The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-11-03
MUSIC AND DRAMA.
MrRRY WIVES nr mrnnso,


1t has been said that Queen Elizabeth was
so delighted with the character of Falstaff in
Henry ". that she expressed great desire
to see the fat knight in love, and therefore
the merry Wives" was constructed with
that intent 1t is therefore believed by those
who have accepted this legend that in order
to be consistent Shakespeare's Falstaff in
the comedy YVES not really in love, but only
making believe. However this may be, it is
certain that a number Of scholars have taken
the view that there was no connection be-
tween the two Falstaffs other than in name,
and that the affections of the great knight
were only the mere amorous displays that
mark some men of all ages, all ranks, of
great brains and no brains at all. The char
acter of Falstaff, however, is enc of the most
subtle creations of the great dramatist, for
beneath his mountain of flesh-or, more
properly speaking, surmounting his ponder
GUS body-he was blessed with a singularly
active brain. We have not the space at our
command, in the usual limits of a newspaper
article, to go into an analysis Of his charac-
ter, and we must confne ourselves to con-
sideration of the performance last night.
1t is not out of place here to call TO mind
the fact that the role of Sir John has, in the
past, received admirable treatment at the
hands of Hackett and there were many in
the audience last night who had the oppor-
tunitY to compare, or on whom was natur-
ally forced comparison of the two actors,
Hackett and Crane. By the great majority
the character was seen for the first time To
of hoo fro
must have been revelation, for there is no
question but that Mr.. Crane makes most
delightful Falstaff. There are several
points, however, in which he fails to equal
his distinguished predecessor. He is dry,
rather than oily, droll rather than deep in
his humor. But he is possessed of great ami
NAL spirits he is rollicking, jolly and hearty,
and he-with the skill of the true artist
builds up his climaxes so skilfully and ingen-
iously that he grows on his audiences with
the progress of the play until, at the scene
in which he takes refuge in the buck-bas-
ket-which is most admirable bit of acting
he has his hearers entirely in his hands.
1t is in this scene he is at his best. The
change from the fiattered, amorous old rep
rebate to the nervous apprehension of dis
covery; the ludicrous attempts to enter the
buck basket; the twitching of the legs when
Master Ford belabors the clothes with
which he is covered; all these were studies.
And we might add to these his first inter-
view with Dame Quickly, and the second in
teryiew with Master Ford, in which he de-
scribes his experience in the basket and in
the Thames. Mr.. Crane was called before
the curtain at the end of the third act
Mr. Robson's Master Slender is one of his
best assumptions. The simpleton character
lstics of the role are most faithfully por-
tr1VG0 wit nj
though hardly such in its Interpretation as
comedies with the other features of the as
sumption, is still very amusing.
Inc support was good throughout. The
two Wives" Mistresses Ford and Page, as
portrayed by Misses Fetter and Waldron,
were full Of life and fun. Their husbands
were fairly represented, as were the charac-
tiers OF Sir Hugh and DR.. Gains. Mr.. George
Grifhths, who took the part of Justice Shall
low last night. so well. supported Hackett,
eighteen years ago. A novel feature was in
trusting the part of Jack Rugby to a pretty
girl. Mrs. George Dickens was an excellent
Dame Quickly, and Pistol, Nym and Bartolph
were tolerably conceived and executed.
MISS Alice Brown made pretty Anne Page,
and Mr.; Clare deserves praise in the small
part of Simple.
The play was very handsomely and ap-
propriately c0stumed, and Grimmer'S orches-
ira prefaced it with Nicolai's overture. The
house was packed with such an audience as
Is rarely seen at dramatic performance
Tonight "She Stops to Conquer"
LOUIS NAPOLEON.
The first of the three lectures to be deliv-
cred by Mr.. Stoddard in the Stockbridge
course will be given Thursday evening at
City Hall, and the subject will be Louis
Napoleon and the Fall of Paris" Tickets
for the single lecture or the course can be
secured at Stockbridge's.
NOTES.
William III. Fessenden, the favorite tenor
Is at home again, having resigned the place
he held with the American Opera Company.
he will accept limited number of concert
engagements during the present season.