Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-01
AT THE YHEATERS.
The Merchant Of venice-Aunt Bridget and
Other Plays.


| Under the worst auspices of weather imag.
Unable. but before large and appreciative au-
| dience Mr. Edwin Booth and Madame Mod
jeska made their first appearance together last
night on the stage Of the Grand Opera House.
The play chosen for the commencement of a
notable undertaking was Shakespeare's match
less drama THE Merchant of Venice" Mr..
Booth, of course, was the Shylock and Mad
anne Modjeska the Portid. Everybody ex-
pected great things of such conjunction, and
nobody, we venture to say, was disappointed.
AS for Mr. Booths Shylock, we can only re-
peat what has been said so often before, that
it is the best considered and the truest
personifcation Of Shakespeare's inten-
tions in the character that the stage has
seen in our time, or for that matter in all time.
Those who desire Shylock who shall be a
caricature and scof at the Hebrew will not
like Mr.. Booth in the part. But there is no
justification in the lines put by Shakespeare in
Shyl0ck'S mouth for such a conception of the
character The greedy disposition of the
money lender and the vehement desire for re-
venge in the member of an abused race are not
unduly subordinated by Mr.. Booth-the Of
are painful enough-but the great actor
makes Shytoc6's grief real and terrible
when he discovers his daughters flight,
and. as matter OF fact, he brings the balance
dramatic conclusion of the trial scene. In all
the niceties of his art Mr. Booth shines as ever
There is never a moment while he ls on the
stage that the expression of his face, the
twitching OF his fingers or the flashing OF his
wonderful eyes do not eloQuently add to the
force and meaning of his spoken words or still
more Of his silence. Judged by this perform
ance alone, the supreme crown of perfection
would be awarded Mr. Booth.
Madame Modjeska's PortiG was gracious,
graceful. and at the desired place very power
full With the charms of her person to endow
the heroine in the earlier portion of the drama,
Madame Modjeska had no difficulty in present
ing picture of maidenly fears and expect
ancy of great artistic value. She made love
and accepted it with rarely buoyant gaiety.
Perhaps at times the actress hardly gauged
the theater proper with her voice. When she
spoke low not all the words reached the center
of the audience. This was not Madame
Modjeskas fault, but the audiences misfor-
tune. In the trial scene no such accident in
terfered. She spoke the great oration-the
test of every Portid-with grand effect and in
tense naturalness. She was dramatic, but as
lawyer might be. She showed all the while In
the reading of the law and Its Interpretation
her absorbing interest in BdSsGnfo, and SO
nicely adjusted the two halves of her character
at this point that the loving mistress and the
forceful woman where clearly seen In the one
individual. Looking at her PoTttd from the
artistic standpoint, it lacked nothing. And
yet we expect to see her in lar more conge-
nial atmosphere ere the week is out
Mr.. Otis Skinner gave us Bdssdnto that
had much to recommend it. A healthy robust
ness and manly ring to the lovers speeches
were the chief excellences of Mr.: SINNERS
work. Mr.. Vroom's idea of the character OF
antonio may be perfectly correct, but 1t IS
surely too monotonous in its placK meian-
choly. To descend to ridiculous detail II
must be said that Mr.. Vroom's beard did not
fit him properly. With the company as
whole there is no need to quarrel, and Mr. owen
Fawcett's fooling as LGUncelot Goooo Is as
usual conceived in catholic Spirit His
toughest humor does not jar upon one. as some
of Mr.. Charles Hanford's efforts did, although
that gentleman's Grdtipo, as whole, was
very clever performance.
The scenery was surprisingly good. The
streets of Venice, the Rialto, were not rough
copies of residences and vistas in Allegheny.
The canals of the water city, with even gon-
dola or two. were prettily pictured. The court
room where the trial took place was grand
piece of scenery entirely worthy of the great
play and the great actors. The costumes were
also accurate and handsome. In short the per-
formance as a whole, could hardly have been
improved upon, with one exception. The waits
between the acts were absurdly long, and car
ried the play along till after ll:30 Many were
therefore unable to see the beautiful terrace
scenes. with which the play ends.
Tonight Hamlet" is the play in order.