New-York tribune., 1886-01-10
"FAUST' IN LONDON.
WITH MR.. IRVING AS "MEPHIST0PllELEo"
At THE LYCEUM.

Ayillss Faust" -: "a very different matter III mas
bcen TO quote the playbill. adapted and arranged
for the Lyceum Theatre from the hrst part oi
Coethe's ragcdy. Mr.. Wills has struggled nara W
make a good acting play ont OF Goethe $ poem lie
has not succucded probably nobody VIII cNei
succeed in this endeavOr III he does IL VIII pe ny
inporting into the play sustained dramatic vigor
hich is wanting alike III the original ana III every
version of il yet tried on the stage. Mr. wills has
,rov;ded a vehicle for some very elaborate scenic
representation and some excellent acting. Goethe
whose main object certainly was not dramatic dId
as much. The essential characters the chpita
scenes are there and the characters, move III an
of poetry very different indeed from Inc
nurky fluid i'll which Mr. wills has enVeiop'u
them. 1t must be said that much ol INC ele'at'oh
of thought, the dignity, the mote " oI 0oc'hoS
poem, have VANISHED from the present version
What has been added by Mr.. Wills is not II cshpen-
.o,ion for what he has sacrificed. In 50 far rs he
has vcntured altor the motives OF tie piece nc
has no more claim to consideration IMAM Woulu 'uu
author of o parody. protest ought l" lie near"
against snch acts and IL is surprising thaI VII.
Irving. who has the feeling of a scholar. should
have tolerated them. The piece act' no oe''oi ~,
tho suggestion OF a marriage between id"st anu
MARGARET Such an attempt at improving y"
Goetbe is an impertnence, aud there are others
n nrSt slHnt, ono "ittH 'iO"i'' - ''' -
portnnity of Judging piece. But a Journalist
cannot wait for tho second, which IS commonly
ncorer than tho first still less TIL the END oil TIC
week or two during winch the pieco gets INTO run
ming order He must get his Impressions ~ ne can
and make such allowances aS he must. Al mo"'
English theatres n first night Is but an ihPo'Io"'
dress rehearsal. At the Lyccnm Mt. IrNlhH nH9
tuugbt his publ, to expect on the hTst hi2At '"e
smoutbness and finish only atiaina'le hy compe'Y-
r.ss oC ,renoration 1t Is proof Of tie maenitndc
&C +be task bo has now set himself that Oh Saturday
things went less perfectly than usual lie cn''i
breakdown was "a the Prologue where lhe N'e''A'
Lv which Faust was to have been temple" o"iHl
his soul away failed TO appear, AMI tlc l"Nef an"
the devil were both baked of their po.uia. MI
Irviuo coptrived 70 get Mr.. Conway aL1 himself OF
the stage without letting tie scene come 10 an a"''
lute standstll; a clever performance In the or
curs,auces But the audience was too iimilar
with tbe onera not TO perceive that something "''
,riss The Prologue and first act, moreover. went
vary SLOWLY. nor was the hOnse stirred Int" much
re,I ;ntcrest till the thrl act. Everything "oIoIe
that needs TO be much cut. and then to DE taken III
much quicker time. 1T Is not merely that ihe pay
is deficient in ton there IS an att"'pt '" s"PpS
this deficiency by much dumb show ana paht9'
mimic .,.lorotion of scenes which have no real 20
in them and the attempt does not succeed lHo
naramonnt feeling III the audience was ue'irc 'o
have done with It all, 10 get IT over ana come u"
real business The scenery was dnlI alhHed :
nothing has been bchcld on the LondOh Stage H'er
than Martha's Garden in the second act' Nv MI
uiues Craven ror Is there probably, i'll all Europe
staVe on which effects are got 10y sucIi Su"lo means
as an that of tie Lyceum. The management of
hcht is in itself thing to study. let win All tbS
7 doubt whether mary men during the progress "i
nd secretly dSk tIciuSClNcS
y'istbar they were not bored
Irtbev were not, it wa- hen Mr.. Irving aud NJ 81
Ellen Terry were on tho stage. or MIR ;rVmss
uebistonb,Ies great things were expected Long
suce IL had been said that he was an actor born Tor
t,e mart lie has every natural advantage Tor 1t
face Hrur. movement and intellectual gifts. Has
rendering of the character failed IN moro points
than one to regpond to the popular rreconccpi"n "'
| what hs would do and in every one oi those P"hts
showed his superiority to the traditional anu c'n'
! ycntioral conception expected ilOm hih' le"Fc
! tboupht ho would bo violent devil or sulphur'
! ans devil ar | know not what. He was quiet
| throuph0ut never wanting III force or variety hu
! never departing FROM The notion that DPh'Shphr'e
ba. not only supernatural power but an lntel
lcctual nsccndancy over the mortals with wh'm h'
| comes ia contact. The concession lac Aai' 10"
o,ar r. the conventions of the theatre WAS a very
lllo uCNll OI NOttHr 10 Sbi liIV' VI ~
,n.diuvol pnculiuitics-no horns nor hOofs nO
tail none Of the purely factitionN physical means
insyirlng terror or OF perpctuatng the ancient dc
| manic ,cgcnl la CUetho's hands h. becomes Ohil
tbe more terrible figure he is Uiade moro closely
IN tho image Of ulan. Mr.. Irving stops bali way
| Ills NeDbisfopkeleS is, in cOstamc, and III shndr
other particulars, tie MfphisiOpheies OF the opera
| clad IN red from head to loot, red clCaG' COCK
feather. aud the rest. 1t is. perhaps. toe ;icti
resuuc to sacrifce. but II is o moro Gorthcs tha
Nr WiIs's verse is Goethe's. MI Irving limps. tof
and we were all driven to conjecture why ho shoul
limp and whether it WAS meant as suggestion O
tho clbyon foot lie comes and goes IN clouds u
vapor. the effect of which is rather too like thOs
issuing into London streets from the venIilators
the Underground Railway-a siui:litnde which doe
not add 10 the mpressiveness Of his appearance U
disappearance.
No such criticism. however, avails TO impair tl
effectiveness of this imporsonatiOu. Mr.. Irving
never so good as when hC uhd' rplays, ahd-iTon a
English staudpont-ho undorplays MpLiSOpheL
throughout. Te las done enough for the pit al
gallery in giving them costume. The rest Il
deals with 10 his own liking. His iace Is n study ]
each sccno; wonderfully flexible. rapid in tran
sition n phastly vision of dabolIcal Lumor; grlu
mocking. hideous with all the irresistible fasclni
ton of great mental power put at the service {
everything that is utterly bau. lhe Fdasi OF Nj
Conway was an excellent foil to him. in one sens
for the most ordinary devil would have no difficult
in getting the better of so tame creature as thi
Miss Ellen Terry has been spoken Of often enoug
as the ideal Margaret, which she Is not. Cbristn
Nilsson came much nearer to the ideal some 70
years ago. But Miss Terry, save for an attack {
n, ryousness, was the charming ami clever persO
she is in each part sne plays. by whatever nan
the heroiDe she depicts may chance to be callr'
Tho betlroom scene is perhaps the most daring til!
has been riskod on tho English stage. Marga,
removes one by ono her many ornaments and bel
and small outer feminine adornnants. and 6ndl