, 1884-12-09
MACBETH
Blessed Be He Who First Cries
Hold, Enough
George C. Minis Company Presents
a Shakesperian Play.
A Fine Audience Attracted to the
Opera House.

c. Min and his company one of dreary
and preternatural monotony.
In the first place, the audience itself
seemed chilly and u~nresponsive. In the
early portion of the play the acting of the
support was so wretcheily poor that it
destroyed all symptoms of enthusiasm
that had been aroused by preconceived
ideas of Minis ability az an actor.
The main entrance door was kept wide
open about one-half of the three hours
occupied by the performance. 1t seemed
as if the gale of wind which blew through
it came from the direct vicinity Of the
North Pole, and each gust sent n chill
through the marrow of the unfortunates
who sat in the draft.
Added to this was the strange and alto
gether eccentric manipulation of the stage
settings. Very frequently. when a trans
formation was made--for instance, from
an interior scene to one representing a
precipitous mountain, with a tangled
glade in the foreground-one Of the wing
settings would be allowed to remain in
position. Thus the rather incougruous
view was presented of a deep glade, re-
mote from civilization, while one wing,
overhanRing with outrageous foliage, dis
played the section of an elegant frescoed
parlor. OF course this was a mixing up
of things which the most vivid imagina-
ton found much difficulty in reconciling.
This abrupt juxtaposition of stage effects
continued the whole evening, oftentimes
with the most startling and absurd results.
The gentlemen who assumed the hum
BILE but necessary roles of supernumeraries
were probably well fitted to play their
part in their own particular sphere Of real
life, but OIL the nlimic stage they were
misplaced and completely befuddled all
pretensions to realistic high art. One
gentleman especially, with a pugnacious
cast of c%ountenance and a thin pair of
legs, had a gait that was the exact coun-
terpart Of that made famous by Billy
Emerson's "Moriarity'' specialties, and as
he moved from the stage with a peculiar
swagger and IN air of perfect abandon, he
never failed to affect an audience that was
keenly alive to the ludicrous.
And then the witches. Probably from
the standpoint o the people who simulated
the witches these peculiar objects APP.
preached very near the ideal. Perhaps
so. We have never had much to do with
witches and would scarcely know one
when we saw it unlessi it was c~onspicuously
labeled. But a conscientious spectator
was allowed to grope in darkness IA to the
peculiar object of their uncouth and un-
canny incantations. The easiest solution
Of a knotty problem was hat they were
doing a light comedy performance, and so
the audience considered it and enjoyed it
accordingly.
The inferior part Of the support is con
~spicuously poor, and it would have re-
quired elegant stage accessories and the
highest order of sustained dramatic talent
TO have pulled them through in decent
shape. When the incantations of the
witches are alleged to have called back to
earth some wandering spirits and a rather
buxom young lady is shot up through the
stage in what is represented to be cave,
it is expected of her to throw 4 little
supernatural solemnity into her voice. Ii
she declaims in a thin, hating ~ialsetto like
a callow school child, as she did last night,
the audience is apt to lose confidence in
stage spirits,
Min was badly handicapped in his per-
formance last evening. But even under
the best of conditions, if last nights per
Torrance may be accepted as a criterion,
his Macbeth will never rank as a mas
terpiece Of dramatic art.
Judging Mr.. Min exclusively from his
Interpretation of Macbeth" having
never witnessed his performance of
Hamlet, VIC conclude that he is still a
tragedian of possibilities rather than of
achievements, Granting that he has
done wonders in the three years in which
he has been before the footlights, he still
lacks much of the highest artistic excel
lence attained by the most notable expo
nents of his art. His voice in certain
registers is of phenomenal sweetness,
richness and sympathy. In its lower
register it lacks incisiveness and distinct
ness. He has not yet succeeded in com
pletely sinking the orator in the actor.
Much Of his stage business more properly
belongs to oratory than to acting. Last
nights performance can probably not be
accepted as the attainment of the com
plete limit Of his dramatic powers. The
strongest criticism against his Macbeth"
was his failure to reserve his powers and
husband his strength so hat at the time
when the very acme of powerful situa-
ion was reached. he was unable to elevate
himself above the high level which he
lad for moments been maintaining There
we're very many points Of excellence in
lis performance, but it was excellent only
rom the indications of what he probably
puld, but actually did not accomplish.
Ne hope at some future time to see him
b some other grand dramatic character
probably better suited to the bent Of his
| genius.
The best appreciated portion Of Miss
Adele Payn's performance was the sleep
ing walking scene, in which she was called
before the curtain, and presented with a
handsome bouquet She made a rather
good impression on the audience, but her
tendency to tear a passion to tatters was
scarcely appreciated.
A fair bit of comedy acting was done
by Mr.. Hyer, as the befuddled porter.