The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-28
FRIENDS OF LAST WEEK.

Even among the local admirers of Mrs
Fiske-aud these certainly should compose
a most artistic elass-there seem to be q
number If persons who were disappointed
in her Becky Sharp, because. unlike John
Blair in Paul Hervi,u's Ties" she broke
no furniture. This a-.Itement is not an ex-
aggeration. There are intelligent men and
women who cannot distinguish between the
dramatic and the theatrical; who judge a
degree OF emotionalism by the labors OF
the first yioIinist Ii is not true that all
VINO did not care for the stars performance
ware Of such an order. but many OF the ar
guments advanced to prove that PERFORM
ance mediocre showed like method Of
reasoning.
sUndeniably. Langdon Mitchell's piece did
not afford Mrs. Fiske the opportunities for
strong acting that Lorrimer StOddard gave
her in Tess OF the D'Urbervilles." How
ever. there were unlimited chances for good
acting. and OF these the player took every
advantage. The most ardent follower Of
Mrs Leslie Carter might experience some
difficulty in saying why a work that rings
true and fine from beginning to end is not
as superior as that which occasionally
mounts to heights from which-to quote
from their feet" a carefully conceived
and well sustained impersonation Of in
finite grace and variety was Mrs. Fiske' S
Becky Sharp-an impersonatiOn much
more demanding than might have been
one in which constant power prompted for
getfulness of all things other than inten-
sity.
Mrs Fiske passed through the single
stirring episode of Becky sharp with
1 Il. IL.
rendered notable her efforts in the third
act of Tess" To The writer, the chief
excellence of the former bit was its
quietness and finish. \ dozen women on
the American stage. looking over the head
OF Lord Steync at Rawdon Crawley, might
have conveyed in gasp or cry the infOr-
nation requisite TO commanding the at
tention of the spectators. Mrs. Fiske
neither gasped nor cried; she merely look
ed and yet the gaze Of those in front
| never left her. In her eyes, in the fling
ers that held the wine glass. in the sud
den stiffening of her body were fear.
shame, study. wonder, and hysterical de-
lirium. When the hand relaxed and the
| glass fell half of the Monday assemblage
| at the Lafayette was leaning forward in
its seats Thus did Mrs. Fiske accomplish
what has been accomplished by Sarah
Bernharlt, Olga Nethersole Mrs. Leslie
Il
| Carter. and even Blanche Bates. through
a method only successfully attempted by
Eleanor Duse and herself.
For the rest, when a book has been read
as universally as has Vanity Fair" it is
well -nigh impossible-it is imp0ssible-to
fu,hll the ideals of everyone, since each
| ideal must Gifler from the others Under
the circumstances. Mrs. Fiske did what
undoubtedly was best in fulfilling her own
ideal. and in making Becky a real, living,
| breathing parsonage Her delineauon OF
the various contradictory phases of that
woman's character was not less than mar
velous. Buoyancy, humor insidlousness,
cunning. hypocrisy. horror. bitterness. and
dozen other qualities we're set iorth as
| tlnctly. The gamut between the honeyed
sweetness of the dialogue with Lady Jane
and the biting sarcasm of the second cross
| fire with Lady Bareacres: between tine
coaxiue ingenuity OF the first scene with
Pitt Crawley and the frenzied despair oil
| the last with his brother. between the as
sumed veneer Of the reception at Curzon
Street and the adamantine commercialism
OF the bargain with Joseph Sedley, was