New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-03-04
THE DRAMA.
MR. McCIuJcucu AT THE CT


cordial, and, upon his first entrance, the well.
graced and we'll beloved actor was greeted with en-.
| thusiastic plsudits which thus very clearly and
agreeably denoted the public sense Of an uncommon
occasion. Such an occasion certainly 1t was, fot
| Mr. Mccullough. among all the tragedans he.
fore the public, Is the typical representative Ok
average hnmanity's ideal Of manly heroism-of the
| man who, under any and all circumstances, must
inevitably act from great, kind and pure heart.
always nobly, justly directly, and thus with thu
plain grandeur OF smplicityj and the recurrence Of
this type in our dramatic art together with the
sembage of an eager company to hall 1t and rejoice
In it, furnish the elements of and momentous
event.
The conception of Virginius formed and drawn by
Sheridan Knowles is, of course, British and not
Roman. The author had, msnifestly. no idea Of
dealing with essentially Roman characteristics. lie
aimed at the delineatiOn Of man, honest, brave.
true, stauDch patriot and an afectionate father.
That was all. There is no completely in VbGinins.
There Is no subtlety abOut him. There is no single
attribute to his character that can be selected as
dIstnctively Latin. He has neither vice nor weak
ness. He hates tyranny; ho is loyal to friendshpt
he exults in the freedom and glory of the Roman
people; he loves his daughter and he strike her
dead TO save her from dshonOr. All this is possible
in any nation Of true men, and at any time. VIZ.
1nius viewed as human nature, belongs quite az
much to the present as TO the past Hr. McCul-
lough's ideal OF the character was long since
reco gnized absolutely identical with the authors
conception from this point Of view. IL 1t is Roman
be statuesque in aspect simple in attire sonorous
ia the delivery OF declamatOry, rhetorical periods,
and spendidly deliberate in movement, Dir.
Mccullough Is Roman In Virgnias; but wbether
Roman or not. the man whom he aims to be. and
whom he succeeds, prominently, in being, is
4 noble
who meets terrible emergency with still moro
terrible heroism; and this exalted ideal, all the
more difficult because OF its absolute simplicity the
actor has by the deusiOn Of his art, made actual,
without the sacrifice of its poetry, and natural.
without degrading it TO the level of commonplace.
This latter point. cOnspicuously shown in his per-
formanco last night is the only one that fingers IN
memory rs suggestive of any sort Of comment on an
old aud well-wOrn theme.
The chief canon and first eyacton of dramatic
criticism at the present time appears to be that the
actor must be so entirely and thoroughly an actor
that he will seem TO be not actor at all. Divers
writers in London for instance, who have discussed
the acting Of Miss Mary Anderson, have objected 70
it that they are not able ever to forget thar
she is an actress; and they have drawn from this
alleged fact the remarkable and preposterous de-
ductiOn that she is deficient of dramatic ability.
This idea of self-abandonmcnt as the crown and
It happens to be just now insisted upon with more
than usual emphasis by a number of individuals
who seem to have only recently found it ont. IL is
the ancient doctrine Of the art to conceal art 4
class Of the public, in all the great capitals Of the
world is now very highly educated in the epicure.
anism of art; and this class demands, for its enjoy
ment of the drama, perfect machinery perfectly well
employed. Its appetite, furthermore is critical
rather than sympathetic. and much more physical
than spiritual. Its delight Is In viyIsection. lt
gives far more heed to analysis of the than 70
analysis of The character that the actor has under-
taken to depict. to his method in depicting it.
The question is no longer whether an actor has
formed aud can present, true ideal Of an authors
conceptions but whether the actor, in his or her
own flesh and blood is the living reality of such
and such simulated emotions. An artist who main
tans the dgnifed rctcence of self respecting hui
man being and keeps the world at arms length, Is
characterized rs cold y; but the abdicaton Of all
privacy and all sanctity is genius" Up 10 eer-
tain point there is reason beneath these views but
we ought never to forget that acting. after oil, Is
nothing moro than imitation. and that imitation. II
carried too far is extremely apt to become OBJ
noxiOus After art has done its utmost there will
yet always remain realm of human feeling and OK
perience sacred for the footsteps Of art
enter.
The beauty of Mr.. McCuloughs execution, in
Virginias is that he be natural in method, not
withstandng the iron-bound artihciality of tho
tragedy in which he acts If anywhere in the works
Of Sheridan Knowles there Is Obyious an inward im-
pulse to dramatic expression lsuGh impulse, we
mean as swels and surges beneath the golden tides
of ShakcSpcarc's wonderful eoquence) We have
not been able TO detect It. Those works. in
deed arc full of diversified merits, and they
are of great general EXCELLENCE; but they
seem, invariably, to have been written from
mental design mechanically, artidclally
and with prodigiOus labor. "Yirginius"
is a tragedy which contains several situations of
great strength and beauty arising at intervals ont
Of level plain OF barren monOtOny. The central
character the lover and old DentdtaS arc fully and
firmly drawn but the other figures are as inle1i;
BILE as images Of wood. The text offers now aud
then noble passage: but most Of IL is strained.
and certain passages OF 1t lmpode the movement.
The lines Of Sclias. Repeats and answers, answers
and repeats" etc. furnish an instance of this; and
In order TO estimate the element of effort it
as that timd utburst about "thc foe with which
Vrginius leaves the scene after the lovely little cpl
sOde of the betrothal. Naturalness of acting amid
conditions thus comparatively Hgld Is an excel
lenco difficult to sustain Tie tragedy, probably,
was written chiefly forthe sake of its forum scene
and that truly, Is grand IN conception and affecting
in detail Viewed rs a whole, however virgin
ius impresscs hOughtful judgment as having been
devised under the influence of style Of art and q
theatrical than those that arc PreVaieht
now. Mr. McCullOugh may not succeed IN
fusing the hard outlines OF the piece mo
one fluent graceful fOrnI but his treatment or tlc
chief character il simple beautiful and essentially
natural The poetic touch Of pIesentment in tho
bctrothal scene Is unique with this actor. II was
NOT given by Forrest, and we never heard that it
was given by Macready. HIS subdued. intense
manner throughout the forum scene last night was
drrpIy pathetic. The action Of covering IgiHa's
ewes with her tres>es just Us he presented the
knife may bo rated as another and most delicate
and lovely touch If nature. BY artistic oXpedients
of this Kind. and by voCalsm of remarkable
tenderness m such speeches rs that in which me
father notes the dead mothers soul in the daigh-
ter's ewes. Mr.. McCulough aa, made this WORK 9s
L 1. L---.-- IN