The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1883-09-13
coNQuERING THE BRITISH.
Mary AndersOn's Successful Debut Upon
the English Stage.

tLondon Cablegram to New York Herald
The event of the week in the dramatic
world was the debut of your fair country
woman, Miss Mary Anderson. which was
made this evening at the Lyceum Theater,
whose stage has been made classic by the
genius of Henry Irving. Miss Anderson has
been sufficiently long in London to have be-
come personally known to many Of the
leaders Of the art world OF the metropolis
and it must 10 admitted that she had
scored a preliminary triumph in winning
golden opinions of herself Us q women be-
Tore the opportunity of judging her as
an artist had been given The evening
was ~ nearly perfect Is q September
night in London can ever be, and there was
no counter attraction of sufficient potency
to keep aaay the best class of theater-
goerS The house, which has long wit
messed the highest exhibitions of English
dramatic art, was CT DIVIDED, and 1t seemed
rs though tho whole Of artistic and critical
London was assembled within its walls.
The debutants reception In the first act
Was distinctly friendly, and soon became
tingcd with enthusiasm. Her figure WAS
seen TO be commanding from Its height,
although grlish In its supple and almost
scrpentine sendclncss, and the simple and
colorlcss drapeiy in which she had dressed
the part of parthenia lent grace to her pose
and carriage. which were always statu-
esque, without bearing the least impress Of
study or self-consciousness The white
robed figure, with snuous arms barred to the
shoulder and abundant brown hair hanging
freely from the shapely head. with the
trcmulous mouth and the curl of the short
upper lip Involuntarily suggesting pathetic
power was revelation, even to those of
the audience who had seen this fair girl in
the conventional dress OF the drawing room
Or the promenade and the ice of criticism
rapidly me- ted in the glow OF an involuntary
enthusiasm The applause became more and
more general and u continued far beyond
what any of her friends could have antici-
patel The debutante stood long before
the footights gracefully bowling her thanks
and cssaylng to begin the lines of her part
When ut last she began to speak her rich
ly-modulated voice provoked another salyo
OF applause During the earlier portion of
this act there was n slight tremor, and tho
actress seemed hardly Mt her ease, but this
quickly wore away, and she became the no.
hlc animated heroine of the halt savage,
half -dyllic romance of .Ingomar.' The
applause was generously renewed at the
close of Parthenia interview with Polydor,
In which the maidcns noble devotion TO nj
ial love and duty was powerfully portrayed,
and her speech in which she foreshauOws
her resolution of sell. sacrifice was enthusi-
astically rc-demandcd At the close of this
act she was twice called before the curtain
and applauded to the echo The same rec
IGNITION vas given Mt the end of the second
act, and an elaborate bouquet from Mrs
I.ahoucheres box was among the floral Offer
ings which now began to RI n upon the stage
The third act confirmed the verdict of the
other two, and decided beyond cavn the
triumphant success Of tie debut Mr..
Barnes, tho Ingomar OF the play, was twice
compelled to lead Parthcnia before the cur
tain, and the cultured critics of the metrop-
oils again became the claquers of one of the
xHnsNn nj
the London stage After the performance
the more deliberate Judgment of the foyer
and the clubs was found TO have ratified tho
verdict OF the playhouse Ii was decided
by the coolest of the critics that Miss Ander-
sons performance had challenged the high
est standard of criticism. and had fairly
stood the ordeal: that she was equal to the
best opponents OF the dramatic art in En-
gland, and that in voice and gesture, in play
OF wit and fancy and in deiineation OF hui
man pass! ons and human emotions she
had shown herself worthy of the ovation
which her genius had enforced