Los Angeles herald., 1890-06-17
ADJUSTMENTS.
Wilson Barrett at the Grand,

wilson Barrett at the Grand.
A large and appreciative audience as
sembled at the Grand last night to greet
Mr.. Wilson Barrett in Cldudion. Both
play and star were new to our people,
and the judgment given last night on
the latter was necessarily a spontaneous
one, in no whit influenced by considera-
tions other than merit. 1t is but fair to
say that it was highly favorable.
The piece itself is morbid theme,
worked out with considerable melo
dramatic skill and not without sus-
picion Of plagiarism from the Wandering
Jew and Dumas's conception of Gag
liostro. 1t is highly STACEY, with good
deal of bathos, which 1t is intended to
pass off for pathos, strained situations
and highly improbable incidents. 1t is
not too harsh a Judgment to say that
play which calls in the accessories OF
miracle and superstition in the clos
ing years of the nineteenth CEN
tury has certain elements of weakness
about it. Yet, on the whole, it is quite
effective and is not without a certain
skill of construction. The curses OF
venerable old gentlemen in caves have
not the whitening effect which the
dramatist claims for them in this am
bilious effort, and it is hard to induce a
modern audience to see anything but
exaggeration and fol de rol in such con-
ceptions.
Mr.. Barrett has striking merits. To
begin WITH he has very attractive
physique. He is symmetrical, possesses
a classical head and a torso that would
be the admiration of a professional
modern prize fighter or an ancient
gladiator. One OF the absurdities of the
play is that, notwithstanding the virile
make of Mr.. Barrett, when he stabs
people they either get up and sermonize,
or curse for half an hour, or walk off at
gait that would do credit to sprinter
The star with one exception-perhaps
two ceptions-constitutes the main
strength Of the company He is graceful
and statuesque, and his posings are alto
gether admirable. At times he attains to
great energy of defamation, and he just
stops short at the line of histrionic
genius, if, indeed, he does stop short of
that height. OF this Angelenos will be
prepared to form better opinion when
they have seen him in Hamlet. That
the verdict of our amusement-goers was
favorable, on the whole, was shown by
their repeated calls to Mr. Barrett to
come in front of the curtain and bow
his Acknowledgements to very enthusi-
astic greeting, which he very gallantly
shared with Miss Eastlake, though why
he should do so on any other ground
than gallantry it would puzzle Phila-
delphia lawyer to find out. The HERALD
would not willingly be guilty of any dis
courtesy to this lady, but it cannot help
intimating that she scarcely sustains the
flourish of trumpets with which she has
been announced.
A decided exception to the mediocrity
of the company was Miss Lille Belmore,
who sustained the character of odessa
clever, and furnished all the clear-cut
"Belos' and "Edessa" is a clear-cut
steal from opera boufe, although just
now we cannot recall the opera. 1t is a
literal transcription of something we
have often heard. Miss Lille Belmore
makes good deal of the part, and she
frequently brought down the house.
The principal merit of Mr. George Bar
rett, who played "Belos," is that he
looks like comedian instead of being
one.
The stage effects last night were fre-
quently sensational, the sets were often
artistic and the costumes of the princi-
pal characters exceedingly attractive.
1t would not hurt the piece or displease
the audience if the players would talk so
that they could be heard, which many
of them, both male and female, often
failed to do.
Claudian holds the boards tonight,
and is we'll worth seeing, if only to ena-
able one to say that they hare seen it.