The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-02
RICHARD MANSFIELD, 'BRUIUS'
MEMORABLE EVENT ~ CITY,S
THEATRICAL HISTORY.
Great Production Of Julius CT ,sr" al the
Herald Square-Eye Almost ONertaxed
BY the spectacle Mansneld's
"nrutus" an Antique Hamlet 4"


It was not alone the splendors of the
production, nor yet the brilliant pictur-
esquenesa Of Alma Tadema's designs that
made Julius Cesar" at the Herald Square
Theatre last night a memorable event in
the theatrical history of New York 1t
WA really the novel impersonation Of
BrtsSs by Richard Mansfield that over
shsdowed In interest his symphony of
colorS Costumes. sonnets, lights and scenery
For once Shakespeare was not comic opera.
awamped by the upholsterer and painter;
while the glorious music Of his motives.
verso and gesture received sympathetic
Interpretation at the hands Of Mr.. Mans
held and his supporting company.
And yet the eye was almost oyertaNed by
tho stage spectacles. Tadema, for whom
Ancient Greece seems an open book. has
realized the antique surroundings Of the
play with all the precision Of his lovely art
Tho oran e-colored temples, the deep, hard
blue OF Italian skies which melt and no iu
late with the feeting hours; the Senate
chamber. with its mounting tiers of marble,
Crsey snthroned. laurelled with gold. an
imperial vision; the Garden of b utus mys-
terious mournful a fit place for oolspiracies,
flaming note from the altar near by-these
with the passionate storm. the onrushii z OF
tho rabble, soldiers, lictors patriciaIs al d
the gloom Of the fl a tsbleaux. have never
beer excelled for beauty or effectiveness IL.
this city Mr.. Mansfield has out gel eralied
his own revival Of Charles ", his mols are
more plastic. more lifelike than lrving's H.
"Robeepierre." and equal TO those Of the
much be-lauded NeiniI gen Company,
We have called his conception and execu-
ton Of Brutus novel. 1t il; il is remark
able for it's originality; the angle from
which the character is viewed is MansfiC Id
ian. IL is not classic-ior which the gods
give him JOY 1t would be styled romantic
were II not suffused with feeling distinc-
lively modern, as modern a. Dosticw3 sky,
and nearly as realistic. The tone : quite
now. We have all seen Brutus played
as a high minded conspiIator. man OF
lofty ideals. a cold. intellectual, reasoning
man. He has been made either too subtle
or else too poetic. +, l.. Davenport was
too scholarly; Edwin Booth, too lyric.
Mansfeld's reading is neither the one nor
the other
Now this actor has not been signally
endowed by nature with an heroic exterior.
He ID not suited to classical parts wherein.
would shine men with more imposing fronts,
beefer men. His hose does not jut ou'
into the world. nor Is his glance an elo!qucu'
one. Ever since the shadow Of Henry
Irving which Poe like settled upon the
path OF Mr.. Nansfe d. our american ar'is,
has often flown Ia the face 81 RCn!cfs
advice TO the PLAYERS. He has sawed Ia,
air. his legs have been grotespue and auto
nomous and ho never seemed To know
-. "A.
pendent Of his brain were these refractory
members.
Worse remained Mr.. Mansfield va
Richard Mansfield In every par, he unGer-
took. His personality, Admirable as i, il
" certain roles was iinroSsiB!n n many.
lions, To o~so' | uu'n"-rus mannerisn-
In hi. voic,, euio'inool, frilling in sho~'
a voice ..,'- In,R"- r,r the ,ocret crey!c
in our Hod"'s eveft ileies il has been ia
flexible Ia the classics am AT no time has l.
possesse the mellow o"'sv" ~ y Hooth
But the supreme quality OF the man, the
quality that dominates his unrulv gestures,
ungraceful att tudinizings and self-con-
seriousness is his Imagination. IN magma
tive artist must be forgiven much. Tom
permanent Grapes multitude OF minor
omissions.
Now mark tho operative synthcsis of
his qualities, good and bad. IN the role Of
Brufus! Refusing. and quite wisely. the
stalk and stare or "a TRADITION fhdt reduces
Shak espeare to the medium Of mclodrama
with .purple patches" Mr. Mansfield con
ceives Marcus Brmus as an antique Ham
let with much Of his native irrcSolItion
And In this he reveals a close study of
Shakespeare. Hamlet" was next in the
order of creation 1t would seem that BrutuS
but served as a preliminary sketch.
Th H. II soiioquN ~ the lai an At II,
s enc I-ha- sugge stiOis Of tho e 0adcnCeS
81 toubt amt &c pl'r we later hear in the
noe famous monologue Of DenTart
nople p ince And there is the saiNc fDh
du do,uc in both men; az II the poet, stated
with his own earthy suco esses, had 'uI ned
his eve upon the dark souls Of hon that
storm heavens gates and fail, .et Gle n" Ter
thrn heir rNv Conorc' o'S.
Hdu,lefs grievance Is private one, though
It led to national ISSUES: that of BrltUs
il public one. Hdmlt} wrong is q
personal one; Brutus's impersonal. The
patriot fed upon the pure distractions of
Plato's Republic an idealst unafraid of
the consequences Of his theories, and a
child in the ways of the wOrld-this is the
Bruius we know, tina, Brutts happy in the
love Of Cato's daughter, a woman we'll
worthy to be fathered and husbanded by
two such stern morals's. To this COM
pound OF dreamer and politician Mr.. Mans
held has added a new and sinister note.
Iii, DrUtuS, gel.t.e, IuNH.S, noa YET the
absent manner Of one who suffers from q
wasting mental malady. He is the true
.sndrch the dreamer 81 mad creams, tn,
regeneration Of universal Ills Lovi g Caesar,
he Is yet ready 10 kin him al a him
from Cdssius, because Of whG Cr'cr may
become! Here Is political idea m run to
crazy paradox Such assassA.r ~ COM
pusion and not by choice are lcthargic
before the deed, which th"y commit in a
spasm Of JOY.
Perhaps Swinburne was right when he
named Brufus the very nCblest figure of
o typical and ideal republican in all the
literature Of the world" Dow den pro-
claims him Girondin, and George Brandes
tits at their theories, declaring that Bru,us
had no fixed political convictions ana really
manifested at times "thc most loyal ana
monarchical habits Of mind" BE this "a
il may. Mr.. Mansfield takes his courage In
both hands and gives us the very picture Of
q human being hallucnated by his visit ns
Of universal Justice. Remember that there
10 no self seeking in Brutds. Liberty Of
the individual comes before all in his
scheme OF idealsm. He me ntally owells
on that slender border line betwcon normal
life and emotional insanty
Herein lies the great art Of this delinca-
ton. After that first entrance, when as an
observer he notes the glory of Caesar, l. the
key sound for tha entire Interpretation.
There Ia melancholy and moodincss and
hysteria In IL as the action modulatos from
dispassonate special orship to assassination.
from the self-justifcation Of that act to
the fiery outburst In the tent with Cdsaius
and the numbing terrors of the appGrition.