The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-03-25
ADJUSTMENTS.



An audience ~excellirg in fashion and great
.er In numbers and appreciation than any
which Indianapolis can be expected to turn
out only at the rarest intervals was at En-
glish's last night to witness Henry Irving's
magnificent production OF Comyns Carr's ro-
mantlc drama, King Arthur" Beautiful
women In modish ~toilettes and men pre-
sumably as brave and scores of them more
handsome than King Arthur's knights, filed
the opera house to the top row Of the up
per gallery. The play was a novelty. Many
or It's scenes are more unbelievable than the
strangest incidents Of Midsummer Nights
Dream" The author has gore to the old
Round Table stories for his material, and
the result Is a piece of extravaganza where
the heroic old characters In England's legen-
dairy annals are made to serve the purpose
Of nineteenth-ceRtury theatricalism. Mystic
forms now and then glide through the scenes.
faint choruses are heard in the Unexplained
Depths OF the stage, while the scenery is that
OF the fancy of a great artist conjured up
70 delight the public taste for much that is
weird and psychic in nature. liking Arthur
Is a pictorial triumph or modern ~stagecraft.
and was received and applauded as such by
those gho beneld the paantasmagoria. It is
a play without a single fin de steele thrill, If
~A0 SAAAAa - IL RlC-
sents nothing startling as a drama, and
without the interview between the guilty
Queen and Sir Lancelot in the first act and
the Kings powerful renunciation of GUM
evere and Lancelot in the third act there is
little opportunity for display Of dramatic
genius by Irving ard Terry.
Plain words are feeble praise for the queen
ly manner In which Ellen Terry bears her
part In this Legendary play. She seems the
Queen that Gulnevere might have been, and
although her eyes were blinded by love and
her queenly vows forgotten for the joys OF
clandestine amours with her Lancelot, her
art enabled her to make Quinevere a most
acceptable woman at all times to the audi
ence. III King Arthur came to England's
throne In such a pulseless frame as Irving
gave him., Queen Guinevere. in the volup-
tuous beauty and desire OF her youth, was
not much 70 blame for having taken TO Lam
eeio.. lrvings Arthur at no time seemed
made 10 WELD the magic sword Excalibur,
and the Woes OF England pictured as follow
ing the grandeur which that sword had
achieved were more the fault OF Merlin I'm
owner.
The play opens on the night-clouded
banks OF the ghostly magic mere. A lovely
maiden rises from the sea, and by her side
also rises a wonderful sword, Excalibur,
main a~il-powerful so long as the King
keeps IL In its jeweled scabDard. The King
likewise has a vision of Guinevere and re-
with Excalibur TO win his bride. After he
has made England great his knights see
2 vision Of the Holy Grail After the King
has yielded to visions il is no surprise that
his bravest knights fall under the spell of
the Grail sad-faced and sweet Elaine.
and tells her story to the Queen. who
quickly hnds that she herself has become
the object OF Lancelots love: She decides
10 retain the f1attering knight at court and
let the ugiier knights go search the Grail.
IN the next. act the women go Maying
in . wonderful wood. one of the most II
customary scenes of it's kline ever put on the
stage 1t Is the design OF Sir Edward
Burne~Jones. In the Maytime sunshine
Queen and her party of ladies seem more
Ike nynsphs than real women. While the
King IL absent bold Lancelot and the guilty
and his mother witness the scene, and the
plot thickens- The King Is made acquaint-
ed with the treachery and banishes Lance
through with Excalibur and found his arm
too weak for the exertion. The King very
he ever met her. and then leaves TO fight
the rebels whom Mordred has melted TO re-
bellion- TIL King Is slain by Mordred,
his lord by cutting down Mordred. being
left In sole Of the throne and the
The CREST beauty Of this production lies
in the illusion of the scenery. the lights
and the music Each OF the scenes might be
written up as some beautiful painting. Irv-
tng's genius appears in the mastery ar
Management Of the extravagant accessories
that go 10 make the production rather than
In his impersopation OF King Arthur. WhileS
one had little dLdiculty In hearing much that
he uttered, there were times when his words
were only eutterai exclamations- AS for ex-
pressIve action. Irving might. perhaps, with
his fertile brain. invent a man-machine
which could go through a great deal OF the
part with almost as much sincerity. His feet
drag the moor as II tied TO bags OF sand. and
this same trick seems TO be copied blythe
leading actors In his support. There are two
notable exceptions among the women. Enen
Terry Is the first OF these. and winsome Julia
London artists. who played Elaine. was the