Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-10-03
THE NEW JULIET.
MISS BERTHA cRE'cnroNs BID
ron sgAKEsrExREAx HoSoRs.
The FIRST WOMAES THEATRE.
=. r. uc,pe Buiit I'm Paris-aunint
Rules Govern It--rlnss of the week
=, the Acaaemy--A Cuban Drama
md a strong Combination.

acted ana enjoyed Il was not. Many peo-
- no Doubt will contradict this from
their own experience. saying: L enjoyen
n and Land IT, They must allow me-
a. that case. TO assure them that they
40 ma, begin to realize the sort OF plea
sure which Romeo ard Juliet can ana
ought 20 give them. No doubt they Gu
,oyed the graceful and gazelle-eyed heip-
lcssness Of Miss Bertha Creighton WINE
here and there, perhaps, familiar me
of Shakespeare fell pleasantly on tne'F
ear. Their sum Of agreeable sensatiohS
may have been considerable, but IL Ger
tainly did not include the thrill OF pity
and terror, the quickening OF the pulses
the exaltatIon. the delight which Deions
% n true revival OF this ioveliest lyric
and swiftest, widest drama In our IAN
ca,age or in any other. For my part
have 10 wipe the performance from my
nemorv. 10 retnlnk the play, TO react IL
IN imagination, before j can recover any
intimate sense of its poetry, passion, ana
pathos. II you have never realized these
qualities, and do not look or care ior
them, you escape disappointment ana
may take a great deal Of pleasure In the
pretty spectacle, pretty speeches, and
pretty people presented to you; out you
have not seen, you have not iei1 inc
great love tragedy Of the world.
The reader may think ] am simply re-
n1Ta0OX. or,
rather blaming Miss Creighton and her
comrades unjustly and unreasonably Tor
the fact that the representation of one
of Shakespeare's masterpieces must ne
cessatily. in some respects, fall short
OF the Imagination of IT, But my ground
OF argument is quite different from
Lambs. His contention was that the
best conceivable performance, under the
physical conditions of the stage, in
eyitabiy materialzes and vulgarizes the
meets conception 1.-THE love dialogues
of Romeo and Juliet" he wrote, Those
silver. sweet sounds Of lovers tongues
by night, how they are sullied and
turned from their very nature by being
exposed 10 a large assembly. He tacitly
assumes, you see. that the best that art
can do for them is done, and declares
that even then they are profaned by
stage presentation. The Creighton per-
Torrance relieves US of all necessity for
discussing this position, since at no
point does it do the best that art can
and ought TO do. When we have rea-
perfect performance we can ar
que with Lamb at our leisure; In the
mean time, we have no material before
US for testing his theory. When no cha
racter is represented with anything like
.xralfQnpp and when
two OF the most mportant-Juliet and
glaringly misrepresented,
we do not get within measurable distance
Of Lambs point Of view.
A schoolgirl, with a little practice In
elocution, could get through the balcony
scene with credit. Acting. as distinct
from recitation, sets in with the scene of
cajolery between Juliet and the nurse,
and here Miss Creighton at once fell
short. She showed, no intensity and no
variety in her expression OF eagerness,
expectation, disappointment. anger af-
lection. rapture. but played all on one
level of prettlness. This scene OF two
pages Is one Of the most skilful and act
able ever written by playwright for ac-
tress do not remember ever TO have
seen It pass, as II did. without the
nurse she was monotonous and fat For
instance. marked transition Of tone is
very clearly indicated between the line,
"All this is comfort: wherefore weep j,
thcnY and the following passage: Some
word there was. worser than Tybolt's
death. That murdered me-" etc. Miss
Creighton attempts no change of tone,
makes xno transition of thought. 1t is
all empty rhetoric to her. She does not
feel, or try TO make us feel, that Juliet
Is really searching in the background of
her mind for the words of ill-omen which
she knows to be lurking there, though
in her bewilderment she has scarcely
grasped it's purport. In the parting from
Romeo. Miss Creighton displays a child
like prettiness, without lyrical i'm
pulse or grand swell OF passion. Much
more surprising is the absolute lack of
expression with which she listens TO the
friar's speech about the potion. In the
course OF those thirty-two lines she must
run the whole gamut of emotion from
curiosity TO wonder. terror, rapture. and
resolve Miss Creighton does not move
a muscle 10 indicate any of them. With
the same apathy she returns TO her
fathers house, fatty contradicting the
nurses speech-"See where she comes
from shrft with merry look" AS to
the potion scene, II simply does not exist
In Miss Creghton's performance. Words
cannot describe its fiat, monotonous in
sufficiency. Finally, in her death scsne,
she seems to have lost all interest in the
little adventure in which she has been
engaged. Her stocism is worthy of Cato's
daughter, Brutuss Portia. When the
Friar points 10 Romeo's dead body. she
expresses neither surprise nor emotion.
1attf 4alr 20
she speaks the prescribed words. and
goes through the appropriate motions. bat
she has apparently no personal concern
In the matter The whole passage is
absolutely tame and unrealized.
The nrst and only woman's theatre OF
which the world has ever known is being
constructed In Paris. X Is 10 be devoted
10 the interests of women solely, and has
its site next to the ladies' club, known as
the "Cercle Pigalle," near Montmartre.
But IL will not confine itself to the service
OF French women alone. The ladies of
every country will be at liberty TO air
grievances. assert their privileges and de-
fend their interests through the medium
OF the drama or the opera.
The only weak spot about the affair Is
that the manager is a mere man. This
Is disappointing. SO long. however. as he
Is willing 20 DO the drudgery and let
honor and glory be the lot OF the women
It does not very much signify. and, more
over, IL Is provided In the agreement that
he shall take his instructions from the
Executive Committee OF the Board of
Directors. which is composed of five wo-
men. He must be wonderful man.
AT present he has succeeded in pleasing
the entire board.
Madame Loevy. who will conduct the
foreign department OF the new theatre
IS very confident as TO its future.
Heretofore she SAYS the fact that n