Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1899-11-03
IRVING As sRoBEsPIERRE.

The principle event Of the dramatic
year. the temperance Of the great
English actor Henry Irving, and Ellen
Terry, occurred in New York City Mon
day night. '"Theae famouse actors,
says the Tribune, with their associate
players OF the London Lyceum, app
peared at the Knickerbocker Theater.
beginning their sixth tour of America,
and. in the presence OF great and
brilliant audience, produced Mr.. Sar
dou's drama of "Robespierre" which
has been included in their repertory
since last April and has become it's
principal feature. The greeting accorded
to them was that of devoted friendship.
They were hailed with acclamations Of
yoj and greeted with long continued
plaudits of affection and delight. Such
a beautiful spectacle of popular glad
ness is seldom seen. The tribute must
have given much pleasure to It's re-
cipients, and certainly it was honorable
to the public. Henry Irving and Ellen
Terry stand at the head of the dram
attic profession. No other actor SO great
or SO justly renowned as Henry Irving
Is living in cur time. and Ellen Terry,
in her peculiar and distinctive realm of
Imagination, romance and wild and
Maynard sensibility, is without a peer"
OF Irving's presentation of Robespierre
the Tribune critic says:
In past performances, wonderfully
subtle and deep, Henry Irving has often
shown his exceptional faculty of re-
lvealing the tremulous and terrible men,
tai state of man who lives in momen-
jtary expectation of retributive calam-
lity and is haunted by a secret dread.
Matthias, Eugene Aram, Louis X1, Mac
beth-each was eloquent of the fever
fish excitement of suffering, remorse
and terror. The same faculty-in assoc
| citation with love, hatred, fanaticism,
ambition, sentiment, vanity, cruelty,
transformation and destructive ana ter
| rible rage-is again employed by this
lconsummate actor in the part of Robes
pierre, who, while wearing an outward
aspect of security and supreme power.
lis continuously made to suspect
Nemesis-to feel that peril, anguish and
death are imminent-and as continu-
lously is made to confront every chance
| of fate, with the energy of an indom-
/ liable will and the defiant courage OF
1 reckless despair. The literal Robes
pierre was a spruce, splenetic, venom
Gus prig, nurtured on the visionary doc
trines of Rosseau and cursed with a
wearisome propensity for axioms-the
4 measure of whose mind may partly be
inferred from his profound observa-
tons that 1.-The only basis of civilized
lsociety is morality, and that the peo-
pie can do no wrong. The ideal Robes
pierre, embodied by Henry Irving, is a
lcharacter of colossal strength, man
of deep heart, commanding mind and
invincible purpose, crafty, indeed. and
suspicious, vindictive and sanguinary.
but acutely sensitive and emotional,
leminently capable of conjugal and pa
iternal affection. and not devoid of good
ness. seeing that he is amenable to re-
Imorse-a torture Impossible to intrinsic
deprayity. The task OF the actor is to
manifest this personality-the protago-
mist of carnival of revolution and
slaughter--in scenes that successfully
associate him with woman whom he
has loved and. unhapply though not
,Edesignedly, wronged in youth, and with
!, their son. born out of wedlock. of whose
r existence he learns only when he must
deliver him to the mob. 1t was gro
i tesque expedient to provide such mar
!. as Robespierre with a sentimental anc
:. romantic past, but that was the onl.
!. Iway by which anything like synpa
! thetic dramatic action could be evolved
n from any study of his career He was
r lonly about 80 when he died but both
n the dramatst and the actor make hin
$ older, and it is assumed that his love
! affair occurred when he was about 20
that the lady has been married and j.
jnow a widow. and that their son, gal
liant and impetuous youth, takes tn
i5.-s.. hi a yyH
= tiercely opposed to the hateful tyrann.
of .the Mountain and of Robespierre
\ From that premise the current OF tn
e story is smoothly fluent and on tina
II basis the dramatist has reared mar
st velous fabric of picture and action.
Details of plot and incident would b
{ tiresome repetition Henry Irving
s greatness in Robespierre is not simpl
7 his even. consistent and potential as
= sumption of the character. his preser
X yaiion of the French manner-convey
I'll ing the brilliantly yltalzing, sugge
n. tion. at least credible to fancy, of wha
= Robespierre and his times might &C
Il. Et1,ally have been--but his impartmen
!, lof a massive and universal type of ex
perience that reaches every conscienc
and touches every heart. To an actor {
s his wide culture and splendid skill IN
ne Execution Is comparatively easy. mele
). dramatic execution indeed, is unusua
ly easy to any proficient player IN
in l1itficulty is to overwhelHn the Imagine
Mt Ition and the feelings With an irresls'
o. Iible sense Of reality and truth--a
Nv achievement only possible To the 'nhel
ct ent authority and power Of seniu
Those are the attributes that HAY
given this actor his leadership. an
nd ,hous,, nc no 1890 80. ,hq
ne Robespierre. lie has never shown tho
attributes more decisively than in tn
n performance
nd ,,,,,
;es