New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-11-18
MISS ANDERSON IN LONDON.
AS PAULINE AT THE LYCEUM - THE
PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES.

PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES.
IRON THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE
LONDON, October 20.
"This," said eminent critic, Z" is what for
twenty five years l have been trying TO write
down. In its blunt terseness the sentence cx-
presses the general critical view of Miss AndcrsOns
acting in The Lady of Lyons" You will find it
much softcncd in print. Nobody likes TO say hard
things of lady, and there many things which
ANYBODY, even a critic, finds 1t easy and right to
say in praise of Miss Anderson. But it is certain
that to the critical eye, she appears as the exponent
of a school which it had been fondy hoped was
passing away. The school is sufficiently described
by the words artificial, STACEY, stilted, and other
analogous terms. Miss Anderson may perhaps be
content to know that the critics discover in her
and in her acting charms enough to atone Tor her
revival of this Anticipated method She may be still
better satisfied with the verdict of her Lyceum
audience on Saturday night. Her reception, which
was cordial at the beginning, became enthusiastic
at the end or, at least. at the end of the fourth
act, and nobody wOuld dispute that the evening
was as a whole, n triumph for her.
What is said of Miss AndcrsoD's Pauline in the
press varies more or less in plainness, but nearly
every journal of note agrees in looking upon inns
lady as the Interpreter of a form of dramatic art
which must be called Oldfashioned. d" Miss Ander-
sons choice of the part of Pauline says The Times,
"to follow that of Pdrthenid would seem to denote
her possession of an artistic temperament, or OF
range of faculty not very closely adapted to the
notions of the present generation of play goerS on
this side of the Atlantic at least, whatever may he
the case ON the other" The conclusion this writer
draws is sharply stated - We are thus confronted
with an evident determination on Miss Anderson's
part to avoid measuring herself against opponents of
The method of art most in favor at the present day.
And he regrets that an American actress of the
first rank and aspiring to take leading position on
the English stage should condemn herself 10 line
of character now obsolete. Then follows this pas
sage:
The fact is the more negotiable that in this new
Pauline there are occasionally truthful touches
showing up through the arthciality OF the char
actcr: a CLEAN here and there of spontaneous fccl-
ing whenever deep tenderness pathOs, or scorn has
not to DC depicted, suggesting possibilities of
more cOny incing method OF art, were the actress
only TO allow trucr type of wOmanhOod to pluck
at her energies. There Is no scene III which Miss
Anderson quite rises to expectation. She never
rouSes sympathy with her wrongs, 80 that her rage
and shame, effectively as they are expressed by
great mobility of feature and variety of gesture,
appear somewhat gratuitOus while III the fourth act
her revusiOn of feeling i'll favor of her now loyal
and sclf-sacritcing husband, the base decciyer of
acts second and third, is somehow wanting III
plausiblty, the result being that the interest OF the
last act drOOps, if it does not altogether die out
And I fancy the most mpressionable of Miss
highly cultivated and finished style she gets
NJ the heart of her audience, never lifts them mp
carries them away, never throws any true tender
ness into her love or any soul into her passion but
remains from first to last an eloquent and slightly
affected young lady, with ready disposition to in
yitc applause and TO repay it with a smile.
One extract from The Daily Ncrs will Justify
what have said Of the readiness Of the English
dramatic writer TO recognize what there is most
attractive in Miss Andcrsons gifts and capacities:
No lady more richly endowed with natural
riffs without which hstrionic genius must struggle
in vain has come to our stage within the memory
of play gOeTS Personal grace or beauty of feature
will not of course make great actress; but be
sides these not incOnsldcrablc advantages, Miss
Anderson possesses COuntenanCe quick to reflect
the llcetng shades of thought and feeling through
ont a wide range. Lastly, she has that most prec-
Ous of all the possessions of an actress voice must
cal and flexible enough for lighter utteranccS, yet
not deficient in that peculiar grave and tender note
which goes TO the heart of the listener IN pathetic
passages.
But this same sympathetic eulogist agrees with
his sterner colleague that there was a lack of a
firm hold upon the sentiment and pathos Of the
| play. II we turn TO The Daily telegraph we find
| Mr. Clement Scott writing thus:
| Miss Anderson once moro shows what good act
ress she is and we say actress advsedly, for she
never ceases to act from the moment when she
takes the applause with her eyes to the time when
She is wholly experienced in the mechanism of her
art She knows how to use an intelligent face and
expressive features her voice il wholly under
control and Of splendid volume her attitudes are
| uniformly graceful: she appreciates the value Of
claiming the central position in the picture she
| has power unquestIonably, and pretty method
that passes for pathos; while her personal attraC
lions are appreciated by few than by the lady
that makes such good stage use of them. But when
| we come to Miss Mary Anderson the artist, as
distinct from the clever actress we are bound to
| consider her Pauline as it struck those who were
not carried away by the force of her stenOrian
tones OF the SUCCESSFUL alldck Ol WcllhnOWn lhcat-
rical points
And the conclusion of Mr. Clement Scott is in the
same VEN with the summaries / have already
1uoted Miss Anderson graceful and pretty
lady acting at love-making,-a cleverly schoolcd
Pauline who had been taught TO "A nicely the various
points of scene Of theatrical clap-trap, not n
woman who stirred deep sympathies. The play
might have seemed to be acted, says Mr.
Clement Scott, by provincial company dating
back some twenty-five years,-and all the interven-
ing history of dramatic art in England botted ont.
II may, perhaps, be said that dramatic criticism
in England has gone little faster than public
opnion Public opinion represented by the
audence-and it was very good audience-at the
Lvceum on Saturday, was on Miss Andersons side
People were not deeply moved, but they were inter
ested Nobody was disposed TO cry over Paulincs
woes. but everybody admired the way in which Miss
Anderson wore her gowns. think we should have
liked 10 see this pretty woman let herself 40 once
or twice. but that pleasure was denied us. We had
instead every delight that could be given by grace
fnl posng and expressive gesture and by the music
az an agreeable voice all these put at the service
of character which is. TO say the least, as unreal