Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-02-23

= ET4tttstfe!' SAID henddt.
"Exquisiter said Kendall In Mrs. Stuarts
ear, rs be stood behind her chair. "She was
romance itself! Her acting should always
beArkjnd Of glorified and poetical pantomine;
81 would be inimitable So"
Mrs. Stuart looked up and smiled agrec-
meut
.sYes, that scene lives with one. II cvory-
thing else In tho play Is poor, she is worth
seeing for that alone. Remember iti'
Tho little warningswas in season, for the
POOR White Lady had but too many after OPP
portunities Of blurring tho impression she
had made. In tho great situation at the end
Of the second act, In which tho countess has
TO give, In tho presence Of the court, sum
mary Of tho supposed story of the White
Lady, her passion at once OF love and hatred
charges 1. with q force and meaning, which,
for tho first time. .rouses the suspicious Of tho
prince a. to tho reality Of tho supposed mp
partition In tho two or threo flno and
dramatic speeches which the situation in
volved, tho actress showed tho samo absence
Of knowledge and resources as before, tho
samc powerlessncss 10 create a personality,
the same lack Of all those quicker and moro
delicate Of perceptions which we include
under tho general term refinement" and
which, in the practice Of any art, ore tho out
como Of long and complex processes Of cduca-
tion. There, indeed, was the bald, plain fact
the whole explanation of her failure as IN
artist lay In her lack both OF the lower and
Of the higher kinds of education. 1t was
evidsnt that her technical training had been
Of tho roughcst. In all technical respects,
indeed, her acting bad self taught, pro-
vincial air. which showed you that she Ind
natural cleverncss, but that her models had
been Of the poorest type. And In oil other
respects, when 1t came to Interpretation or
creation, she was spoiled by her entire want
Of that inheritance from tho past which is
tho foundation OF all good work in the pres
cnt. For an actress must have ono Of the
two kinds Of knowledge; she must hsvo
either the knowledge which comes from a
fine training-in itself the outcome of long
tradition-or she must have tho knowledge
which comes from nero living, from tho nc
cumulations Of personal thought and expert
ence Miss Bretherton had neither. Sho
had extraordinary beauty and charm, aud
csrtainly, as Kendall admitted, some original
quickness. He was not inclined to go so far
a. to call il 'powern But this quicknosS,
which would have been promising in debu-
tante less richly endowed on the physical
side, seemed TO him 10 hays no future in her
ut will be checked" he said TO himself, 'by
: her beauty and all that flows from it. She
must come to depend more and more on the
physical charm, and on that only. The
whole pressure Of her success is and will be
that way.n
Miss Bretherton's inadequacy, indeed, he
came more and more visible as the play was
gradually and finely worked up TO It's climax
In the last act. In the final scene Of all, tho
prince, who, by series of accidents, has dis
covered the Countess Hilda's plans, lies in
wairfor her in tho armory, whore he has
reason to know she means TO try the effect of
third and last apparition upon the princess.
bhe appears; he suddenly confrohts her; and,
dragging her forward, unveils before himself
and the princes, the death like features OF
his old love. Recovering from the shock OF
dissection, the countess pours out upon them
both fury Of Jealous passion, sinking by
degrees into pathetic, trance like invoca-
tion OF the past, under the spell of which tho
princes anger melts away, and the little
princess terror and excitement change into
eager pity Thenswhen she secs him almod
reconquered, and sher rival weeping beside
her, she takes the poison vial from her breast,
drinks it, and'dies in tho arms of the man
for whose sake she has sacrificed beauty,
character and life itself
A great actress could hardly have wished
tor better opportunity Tine scene was 50
obviously beyond Miss Bretherton's resources
that even the enthusiastic house, Kendall
fancied, cooled down during the progress Of
it. There were signs of restlessness there
was even a little talking in some Of the back
rows, and at no tine during the scene was
there any of that breathless ABSORPTION in
what was passing on the stage which the
dramatic material itself amply deserved
II { on't Thick this will last very long, said
3endal in Wallace's ear. "There is something
tragic In popularity like this; it rests on
tomething unsound, and one feels that dis
aster Is not far OF Tho whole thing I'M
presses mo most painfully. She las some
capacity. OF couTse; If only tho conditions
bad been different if she lid been born
within hundred miles Of the Paris conserya-
eoire, II her youth had boen passed in u So
eiety OF more Intellectual weight-but, as it
w. this very applause is ominous, for the
beauty must go sooner or later, and there is
nothing else"
"You remember Desforets in this same thea
tire last year in .Adrienne LecouvrcurP said
Wallace "What gulf between the right
thing and tho wrongi But come, we must do
our duty and he drew Kendall forward to-
wards the front Of the box, and they saw the
whole house on Its feet, clapping and shout.
Ing, and the curtain just being drawn Eac.
10 ie; tho White Lady and the Prince appeal
before IT, She was very pale. but the storm
OF applause which greeted her seemed to 70
sive her, and she swept her smiling glance
round the theatre, until at last 1t rested With
Especial gleam Of recognition on the party
IN the box. especially on FORBES, who wa,
oaidoins himself in enthusiasm She was
called forward again aud again, until at lasi
the houSe was content, and the general exit
began.
The instant after her white dress had dis
aIpared from the stage httle Page boy
knoeksi at the door Of tho box with Ines
sase ihst ~ nreiAerton h~gs that Ma
D<oAk. 49,. - 0,s--ss 49, Nuias alJ aes