St. Paul daily globe., 1893-05-24
THE LOCAL STAGE.
JAUNAUscHEk AS LADY MACBETH.

JAUNAUsCHEK AS LADY MACBETH.
Macbeth" is certainly not entertaining
'.Macbeth" will never be pleasing, as the
gloomy, shuddering surroundings of each
successive scene add horror to horror, ana
leave the wroughtup mind of the spec
tator in almost the same frenzed condition
as those of Lord and Lady Macbeth are
portrayed as being in the panoramic picture
of ancient times. In the entire alleged his
toric tale there is not even the slightest
Rembrandt shadow on which to hinge the
plea of heroism or love, and thus drive away
the darkening pail which o'erspreads the
feelings. 1t seems to have had horror for its
text and murder for its motto. leaving the
nineteenth century playgoer to the choice
of going home with bad dreams star
ing him in the face or a late hour at the club
to remove the ghosts and specters from his
brain. Macbeth should be dropped from
the repertoire of every actress and be rele-
gated to the book shelves, and come from that
safe ensconsement only to be enjoyed by those
whose eager desire for murder in it's prim-
tive form can be satiated by tales like these
Madame Janauschek as Lady Macbeth
clearly demonstrates that as an actress she
has few peers, and in scenes where Ian
guage is dumb to the air she porlrays char.
are not brilliant. and from this fact alone
she must be an adept at the art or prove q
miserable failure. Her character in the play
is not even strong, and were it not for the
ability possessed by the actress who dares as.
sumo the part, it would certainly prove
ridiculous. There is nothing to commend
the character. and she cannot even depend
on the sympathy of the audience for credit.
but must win and earn each encore by meri-
torious acting. Her artistic ability is shown
in every line of the play from its inception,
and reaches a wonderful climax in the Sleep
walking remorse. In the banquet scene she is
calm under the greatest strain, and when she
grasps the hand of her lord to dispel the
frightful phantasmagoria that rises before
his conscience-stricken brain, she seems to be
endowed with the courage of a hundred
men, and one can hardly conceive she repre-
sents a women. But Janauschek has
grander opportunity than this in Macbeth, -
and when arrayed in spotless white she
appears i'll the sleep walk and in her
fantastic dreams washes the blood stains
away that will not OUT she apnears as
true actressin all the word implies. ana in the
slow. creeping motion across the stage: with
night robe closely clasped about her form as
she tries to escape the stream of blood that
is flowing from the ghastly corpse of King
Duncan before ner wide-staring ewes. she
shows the study of years in that one scene.
and the acme of pantomimic perfection
Edmond Golfers Macbeth was really a
disappointment. His conce ption of the lines
may be correct, which is doubtful, but his
delivery and presentation were extremely
flat ana monotonous. His entire lines were
read in monotone that was not only dis
pleasing, but robbed the part OF whatever
charm the reader of Shakespeare NAV
have invested it with. For the ay-
.erage reader it has no charm, for
it is an ignoole aud unworthy part;
but The student AMI scholar RAY have giveI.
to it a life according to his own notion, ana
it is doubtful if Collier struck the key which
would unlock the receptacle of any of these