The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-11-07
Behind the Scenes With
the Great Actors.
His Presentation of Shakes
peare'S Sublime Tragedy.
The Tragedian's Makeup" for this
Grim Character.

minded Of heroes, that bravest and most
i'll fated OF kings, not only in the cos
tunes of his time, but in the awful
consciousness of guilt, the fear OF ven-
geance, the fantastic visions OF the hom-
icidal maniac. There never has been such
a Macbeth on the stage; his crafty eyes,
his fierce gestures, his cruel voice, his
savage mien and barbaric pomp, his vslor
and his strength shone out through the
player and sank his identity for the time
in that OF the famous old cutthroat
monarch of Scotland, who IL no myth
nor creature OF Shakespeare's brain, but
who slaughtered ana plotted and lived
and died eight hundred and forty years
ago.
IL Macbeth in the flesh was half the
man Irving mskes him out TO be that
perturbed spirit, which in the flesh did
not shrink from looking son that which
might sppall the DEVIL" must regard
with pleasing emotions even now the
costly homage Sir Henry irving pays TO
his much abused memory. AT least hence
forth the world must concede Macbeth's
fiery valor, sublime imagination anc po-
etical tongue. every inch king" he
is depicted, whether in chain mail or
broidered robe of state. And what a
magnificent queen-no cold blooGed
monster, but glorious and beautiful
consort-he finds in Miss Ellen Terry!
HIS IDEA OF THE SAVAGE HERO.
AS | watched Sir Henry pluDging
blindly through the bloody mist that
seemed TO envelop the stage sill through
this greatest OF Shakespearian dramas, no
found time now and again for little
chat about his ideas of this strange savage
hero of the long ago. Nobody could help
sdmiring the spirit the sympathetic en-
thusiasm, with which he threw all his
forceful personality into this barbaric
reproduction.
"You cannot avoid" said he, "admir-
ing Macbeth's courage while detestiDg
his crimes. That he was a moral coward
does not affect the case at all: for he was
more than moral coward. There was a
germ OF murderous mania latent in him
from the beginning, and after his first
great crime he became an actual homici-
dal maniac. That consideration must
never be lost sight of; he was blood
thirsty fiend.
"Yet where else has Shakespeare de-
picted such poet, such hypocrite? In
him we find united the acute sensibiity
characteristic OF highly poetical tenn
perament with absolute destitution of real
feeling. One master motive soon sweeps
all other considerations out of his life,
and is, once realized, in its turn obscured
by the bloody mist which rises about
him. lie sees red"
Let us look at the man himself as he
stands before US, and analyze from his
dress and makeup the marvellous concep-
tion he has formed of The semi-monstrous
Celt OF tie eleventh century.
Here stands the genuine Irving. never
more nmistaka ble- the tai, sinewy frame
suggesting physical strength in every mo-
ton, the piercing gray eyes, the strong,
slightly aquiline nose, the high, bold
brows, the firm chin, the great shock of
thick iron gray hair, such head of hair
as not one man in thousand possesses at
1rving's time OF life. All that is Irving
but II is also the Macbeth whom we
now leain TO thrill and wonder at. Mac
beth, when Shakespeare's story opens, is a
middle aged man, In the prime of phys
ical vigor. There is everyw here in che
text suggestion of his size and ~
thews. Irving never looked more form
liable in physique than now. Nature
seems to have made him Macb before
he enters his dressing room. But see
what his arms have done for him. On
his head the winged bronze helmet of the
Berserkers; ;on mis- left arm hangs around
target which may be rswhide studded
with nails, or a single sheet OF embossed
metal. From his broad shoulders and
falling i'm heavy folds almost to his knees
depends closely woven shirt OF chain
mail, tough enough TO turn the edge of
any ordinary sword and blunt spear
point. A straight two-edged sword, with
guards almost rectangular to the blade.
rests in handsome leather or wooden
scabbsrd inIaid with brass and steel. This
he clutches i'm his left hand, his right
playing nervously the while with heavy,
two-edged dagger, whose sheath is secur-
ed about his waist by chain belt. Over
his right shoulder, draping his sword arm
now that there is no pressing need of
fighting, hangs long cloak of dark red
on which appear few broad brown
stripes.
THE MAKEUP OF HIS FACE"
His face? Ahi-thsre the art OF
the past master in stage art shows out.
The hair, the brow, the eyes, The nose,
the chin-all are Irivng's own. Bat
these sinister, long. thin, wiry mustachios
OF dark red, the unnatural bright eyes,
with their faint line or two of emphasis,
how completely they nave carried out
the suggested ideal OF the nanincal king
whose bloody purpose of numbering his
sovereign, conceived long before the
Weird Sisters met him on the heath, and
even discussed before the play opens
with Lady Macbeth, has by their appsri-
tion ana cunning malice been stirred into
quick lie. Now that he stands face 10
face, ia friendly discourse, these are
positively the only visible changes Irving
the man has made in his-visage to trans
form himself into Macbeth the king
But the secrets of his art Sir henry
guards without an effort. Watch him as
he races the weird sisters, now that the
curtain Is up and sen Of faces Is turned
in awed silence toward this uncanny
scene. lie is no longer the courteous,
dtgnihed gentleman OF moment since;
he Is the audaciuus, imperious ard un-
scrupuious tyrant, brutal, magnificent IN
imag nation ana barbarous in exeou-
tion. Is the so1l OF the man. the
Scotchn nm whose head was cut off A. ID.
lOof, that now glCws darkiy in Irving's
eyes and animates he res ess savagerv
OF his stride lie hapn't "made NM
for Macbeth at all; he has simply looked
it. Anybody cen learn the secrets OF
grease paint and rouge pct. the hare foot.
the pencil, the cold cream and the
palette, yet after all. tho true artist, tire
histrionic genius only, can inform and
trans iorm the whole, and bv glance
carry off his spectators, a. on n magic
carpet, to other times ana Climes, emo
tions aud Transaction.
But Dune n has arrived. his first cousin
Duncan, both teing grandsons OF good
King Malcolm. and ths opportunity for
the commission OF the long cherished
murder OF the good old man nas at last
l.sfI 4.