The Washington times., 1903-08-02
Ellen Terry in Notable Roles.
Two Revivals Which Display Her as
Beatrice" and "Portia."

Rather more than twenty years ago,
on the 18th OF October. 1882, Much Ado
About Nothing was given at the Ly-
ceum in a manner which made the re-
vival one of the most memorable pro-
auctions of the modern stage" ccm-
ments the critic Of the London Times.
1T Is impossible to forget the per
Torrance. and yet a little hard on Miss
Terry that recollection of 1t should be
so keeni for though she herself retains
in wonderful degree the spirit and
vivacity which made her Beatrice so
delightful, her surroundings at the I'm
perial are vastly different The loss of
the best OF imaginable Benedlcks. so
long associated with the best OF i'm
aginable Beatrices. was irreparabIe. and
very modest substitutes are found for
Forbes Robertson. William Terriss.
Miss Millward, and others, who shared
the glories of the Lyceum Much ADO
The work was. moreover, most
beautifully put upon the stage. Miss
Terry has. unhappily. confded the bust
ness Of producing the comedy to her
son. Gordon Craig. and his eccentrici-
ties are not only ineffective, but at
times simply ridiculous. A scene which
recurs on four occasions is In Leonato's
garden. with some stiff and formally
clipped trees in the background, and
the shadows of these trees. as occasion
ally also OF the actors and actresses,
are. by reason OF the scheme of light
Ing, thrown back upon the distant sky
The street is blank curtain, and
when Borachio bids Conrade Stand thee
close, then. under this penthouse, for it
drtzzles RAIN Conrade cannot do so, as
there is no penthouse 10 stand under.
Similarly, when Claudio has read the
epitaph. and says. Hang thou there
upon the tomb. there is nothing upon
which anything can be hung, and the
Count has to go to the wing and pre-
tend to hang something up behind the
scenes. That the church should be illu-
minated by two beams from the roof Is
inevitable, for this is the chief OF Mr..
Gordon Craig's few stock devices; and.
though not quite so grotesque as 1t was
in The Vikings the arrangement OF
light still hides much OF the expression
Of the players features. The crudities
of all this mock art and affected origi-
nality greatly injure the play.
THAT Miss Terry should remain so
very nearly what she was Is the most
agreeable feature OF the revival. After
the church scene. a storm of welI-de-
served applause showed how warmly her
efforts were appreciated. and here Mr..
Oscar Asche. as Benedick, merited his
share of the commentator II was per-
haps not unreasonable that some
doubt should have been felt as to whetn-
CT he was quite the right man in the
right place; for. skillfully as he has al
ways done what he has been called upon
to do. none OF his representations has
suggested capacity to play Benedick. His
intelligence. however. carries him sue
cessfully through the ordeal"
OF another performance in which Miss
Terry fgured-the Actors Association
production OF The Merchant OF Venice"
the Daily Chronicle" says:
Rarely Of late years has a Shakes
pearean play included the services of so
many theatrical favorites. Every cna>-
acter in The Merchant OF Venice was
sustained by a well-known artist. Even
the smallest parts were bracketed with
familiar names. For instance. Lionel
Brough came OF as the jaIIer, with moth
ing to say. and nothing to do except 10
beckon his prisoner, Antonio; Edward
Terry and Seymour Hicks were Portals
servants, SteDhano and Balthazar. and
Dion Boucicault appeared as the clerk
OF the court. score or so of popular
players were content to remain in the
background of the 'casket' and trial
scenes.
This performance again brought to-
gether, as Shylock and Portia, respec-
lively. Sir Henry Irving and Miss Terry.
who to the present generation are iden-
titled with these characters. Sir Henry
has never played the Jew with more
yigor or subtlety.
THE purely comedy passages of Por-
tia were given with such Iightness of
touch that ii seemed impossible that
Miss Terry could have achieved success
in the part so far back as-weII. as she
did. Portals Eimicry OF mankind. the
assumed confidence and self-assertion of
the advocate. and the mirth evoked by
the trick with the rings possessed The
brightness and spontaneity OF youth. AS
an elocutionary effort, the delivery of
the mercy speech was again perfect. |
Every line told, and not a word was
lost
The Bassanio of George Alexander
was marked by manIiness as well as
fervor. and he admirably supported Miss
Terry IN the amusing misunderstanding
in the final act
An Essay on Curates.