The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-10-05

vidual which serve TO mark him distinctly
from his fellows Such q personal and
physical matter Is acting that mannerism
is inevitable to it, from the very fact that
tho actor is so absorbed in the character
which he is called upon for the time being
TO sustain that he invests it with all his
own poculiarity Of facial expression and
conduct OF the body and limbs, and IN this
respect the performances of tho greatest
actors which the stage has ever known
have been marked 10y confirmed manner
isms
Charles Kean was n ripe scholar, q pro-
found student and u thoughtful and an
impressive actor, whose charactorizations
were always graceful and finished and
often forcible Yet he had an unfortunate
defect of voico that gave him what was
called "a "mannerism" and that unques-
tionably interfercd with the smoothness
and general agreeableness of his imperson-
ations. 1t is said that his tongue was too
large for his mouth, and this not only
caused him TO speak thick and indistinct-
ly at times, but he had likewise an unfor-
tunate impcdiment in his speech which
made 1t almost impossible for him TO man
age his "m's' and his ms" +" The actors
who used TO initiate him, like Chanfrau
and william r. Goodall, made great capt.
tai out of n speech Of Shylock in the trial
scene in "Tho Merchant of Venice"
Day, talxo by life and all. pardod dot that.
You tako by house when you do take the prod
That doth sustain by house you take by life
When you do take the beats whereby live.
And another in the first act of "A Win
tors Tale" still moro pronounced:
Is whispering dothidg7
To IooIi1, ghaa1r fn abpoIf9 a. hqpti1g 1peaq9
OF laughter with sigh harsidg foot Cd footP
Skulkidg i'll cordersY wishidg clocks moro
swiftY
Hours. bidutesS dood. biddight' ad all eyes
bid
with the pid and web, but their. theirs odly,
That would udseod be wickedY is this dothidg9
Why thod the world, al all that's idt Is
dothidg;
The covoridg sky is dothidg; Bohebia dothidg
By wife Is dothidg; dor dothidg have these
dothidgs
II this be dothidg.
So pronounced was this popularity Of
Kean that London Panch had 1t: "Wo
don't like tho acting of Mr.. Kcan, but we
must acknowledge his antiquarian re-
searches into tho private habits Of Shakes
peare's jew. In speaking of the means of
Shylock's subsistence, by his peculiar pro-
nunciation of the word means he proves
tho jew 10 have been n lover of vegetables,
as thus: You take my house when you do
take the prop that doth sustain my house;
you take my life when you do take the
beans whereby live.
Before Charles Kean, his father Edmund,
notwithstanding the brilliancy and genius
Of his acting, was none tho less noted for
his mannerisms. His familiarity OF speech
and nbruptncss Of gesture were In their cf-
fects ofton more ludicrous. Hazlitt writes
that on one occasion "tho motion was per
formed and the words uttered in the
smallest possible time I'm which puppct
could be made Co mimic or Rabblc tho
part and If this be not manncrism what
IN the world isg
The elder Booth i'm his younger days
must have had remarkably musical
voice. but later on the voice became heavy
and harsh. some idea Of his voice may bo
had from a remembrance of some Of the
tDncs OF his son Edwin, though the voice
OF Edwin for musicality, sonorouSness,
dclicatc shading and beauty of CxIrcsSion
could not bo compared to that of biz father
in his best days. The elder Booths pro
nunciatiou was invariably elegant, precise
and faultless, and his eye emphasized his
every tone. II he possessed any manner
ism, u was that Of scarcely ever playing
the Same part alike on two successive