 10 earth as by
a terrible blow. The agitation OF his sou,
so mastery pictured in this scene is even in
tensiied in the meeting with the ghost in
his mothers chambers, when every lines
ment of his classical face portrays with an
amazing naturalness the emotions of his
tortured s III, and every nerve, strung TO the
| utmost tension, answers to the summons OF
that strange herald from another world.
1t is one of the fine points of the drama,
| Hamlet, that ALTER the.kilIing oil "Polonius,
the madness and the death of "Ophelia," aud
the wild carousal with "Horatio," Hamlet"
again assumes his natural bearing at her
funeral and has never been his truer self,
than when "Osric" calls him to the fencing.
The shadows OF death already hover about
him, his thread of life is almost severed, lad
| great events WHICH upbeave a dynasty are
waiting at the threshold-but philosophy is
enthroned upon the lips OF her noble con ard
speaks out in these wonderful lines which
Hamlet" delivers previous 10 the bout.
| Never did an actor succeed 30 admirably
we'll in painting the noble dignity, the high
soul-soaring-U must coin this word, because
l know Of none adequate 10 the German
SeeIenfug)-the exquisite humor Of the true
philosopher than Mr.. Booth. And what
shall 1 say of the fencing-scene,
this apotheosis of grace? Was ever
more delightful play witnessed in
any of our playhous by any one of our
great actors, past or present? When has
death been portrayed more faithfully, yet
less revoltingly? The curtain fell last night
at the Residepz Theater upon the most won-
derful impersonation of Hamlet which Ber-
lin has ever seen-an impersonatiou in
which dignifed grace, touch of infinite
humor, most stupendous passion of deliv-
cry and the sublime power of genius per-
vsded the atmosphere in which this Hamlet
not played but lived as he forever shall live
in the memory of his euraptured listeners.
Mr.. Booth, amidst the most spontaneous
outbursts of applause, was called upon the
scene AMI at the close of the acts no less
than twenty -four times. DR.. C. CARLoTTA.
BERLIN, January Il, 1883.