St. Paul daily globe., 1888-02-12
SHAKESPEARE BUT SHAKY.
Miss Cleveland Did Not Allow Her
Pupils to See "Cymbeline."

TupllS 10 sec 'SymDcilue.
Special to the GLOBE.
NEW YORK, Feb. 11.-Propriety and
Shakespeare have had a collision, and
Miss Rose Elizabeth Cleveland had
something to do with it. That is to say,
the extremely fashionable school in
which she is member of the faculty
was the place of the impact. The rules
of that establishment, governing the
conduct of the pupils, compel the girls
who board there TO get special permiS-
sion every time they go outside the
walls, except for promenadeS together
and with chaperone. Applications for
leave TO go to theaterS are generally re-
fused, but Shakespeare has usually been
honored with breach of this law.
When Booth and Barrett last played
here these school girls were allowed
to go to the matineeS in chaperoned par
ties, and even at night, under approved
escort. ModjeSka is in town this week
in round of ShakeSpearean plays,
and the girls under Miss Cleve-
land supposed that they could wit
ness these representations. But when
it came to ''Cymbeline" and Measure
the question had to be carefully cOnSid-
ereG On the one hand it was argued
that ShakeSpeareSS works We're above
condemnation, even in these pieces
usually abjured by actors, while it was
as StrenuouSly urged that the adven-
lures of the heroine in each instance
were utterly unfit for young girls to see.
Miss Cleveland was delegated to find
out how far Modjeska intended to go in
a literal illustration of Shakespeare,
and she wrote a polite letter to the
actress, asking if the bedchamber scene
in "Cymbeline" was to be given as in
the play. Modjeska replied that not
only would every word in it be spoken,
but that, after mature consideration,
she had decided to emphasize it by the
utmost degree Of pantOmime. She said
that the whole play depended upon this
principal scene for its intelligibility and
interest. Therefore, she felt that ar
tistic reverence for Shakespeare not
only demanded that this particular pas
sage should not be curtailed, but that it
should be given with all possible dra-
matte force. Miss Cleveland as en-
phatically decided that her girls
should not see "Cymbeline." Prob
ably she was right. There is
a great deal of poetry in
this play of Shakespeare's, but the
principal feature of the story is the sur
ItpllllOuS hlSlG lU llcr DeuSluG Dy all du-
venturouS scoundrel, in quest of false
evidence against her modesty. How
ever, several audiences did see Mod
jeska in this dramatic exploit. and per-
SOnal observation of one of these gath
erings impelS the writer to declare that
Shakespeare literally illustrated on the
stage is shock to sensitive eyes and
ears.
This leads up naturally to ComStock's
raids upon undraped art. and one of our
variety theaters- only one close to
Broadway, and commonly visited by
polite people-has this week taken
shrewd advantage of the subject.
Wherever did you hear of anybody,
even the most acute stickler for propri-
ETY., Objecting to skin tight coverings on
the circus performers? Three athletes
happened to be under engagement at
this establishment. One of them was a
young woman. Ordinarily they threw
fiip-flapS and did other acrObatic things
in the costume common to their prOfeS-
sion. But this time the manager saw
the chance for novelty and humor in
keeping skirts on the girl during her
performance. Therefore, we have the
remarkable sight of somersaults and
contOrtive feats by maiden dressed in
the long skirts of conventional life.~