New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-09-25
THE ORA MA.
WILLIAM II. CRANE AS FALSTAFF.

ssssure Of seeing favorite actor in part |
- has Always been tho favorite of Shakespearian
asnis and would be d favorite Of theatre-soers |
:, q were commonly and competenty acted WI
" II Crane is one Of the ab.est comedians Of this !
n,,rv at the present time but for the asst few
LENS he has practically wasted himself on pays !
~, were unworthy Of his position on the American
- His appearance asst night Fa.stah, in
80 Merry Wives Of Windsor altogether the
MOST interesting occasion with which ne mas been
Connected since he parted with Mir. Robson. five |
years sso' . ~ -
tctednsss and evil repute Of the kinds that make
.a oxnar of them dear and welcome. instead OF r.
-. Ia st,f at his best has superior in the
rne,i.h or any other drama Unfortunately ne
Dc not at his best in The Merry Wives The Fa'-
AN who has lived and who VIII always I'VE d
100 If the best gifts OF the greatest Of poets is the
e ~ King Henry "" The fat knlgh, OF
.~ha Merry Wives is not the same fat knight al
al Much laborious speculation has been eApe""e'
on the relationship of the two pays ana inc po'
,ra,nrrs OF the central comic figure IN thehi' Inc
otsn repeated and generally accepted story - tha'
ousen Elizabeth. being p.eased with SIT Johh ia
- az no appeared in the parts OF "hlhg
usrrv "" commanded the poet TO put MN mo
another pay and to show him IN ioVe' anu ."a'
"The Merry Wives Of WINDSOR was "V'0'0"7'
written in two weeks
60 s,orv can be traced no farther back than
-, = centurv after the play was written, ana
a, that time it declared to be tradiuoh' -
Good many cock and bull stories nave peen 'ou
about Shakespeare. and some Of them are easy 10
aisnrove This rests on no very suDs'ahua'
Foundation but il has never been dlSproVeu' anu
q, has the advantage of accounting in measure
for some of the peculiarities of the play faIstan
had lived and drunk and stolen; he had fough' anu
run away and he had lived 10 fight another DAY
10 had been not only witty in himself. but the
cause that wit in other men: then ne odopieu
=, green fields and cried out OF sack ana
usnt away an il had been any Christian chila
and was lin Arthurs bosom, If ever man Went
10 Arthur's BOSOM And now he had 10 oe
brought back to life again and made 10 play ne"
part upon the stage II was no wonder II ne was
NOT ouite the same Sir John that he had been
Aside from the changed character OF Falsta1 there
are expressions and illusions in Ihe Meir!
Wives that look If the play were INTENDED
especially for Elizabeth's Court. 1t has been sng
sested that the production of this play may have
been ShakesDeare's reason for not Keeping 'he
promise contained in the epilogue to the second
part OF King Henry ~" to continue the story
with Sir John in it," but it is by no means certain
that Shakespeare wrote this epilogue at all.
on the other hand. there are good arguments
IN favor of the belief that THE Merry Wives of
Windsor" was written before King Henry ~
Shakespeare would be unlikely it has been pointed
out to degrade the fine character OF FaIstan AFTER
he had drawn him so eXquisitey as ne dl'
in the historical plays. while it would be quite
natural for him to sketch the knight roughly al
first and then ella borate him into the form in which
he is seen at his best Other persons of the plays
also answer to this explanation. Mistress quickly
is an undeveloped and unimportant person in The
Merry Wives compared with what she Is IN
king Henry "" and king Henry V
However IL came about. the TWO Fa.stans are es-
sentially different. The knight OF the histories is
an absolute master OF wit and OF humorous re-
source. He taken without his answer Even
his dsgraces and humiliaons he Is able TO turn 70
such accoun: thai he is only the more admired ana
beloved because OF them. In the comedy ne Is the
butt OF everybodys cheap tricks He IL beguIed
and befooled over and over. and each time ne Is
histories ne has depth Of something more than
eomcay as al :ruiy hqm0I1ns wben he IS
scorned by tho new King Henry. so LATELY ms boon
ynonnarnh's heavenly prudence seem for the moment
much like earthly ingrattud, In the COMEDY 'ner e
curiosity to see wha: trap he will fan into neA;.
This is not to be understood depreciation Of the
comedy. such. The plot OF the play is not very
Srrht t' animated and varied Enjoyment is followed
by expectancy and expectancy by enJoyment,, me
but they are honest in spite of the tricks they play
cheerful inventive. frocsome women VINO no. VIII
an unassumins and agreeable gentle,nsn and Ford
except for his jealousy is good fellow rsn' on
being lovers shallow: Sir Hugh Evans. Slender,
pany. but they are all harmless and amusing. The
whole atmosphere Of the play Is one OF d Hha !,
offended In that spirit it should be received ana
fSe player of Falstsn in The Merry Wives, Wives
the part art IN av the and the rch oily humo
the character and he showed that ne nad s,uhca
nature. tastes habits behavior and appearance
He was free and broad in his expression I1tcs isT
Falstaff's self-indugence ana Overfed appetite
any ;d aoPsoa and 40
Careful effort to carry out the poets inenOp' ann
an entertaining poTtraiture OF an ih'e'e'''s "''
MIR Crane has. moreover. had the good taste no
20 make the play mere opportunity tof the eAh.n,
lion OF a star There are some long scenes, an.
pleasant scenes too in wheh he HoI @pf o
Page by Kiss Ffoott Paset and Miss Lizzie Hud
and the Careless joty Of ne Of wnas9T an.
Joseph wheeiocR. jr was hne IDIOT, in the par n,
mr,b oS he nav Which thereafter flowed withou
INTERRUPTION Miss Anne O'Neill ADDED touch o
Pan@ The resr Of the cast was competent thouel
in no wise remarkable the actors most GeSGI'h |,
Weaver as Shallow 6rrln Johnson. Who was Wig
orous and commanding as master nrt ss ,r cam
and B. Douglass Riar as Simple 0,,,o,,s and ar
,stic. Esht scenes we're shown and they were al
well painted The views OF tne " ,n ,ho, servs
10 helm ont the oca: color. The exterior and the IN
terror Of the Garter Inn, Frogmore ana iierT Tb
pictures presented not alone by the scenery b9t %
the costumes and the groupinss were an, a., pav WA
due to this of always showing s I crtn
and the audience are largely due to the artist ~
director f Hamilton Bell The fairy scene IN p t
Torrance and here share OF the praise oerorSe
70 Henry widmer for the mHs S. Sh haa long q
perienee With the most competent stage dile cIG
Wives should have merry life at the Star Theatr
ana long one well