New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-05-13

| to their separate wills. You are always mag
ming that ne will find way out OF the entansle-
! nents In which he Is caught. Mr.. Trees bearing
| always suggests It. He yields as II In a contest
with the Gods. He yields with visible reluctance
The slowness with which the earlier part OF THIS
fine rendering was given suggested that ne was
still thinking out his conception. still eniarg1ng
the scope OF It and remodcng the form Of it as
1t left the authors hands.
More probably the slowness was due to the
inevitable nervousness OF a first night. The
over loudness Of the voice. pitched IN 100 hgh
a key in the first and second acts. may be set
down to the same cause. But as the play pro-
ceeded and the net closed round him. he gained
in 1rmness and c!oseness OF toucn; In reserve
in subtlety and in sobr.ety OF tone and gesture
The exception was the speech to the Sons OF Toll
which. in the first place. ought never to have
been made. and in the second ought II made. to
have taken a different turn and method' III
serious comedy there is no place for burlesque.
Yet even this scene he carried off with authority.
In the conversational scenes. in the bits o. pure
comedy which interviewed refreshingly In the
progress OF the piece from comedy to drama ana
from drama to meodrama and finally almost 10
tragedy.-in all the queter parts and In the
ironical passages. his manner had 'he True uIe
tinction of true comedy. There was the SIM
plicity of truth So at the end came the
truth of tragedy. He omitted the common
exped.ents by which the impressiveness OF n
death scene is supposed to DC hes ,ht mo
played the scene rapidly, firmly. without mo- mo,
ment's vacillation or uncertainty OF method ana
met his fate with dignity when III no ueslee
lessencd the horror. 1t was an aaaed nU't o,,
that his wife obeying his gesture, gave hin an
unconsciously the poisoned glass
In an equal degree the success OF tne eFerlhs
was due to the Mrs. Murgatroyd Oh Mrs' tret,
Here the element of surprise came IN; Ih rms
actress has done charming things her IN'a-lI
Once Upon Time" just Withdrawn was
charmingy fresh, girlish, sympatheuc. But
Mrs Murgatroyd Is n woman without q redeem
ing trait Between her and Rita there Is gun;
Mrs Tree crossed II at bound. ana lanueu
with a sure step on the other sac. am "ione
In saving that Mrs. Murgatroyd has NOT re-
dceming trait. She has intellectually. she de-
livers herself Of smooth and deadly sentences
which do credit TO Mr.. Grumpy. None OF ms
dialogue approaches in finish and precision the
lines he has put in the mouth of this undomeSuc
devil. But Mrs. Trees delivery Is smoother anu
more deadly still
she ms entered into the part. She has con-
ceived a Mrs Murgatroyd not at all OF the Vul-
gar PATTERN but woman whose vice Is Tree
from any other coarscness than that oil lhc SOUL
She utters the most fiendsh sentiments in the
tone of the most polite society; the voice never
raised the emphasis scarcely perceptible. the
gesture never overpassng the strict cahoilS Va
the most ir-eproachabe drawing-roon SATIRE
and hate and venom arc never effective as
when expressed with this cool deloerduoh vi
demeanor and this faultless elocuton She mas
the soul OF BOrEla anu 'He mann, -.
donna Withal. there Is beneath TINS entering
surface and conventional tone an intensity; a
condensed bitterness. a fcrceness whicn makes
YOU shudder. Again and again come passages
to which Madame Sarah Bernhard would haruly
have lent more passionate significance OF
handled in more imaginative spirit II was
Eve and the serpent in partnership
Mrs Tree took possession or the mouse ana
kent IT, and when the curtain had been raised
and lowered on the company half a dozen times.
and when Mr.. Tree had come before 1t and
made his speech the audience still clamored Tor
Mrs Tree and called her out by herseh' II ~
innr S,nce this theatre has witnessed moro
genuine sensation. or London audience expert
enced a more agreeable surprise For 1t Is sur
talent Won always admired has a new side 20 II.
that its range has broadened. that Its posi-
bilities are greater. and that the temper OF the
49, nro,,os eoual 10 p new test G.. W. s.