Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1896-01-17
A SPLENDID PLAY.
Dne OF Shakspeare's Masterpieces,
sSAs YOu Like H.,

One OF ShakSpeare's Masterpieces,
ssAs You Like It.n
That charming actress Efie Ellsler
is coming to Olympia Theater next
Wednesday evening and will present a
perfect production of CAS- You Like
It," This enchanting comedy is per-
haps the most purely ideal of any of
Shakspeare's plays. Although the
plot is borrowed from the novel or
tale Of" Rosalynde," by Thomas Lodge,
a contemporary writer, yet Shaks-
peare in passing the materials furnished
by the novelists through the alembic
Of his own imagination, has created
new characters and incidents and has
imbued the whole with higher cast
of thought and feeling than could be
attained by Lodge. 1t is in fact the
alchemic transmutation of the baser
metal into pure gold, which genius in
its adaptive faculty can alone achieve.
The contemplative Jacques; that
prince of philosophical testers, Touch.
stone, and the " rustical" Audrey are
pure creations OF Shakspeare's fancy,
worthy of the master-mind that gave
them birth.
The late annotators of Shakespeare
have exercised their erudite talent OF
analytical disquisition by endeavoring
to trace the gradual development OF
the great poets powers in the sue
cessive works he produced. GAS You
Like 1t" is, by this process of analytical
inquiry, referred to that epoch Of the
authors life when he had attained the
perfection OF poetic and romantic
comedy. It was the period when his
brilliant, youthful genius shone forth
in all its freshness of intellectual
superiority, mingled with the thought
fulness of maturer age" However
doubtful may be the theory of these
annotators, the fact will readily be
conceded that As You Like II" ia
one OF the most delightful productions
of that poets pen. As an acting play
it is very exacting: The character of
Rosalind is almost unapproachable un.
less by actresses Of that high and
peculiar order OF genius, now so rarely
to be found in the professors of the
histrionic art. Nor are the other
prominent characters in this true
dramatic treasury scarcely less
difficult of embodiment. What a host
of portraits, life.like and vivid, are
concentrated in the group the poet
has peopled his Arcadian forest with.
How beautifully probable is the whole
dramatic action Of the piece where, in
the language of Campbell, "Shaks-
peare has snatched us out of the busy
world into a woodland solitude. He
make us breathe the fresh air, partake
OF its pastoral peace, feast on its venison
admire its bounding wild dear, and
sympathize with its banished men and
simple rustics. But what q tablet of
characters! The witty and I'M.
FASHIONED Rosalind, the love-devoted
Orlando, the friendship-devoted Celia,
the duty-devoted Adam, the humorous
Clown and the melancholy Jacques !;
all these together with the dignitied
banished Duke, make the Forest of
Arden" an Elysium to our imagina.
ton. To realize this picture on the
stage in all its varied and distinctive
beauties is indeed difficult task. But
doubtless we will find Miss Ellsler,
With the assistance OF her father and
talented company, equal to it. II will
be scholarly performance which no
one should miss.