The record-union., 1896-03-07


Anna Eva Fay, performer in the
occult, is to be here presently. She is
pronounced the best of the order We
have had so much of this thing of cabi-
net seances and hypnotic frances, that
we should doubt Fay's drawing quality
were it not that wherever she gives an
entertainment managers seek to write
a return engagement for her-that is a.
test of success.
Music and Drama" warns interior
managers against the Cook Twin Sis
ters Uncle Tom outfit and the Mahara
Minstrels, as not attractive cards.
The widow of Barney Williams cele-
brated her 10th birthday in New York
February 11th. Barney was prince of
comedians.
Gilbert, the master light opera libret-
ist, managed to keep the plot of his
new opera produced last week from the
papers, though all England did its best
to discover it.
A train boy tells the Philadelphia
Times" of his experiences with player
people:
"One of the most noticeable habits OF
the profession when they are on the
road is the way they seat themselves
in train. The leaders invariably sit
by themselves, and the rest of the COM
pany follows suit, each according to
his own view of his position. And
never, except on rare occasions, do
they address a word to the members Of
the company whom they consider lower
in rank. 1t is very easy for train boy
to get into conversation with a member
Of a troupe. The train boy is of so little
Importance, you know, that surely
there is no harm in talking to him.
And, judging by the stories I have had
told me, there are more stars on the
stage than the theater-g going public has
any idea Of
"Oh, what a difference between a
company going out and when you see
them struggling back in twos and threes
minus their baggage. On the way out
each one is Dragging about the COM
panies they have been with. This one
was not Gp to the standard, but the
manager being a personal friend of
his or hers they decided to help him
out On the way back note the diff
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low, and they wonder if there is any
chance for them yet this season. But,
as a rule, 1 rather think they wait
around till next season.
"On the road they spend a great deal
OF their time sleeping, and it is amazing
the way an old hand at one-night stands
car curl himself UP i'll a seat. One
often hears people who know nothing
at all of theatrical life say say it is one
of the easiest professions there is. Per
haps it is in large cities, but there is
a wonderful difference in a company
starting out and a company returning
from six or eight weeks of one-night
stands. That tired look they come
back with is not there when they start
out
But what surprises one most is the
jealousy existing among the various
members of a company. Though, if one
considers a moment, it is not surprising
after all. Each is so assured of his
own ability and his own superiority
over the rest that there is bound to be
a clash. This jealousy is more notice
able among the women, though the
men have it to a lesser extent
''The men are the most inveterate
poker players 1 have ever seen. But,
though poker is their chief amuse-
ment, you seldom see them playing
during the middle of the week, as they
start playing as soon as they are paid,
and usually lose all they care to lose
by Monday morning. They are nearly
always cheerful, their bump of self
esteem carrying them through trials
that would dishearten an ordinary
mortal.
Henry Irving has come out with a
new Interpretation of Shakespeare S
Macbeth" He holds that Macbeth
was originally a well-meaning, honest
but weak man, who, when taken pos
session of by the powers of the neither
world, typifed by the weird sisters, is
ultimately forced into reluctant COM
pliance with those ambitions, designs
and desires which are more less domi-
nant in all men. The generally received
| conclusion which considers Lady Mac
beth to be an ambitious and domineer-
ing woman to the verge OF recklessness,
and who was also destitute of con-
science, Irving also takes issue with.
He charges to Macbeth the origination
and the conduct of the bloody enterprise
in which these predominant partners
were engaged, and constitutes Lady
Macbeth simply her husbands scape-
goat. He says: THE thane has the
Villains nerve but the poets eye. And
though he viii not be deferred nor dis
| banded by remorse, he feels remorse
with painful keenness of sensibility
! Like Hamlet, he is a coward of mind,
| but, unlike Hamlet, he is callous exc
cutant. To such a man. woman whom
he can convince himself is his tempter
upon whom he can cast the burden OF
bis conscience, and whom he can trap
| into tempting him and into deserving
and carrying a part of the burden, is a
vital necessity
These views rouse old Times" in the
/ Chicago News to sharply reply and
defend the Interpretation of the Eng
| Ish and German school of critics
He holds that Irving's thought is not
even ingenious; that while Shakespeare
makes Macbeth physically a brave
man, he makes him also subject to the
| warnings of those higher spiritual per-
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