Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-07
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cluslon points out the great advantage TO
the public in having so adequate an in
depreciation Of such a great play given at
a time when the interest in the classical
is reviying,
In connection with the presentation of
Brutus by Mr.. Mansfield, IT is Of interest to
read Of other great actors who have played
the part. The following is taken from the
New York Times:
Richard Mansheld's revival of Shake
speare's tragedy Of Julius Caesar" recalls
some of the other notable essays in that
direction. II is fifteen years since Edwin
Booth appeared as Brutus.
The chroniclers of the drama record many
interesting representations Of Julius Gaze
sar." Often the casts have been notable,
sometimes amusingly curious In England
II was always a part of the repertoire of
the two patented theaters royal, Drury
Lane and Covent Garden. However, 1t was
seldom, in the early days, distinguished by
any attempt at archaeological or spectac-
ular effect, Samuel Phelps first gave it
pictorial breadth and color at his Sadlers
Wells theate-
attracted the eyes Of all England and will
focus the interest Of dramatic students as
long as the history Of the stage is studied,
was that made at Windsor Castle before
Queen Victoria and her court February /,
1850. On that occasion, for the only time
I'm the notable career of the two great men,
AA'NANuNg eAN 1871 49, - 80 sNAA-
cast on the same stage. The former played
Brutus, Of course, the latter, Antony.
Macready did not love Kean. 1t is re-
ported that on this occasion, after the play
was over, Kean sent some message of
courtesy to Macready in his dressing
room, which was met by the gruff re-
joinder: III Mr.. Kean has anything to
say to me, let him say II through my So
l%icitor!" Kean's share in this presentation
gift of a diamond ring, which he afterward
lost; "whereupOn a wit rejOined that 1t
had been found sticking in Macready's
on the occasion Of his farewell benefit
at Sadlers Wells, November 8, 1862, Samuel
Phelps revived Julius Caesar" and played
Brutus. 1t is a curious fact that Henry
Irving has never In the whole course of his
long career played in Julius Caesar The
latest English revival of the play was that
given last year by Beerbohm Tree, wherein
the spectacular features were all studiously
accentuated. 1t ran month after month at
Her Majesty's, though the acting was not
notable, through sheer force of the inspir-
ing and popular character of this play
whenever given an even remotely adequate
ireland, who is the Genest of the Ameri-
can stage, records that Julius Caesar"
was first performed on this side of the At
Street theater, New York. on the pro-
gram It was referred to as "A Tragedy,
written by. Shakespeare, called Julius
Caesar with the death of Brutus and Cas-
sius at Philippi. and the remarkable ora
lions Of Brutus and Antony over the body
OF caesar. On this notable occasion the
Brutus was Mr.. Hallam, a son of Hallam,
who was the first English actor who came
to America. Fine indeed must have been
the Brutus of William Augustus Conway,
the elder of the two who have graced our
stage, seen at the Chatham theater in 1926,
This able but unfortunate character must
have possessed a singularly apt disposition
for the great Roman.
The first of the celebrated but unfortu-
nately now extinc line of Hamblins was
Brutus to the favored playgoers of the neXt
succeeding years. The Old Bowery theater
was the scene of his riumph and Forrest
and Cooper must have given him admira-
BILE support. Later on Edwin Forrest made
Shakespeare's Brutus one of his admired
characters, but 1t is the Lucius Brutus of
John, HowardsPayne's tragedy. which is in
delibly written with this actors name.
Wallack ia recorded as the next great
Brutus to rise over the dramatic horizon.
He headed the revival at the Park thea
was in America at the time, and his Brutus
was recognized as one of the finest the
stage had seen. Macready's attitude to-
ward the role as we'll as his self-apprecia-
ton are reflected In the following excerpts
from his diary: Acted Brutus. 1t is one
of those characters that requires peculiar
care, which only repetition can give" . .
" Acted Brutus in a mastery manner"
Acted Brutus in my opinion far
beyond n performance | ever gave of the
character. l do not think the audience in
the aggregate were equal to the perform
ance, They applauded the silent passages,
but they did not seem to watch the gentle,
loving, self-subdued mind of Brutus which
l tried to make manifest before them"
John Mccullough sometimes played Bru-
tus, but in America the next great expo
nent of the noble Roman was Edwin Booth.
1t was one of his favorite roles, and his
public loved him for It. One of his first
appearances in this character was at the
Winter Garden, New York, in June, 1863,
on an occasion of singular interest. The
three leading roles were played by the
three brothers-Edwin as Brutus, Junius
Brutus as Cassius, and John Wilkes as
Marc Antony. Edwin Booth played Brutus
continuously from December % to March 16
in the winter of 1S71-72 at Booths theater.
Later on II was the chief feature of the
tours Of the Booth-Barre combination.
The next of the great American actors to
play Brutus was e. l.. Davenport. He
had seen the zenith of his career and had
relapsed into retirement, when in Decem-
Brutus in the revival of Julius Caesar"
at Booths theater. He played the role
1O1 consecutive times in New York, and
hen repeated II exclusively on a m
ant tour, How we'll he loved the noble
hearted Brutus and the superb quality of
reply when, after his tour, he was asked
If he was weary of the role: mo, / never
enjoyed Brutus more nor felt more in the
spirit of II than the last night l played II.
to leave the door of my dressing room open
so that | might hear the noble words of the
play, There Is, something about the play
1 never tire Of"
1t only remains to record the visit of the
Meiningen players. TIL company from the
ducal theaterr of SaXe-Meiningen came to
America in 1891 and appeared first on No
Vember II at the Thalia theater. New York.
They made nm abnormal success, for II was
not the tragedy nor yet the actors who
made the impression, but the supernumer-
aries.