New-York tribune., 1884-02-03
THE DRAMA-MUSIC
Mr.. T. w. KEEyE AS RICHARD LII.


pantomime. This Gloster inpels himself by means
of skating motion of the legs combined with
wriggIng motion of the body. so that he appears
to be afflicted, simultaneously, with sciatica, bun.
| ions ricketts,, heayes, aud st. Yitus's dance
His countenance, meantime, is, with difficult and
obvious effort, kept in state of elaborate distor
! tion such as cOmmingles low cunning and lowering
| ferocity with pervasive expression of impending
| spasms All his movements are not only deficient
of high-bred distinction. but are exceedingly aYk-
ward; he carried his sword. for instance, through
out the greater part of the wOong scene, in such
a way that the nose Of LAZY Aane was
generally in danger. and would mevita-
| bly, have been slit if the royal widow had
! not dodgcd her suitOr with uncommon agility.
! His voice, invariably artificial aad mOnotonOus.
is during the earlier of the tragedy, strained
| to the utterance of self-conscious. theatrical,
! stlted demonism, which evidently tho actor sup
| poses to be intellectual duplicity, and during the
| later scenes is let loose in hidsous, discordant
senseless ranting bel,ow-without clocutonary
skill and without even the fairtest suggestion of
| what in Shakespeare, is always 80 fecitous, tho
sequence Of perfectly attnned plTaseology flow
! ing out of the character and the feeling The re-
suit of this capering, "mugging," and brsying is
| q figure about as fantastic aud offensive ever
was put forth upon the stage.
Nor this mOnstrosity redeemed by any felicity Of
| ideal in the mental structure of the work. Mr..
| Keene himself may be the most intellectual and re-
| fined of men; but, in presenting the mbi and soul
of RictardTII to say no more about the body 1t has
pleased him to indicate the meanost lowest, most
obvious and most miserable brute that eyer stutted
| and yallOwed among the tallOw candles OF coun-
try theatrical barn. Such Richdrd did not i've IN
history cannot be found in Shakespeare page ana
does not even exist in the wretched and abomina-
(s.l.l do Of glgpJu
work. Even in Cibber, and despite the filthy vui-
parIty and despicable commonness OF the stated ap-
netiteD scene and despite the yaingOrous bom-
| hast the clap.trap and the wooden aud pumpy
Cibber soli oauies-RiohGd remains a prince OF
royal breeding daring intellect, beautiful SpeclouS-
ness predominant charm as well as overwhelming
| force of character, fine and giltterng man
ner. and elegant dashng mtrepdty Dir. heehe
| nresents him as a growling and bowling butcher,
Obvious at glance, TO anybOdys comprehension as
a merely murderOus villain. When ,hlS "'osF
! killed Fiag HeRry-(an act which, thoueh pre-
determined. occurs, at last, as one OF suuAoh m
petuous and unCOveruahle temper-he drew MS
swo,d srpposed TO be reeking with blood, thrice
through his goved hand, as If wiPing the Diade
unon the pove; and this gore he then cohtehpia'ea
r,+b tbe r,lisb OF bull-terrier crunchlng rat.
porrv Sullivan who used TO saw hiag HehFys
hodv until IL creaked, and then "slat" or upon
4be floor the imaginary blood from the ehd Oh Els
ranler was thought TO be pre-emiuenty naStylhths
scene but Mr. Keene is much worse In the scene
with the Princes Ut little lorks taunt, he roughly
seizes the Child by the chin and Eare5 upon hna
with open fury--Inissing al the subtety OF h'as-
ards smiling malice in which his temper Is not loe
an instant rufled. To the attendant VINO expresses
the lone that the sick Qaecn lime may recover hS
hotrovs his whole muderous purpose by an open
nulnQ,s
more utterly ruin the quality and drift OF the char
acter. . ~
Respecting Mr.. Keene's scholarship there was
q hint in the tremendous emphasis he
nIaced upon "battaliOn,"-as II H'chaFd
',oont "baftalions" TO indicate a small sec
zion Of his forces Respecting ms technical stage
a,4 tbere were numerous limitations that 1t Is OF
the crudest de ;criptjon. lie broke 40 the taDieau
IN the throne-rOom, for example. before IL was
fairly formed shouting " stand all apart oeioro
he had mounted the throne, and then ascending ths
eminence on a vacant scene; ana subsequently "'
NJ counsel is my shield lie resOrted to the we'll
rnoyyr Soueers method Of Observation-Disclosures
or+ the words while one attendant brought
cortb a shield and thrust it into ms
lutob and another fetched erown-heimet
and popDed il upon his head. "fou go ana WASH
,be winderr says Mr. Squeers to his pupil VINO mas
inst spe1led it, land then you won't forget now IL
- (, u+r,qs and noise were laid uDOn the tTad-
.;oroI "noiutsr. but the exit at II am not in the
,o;, y 40 far from being terrific, was merely bonn
bastic. and in the awakening from the haunted
dream Mr. Keene could only YELL snort, gurgle' iah
pnon tbe floor and vigorously shake MS Iatulng
,n1 iaophnQ sword. There was no facial play mere
and no touch OF awe OF terror. All the ah'll"aeu.
r,Io,r trickerv Of the transforming schooi Oh
t;og was seen again in this etfort and even that
NJ Koena does not execute nearly as well asnuseu
n he done by the late MI. Eudy' vi 'i
NcKean Buchanan, or even, IN MS oelIer ua5 D. ',
.dn,htoble Count of Jones. Mr.. Keene is on the
wrong track altogether That nonsense mas hau i'
5o,, and II il not wanted any more. feven Edwin
Forrest were now here, and should come again ion-
mo ont his tongue and shaking his rattlng trick
.rord- -hilt as we have seen him do in Hamlet, he
wonld only be laughed at. Mr.. Keeneis represented
+oha a talented. earnest ambitious actor. and he
certainly has had large experience and has caught
.bo ruhl,c ave IN many of the interior cities. he
il makins but poor use OF his TAI
opto and opportunities, however, when ne oilers
to rbe educated community of capital city such
nieca NJ wretched provincial uncOuth theatrcM
orr "a his nresent performance of Richard H. NO
,a, thopob whether in art out OF 1t, ever deVei-
ors far away from the line of his original charac-
-. " Keene as we remember him years ago az
1,,od,s Nuseum was au actor prone 10 noise anu
avoos. He has but fulfilled the promise oi his
dawn.
ITALIA THEATRE.
A trace of the old regime III tneatricais ID
maintained at the Thalia Theatre, the German stage DO
% COT ON too precarious footing in this country 10
dt NJ the combinations and long runs wmch are 'no
nn II the American stage In another respect too tns
"a, Tp,ostra "a unque It company OF actors oA