National Republican., 1883-11-07
ADJUSTMENTS.
FoRD's OPERA HOUSE.

"a Winters Tale, as presented at Ford's
Monday and last night with Miss Rose
Eytinge as Hermione and Mr.. Cyril Searls rs
Leontes, assisted by company of artists
specially selected for their ability, is a decided
histrionic success. This play embodies two of
Shakspeare's "divinest women," Hermione
and Pordita, and one of his noblest princes,
Flori2el, who seems made expressly to mate
with the gentle and beautiful Perdita. The
play is well known, not less for its outrageous
anachronisms and its extraordinary geo.
graphical inaccuracies than for its plots,
its noble poetry, its striking dra-
matte situations, and its charac-
terizations. The central figure is, of
course, Hermione, tho queen of Leontes The
calm, dignifed woman, the loving faithful
wife, the tender mother the insulted and
cruelly-aspersed queen who, as woman and
mother, always remembers that she is queen
and the daughter of u king, and who as queen
never iorgets that she is a woman, a wife,
and mother-Hcrmiono is picture placed
high in the great masters gallery of portraits.
She is intense, but not turgid; majestic, not
heroic loving, but self reliant; in no instance
departing from the calm dignity of the per-
feet woman. Miss Eytinge's conception of
the character evnCes close insight into
the authors meaning, and her por-
trayal is, upon tho whole, acceptable
and satisfactory. Yet Hermione is the fur
thest removed from what is known as the
emotional" and Miss Eytingo could improve
her rendition of the character by remember
| ing this The trial scene would be exceed
ingly good in all its details If tho actress
would steadily bear in mind that Hermione
has always, oven in her most agoniaing trials,
reserve force of character that preserves tho
calm, self.sustained dignity of the queen,
which is as equally removed from impassive-
ness on the one hand as from Mysteries on the
other. The statue scene, as it was the last,
was also tho best showing in the play. 1t
was in all its details natural, artistic,
statuesque, in its beauty and its effect and
Justly merited its encore.
Mr.. Searle was only fair in his portrayal Of
Ieontes. The King Of Sicily is an amiable
man, tender hearted and affectionatc and his
mad jealousy is the passionate folly of a
weak character, not the fiery whirlwind OF
madness that sweeps over strong nature,
| like Othello, burning to ashes tho soul within
Mr.. Searle's conception of the character Is
orrect, but his rendition is very unequal tC
| his conception.
1t is, however, through the minor charac'
ters that the play owes the unqualified success
it has met Miss George Knowlton rs Per
dita very artistically presents the gentle, dol
icate princess whose character is drawn Will
such light such loving, such graceful touches
Miss Knowlton identifies herself with th
part, and her rendering of it is perfectl,
natural and therefore perfectly satisfactory
Tho gentle delicacy and refined purity o
the character arc never lost sight ol
aud the result is as agreeable por
trayal Of Perdita as could well b
asked for. Her rich. sweet voice is well show
in the pretty "violet' song, which was deserv
edly encored. Mr.. Cohen Shields's Florizel
as artistic as Miss Knowlton's Perdita. Hell
the beau ideal of the refined and gallant lover
and in voice, gesture, expression, gives tn
delighted audience an almost perfect piece O
acting Miss Helen NJ Lewis as Pauline is q
times rather too intense, too ready with he
lines, not enough at case, but she display
, high promise, and in the scene where she lay
the baby princess at the feet of its iathe
develops naturalness and a power tina
justly earns for her the hearty round of nj
plause given by the audience. The Mops
of Miss Marion Bernard, ia very commendabl
S in make up, in rustic iusouciance, and aboN
, oil in the thoroughly natural and heart