St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-29

must be confessed, wields a facile and
ypicy pen, says he is at a loss to know
how Sarah found so much to admire
IN Julia. This of course is equivalent
30 expressing his surprise that the
''divine Sarah should have an opinion
Of her own that did not coincide with
his judgment That the critic is pref
udiced in his estimate of Mrs. Taber's
ability seems evident from his passing
comment upon two Of her impersona-
tions. He characterizes her Juliet as
awkward and amateurish,' and in the
next breath declares her portrayal Of
Prince Hal to be her best effort, or
words to that effect. The critic then
proceeds to explain that the average
theater-goer," whose good judgment
he extols so highly failed to turn out
In large numbers to witness Henry
~" because he had found that the
praise accorded the young actress in
other roles was unmerited.
The dramatic critic who can perpe-
trate such stuff is respectfully referred
to the average theater-goer" who has
witnessed Julia Marlowe Taber's i'm
presentations of Juliet and Prince Hal.
While, generally speaking, the exact
merit of a player must be a matter
of opinion, as we'll as the comparative
excellence attained by him or her In
various roles, there are instances in
which the superior portrayal Of one
character over that of another is so
self-evident that 1t becomes nothing
more or less than fact. The assertion
is ventured that of all the theater-
goers in st. Paul or any other city
who have seen Julia Marlowe Taber
in both roles, not one in 100 of
those who have even a superficial con-
ception of the two characters would
pronounce her Prince Hal even an ap-
proach to her Juliet.
Some of these metropolitan critics
have queer notions and they have been
known to exhibit violent prejudices.
The John Griffith company will begin
q weeks engagement at the Metropoli-
tan opera house this evening in the
Henry Irving version of Goethes
Faust" with Mr.. Griffith as Mephis-
topheles. Mr. Griffith, who is more or
less of a stranger here, is an actor Of
experience, who has made this role a
special study. His impersonation Of
Mephistopheles is said to be excellent
The story of Faust" or rather that
version, is as follows:
Faust, a learned alchemist and doc
tor of philosophy, having reached that
age when all the pleasures of this world
have faded, invokes the aid of the evil
one to give him new emotions, that
life might be worth the living. In re-
spcnse to his frenZied appeal Mephisto
appears, and offers to give Faust
youth, health and passions and all the
pleasures and enjoyments to be drawn
therefrom, upon the condition that
when the gamut has been run his soul
shall belong to Mephisto. Faust is daz-
zled and entranced by a beautiful vis-
ion of Marguerite, which, as he rushes
passionately toward it, fades away. He
accedes to Mephisto's demands, accepts
his terms, a compact is drawn between
them, and the aged and senile
philosopher is transformed into a
handsome youth, burning with
passion and eager with antici-
patton. From this time forward
his one thought is of Marguerite. Then
follows his meeting with her. their mu-
tual love, his betrayal of her confidence
his poisoning ether mother while seek
ing to make her slumber more deeply
and the return Of Valentine, her soldier