Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1894-06-10

ERNESTO R0SSI.
this century has seen. 1t did not
stir and disturb the blood as some
have done, but it realized in spir-
itual beauty, in intellectual force,
and in rare insight all that the
great poet seemed 10 have meant.
1t was Hamlet from which
the shock OF his mothers infdelity
more than anything else has purged all
earthly things, Hamlet naturally bent
toward sadness, prlncely, loving, but
finding himself standing alone in court
where his standard Of honor and truth
was shared but by one man, Horatio. 1t
Is most difficult to select any lines to
display the reading of Booth, all were
so admirable, but for nobility and path
etic grandeur those in the last act
IF it be nOIo, tits not TO come; II 1t be
not to come, it will be nOlo; il IL be not
now, yet it loW come; the readiness is
ALL"
are memorable.
Booth at various times in his carere
altered his business. He used at times
two medallions in the closet scenes; he
PLAYED at other times In set in which
the two pictures were painted full
length on the wall, and again, would
contrast his dead fathers portrait as il
hung at his neck with the long one OF
Claudius on the wall. In the later years
of his career the "Ho, for England"
scene was omitted, and yet when Booth
was Young it would be difficult to in
agine more effective scene than that
81 h tho words
Bring in thy Lord Hamlet" Bitingly
sharp and sarcastic, positively splitting
venom at the king, it was viriIe In its
nervous force and so 1.-the in its grace
that once seen it fingered forever in the
mind.
1t is impossible to speak OF Booths
Hamlet without recalling that OF
LAWRENCE BAsRETT,
who was so many years associated with
Booth. Barrett was never more than
a mediocre Hamlet, and his dress OF
black velvet, sparkling with profuse
trimmings of jet and fitting his trig
figure so dandfied in manner, was a
great contrast to Booths more careless
but quite correct garb.
No Hamlet has been more often COM
pared with Mr.. Booths than
MIR. IRvNG's,
which was first seen in London Octo-
Der 81, 1874, and was seen In Boston
10 years later. The marvellous beauty
of the setting OF this production will
forever tinge the resOllections OF those
who saw Mr.. Irving's acting. The
charm Of the surroundings, the poetic
atmosphere, the reverential spirit In
which the whole play was treated,
made it impossible to judge Mr.. lrving's
acting as that of his contemporaries
in the part were judged. His Hamlet was
most imaginative, most sweet in its no.
bility, and charming in its spiritual ma.
ture He laid much stress on the love
of Hamlet for Ophelis, which to him
seemed to be vital thing, the relin-
gushing Of which cost him much pain.
His sentiment in this matter was
plainly limited in his reading OF the
lines:
YEA. from the tablet Of my memory
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records"
where he had pitiful emphasis on the
fond" ana rocked his body with his
head in his hands as il from terror at
the loss. Again in the get thee -
nunnery" scene his love fought AACd
battle with his oath and the duty is i&iA
upon him, and there, as in the end of
the first act, one felt that II was but
hairs breadth from a stimulated mad
ness to the real thing. 1t was In Lon
don in the spring OF 1875 that Tomasso
Sslvini, then waiting his own opening
aud appearance in Hamlet, saw Irving
in this part. He studied the English
actors performance Of the sad
perplexed, anguish driven Hamlet
and wrote of it. Speaking OF the Sec
ond act, he said: "In this scene Irving
was sublime. His mobile face mirrored
his thoughts. The perfect penetration
OF his phrases, so perfect in shading and
incisiveness, showed him a master OF his
art. l do not believe there is an actor
who can stand beside him in this re-
spect, and l so much impressed by
1t that at the md OF the act l said to
myself, Il will not play Hamlet Maple
son may say what he likes, but | will
not play il. and / said it with the full
est resolution. In the monologue, TO
be or not to be, Irving was admirable;
in the scene with Ophelia be was deserv-
ing of the highest praise; in that with
the players he was moving; in all this
part Of the play he seemed TO be the
most perfect interpreter OF this eccen-
trio character. But further on it was
not so, and for the sake of art regretted
it. From the time that passion assumes
a deeper hue, and reasoning mOderates
impulses that are forcibly curbed. Irv-
ing seemed to me to show mannerisms
and to be lacking in power. left my
box saying, 81, too, can play Hamlet"
Irving's Hamlet somewhat differed
from that of other actors. Edward z.
Russell set it down as stroke Of genius
that Irving discovered that Hamlet was
not only ''simple-minded, frankly sus-
ceptible and naturally seli-contempla-
tive, but that the poor self-examiner
had trick of fostering and aggravat-
ing his excitements," a not uncommon
habit with such natures. THE vivid,
flashing, half foolish, half-inspired hys-
terical power OF Irving in Hamlet will,
says Russell, ''serye TO identify his con-
&c ption always"
WILSON BARRErT's HAMLET,
healthy, unimaginatIve and realistic.
was theatrically effective AMI will