The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-02-22
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
Ii Came on Last Night After Series of Dim
euliies. and was Largely Attended.

The Barrett Dramatic club played the
Merchant of Venice" at the opera house
last night to a good audience. Not being
spiritualist the writer does not know
! how the immortal spirit Of Billy Shake
speare liked the performance. but be
| probably felt sorry that he ever lived in
| the flesh when he looked down upon it,
| The club did not do near so well before the
audience as they did in their rehearsals
A few of them were good enough for
amateurs. but only a few, while some
| mora Of them didn't even know
| how TO read the lines in the
book, much less TO interpret the character.
The club has especially requested the
EAGLE man to criticise them on their
merits ''for their own good" as they ex-
pressed it, but be most emphatically re-
! fuses, as he does not believe In extreme
cruelty even on this occasion as a panacea
for the stage fever. There are some bright
boys and charming girls in the Barrett
Dramatic club, but what ever possessed
them TO tackle The Merchant of Venice"
is a mystery that awaits a solution. Had
they tackled Ten Nights in Barroom"
or Handy Andy" or even Uncle Toms
Cabin" they would have covered
themselves with glory. But the
idea of proposing to play the
Merchant of Venice" was ridiculous
Even the stage man was unequal to the
duty of arranging classical scenery. For
instance he threw scene for the Rialto of
Venice which was facsimile of a New
York street. Over the door of the first
house TO the right was the sign Patrick
McCombs, retail grocer" The Hibernisn
corner grocery is an edifice that has been
seen in many lands, but if there was one
on the Rialto of Venice the Bard of Avon
is silent on the subject. The "Barretts"
made many other Improvements of this
kind on the product of Shakespeare's
genius.
Another suggestion might be valuable
TO the Barretts, and that IS before they
engage in a shakespearian play again they
must educate their feet AS well as their
heads. Shakespeare never intended that
those gay young men whom his genius
created should walk about the stage so
seemingly in need of the attentions of
corn doctor as some of the participants in
last nights play did. One of them actually
walked after the fashion of pumping
bicycle.
For fear of creating a false impression
abroad concerning the talent of our boys
and girls as actors, let it be said here that
they did as well, if not better, than the
same number of boys and girls in any
community in the United States could do
under similar circumstances. The trouble
is they do not seem to realize that men and
women of more than average talent have
devoted a life time to the study of Shakes
peare only to find that they are unable
to interpret some of the simplest charac-
ters in it. The Barretts must not be dis
couraged, but to be successful they must
give plays which they are able to cope
with 1t will be better for them and
better for the public who naturally desire
to patronize them. The cast of the ''Mer-
chant OF Venice" are competent to sue
cessfuly play any average Madison Square
comedy-drama, and they'should appear in
one of these and let Shakespeare slide un-
less they are prepared to devote years to
its study first. 1t is DO discredit to them |
not to be able to play the Merchant of
Venice