Omaha daily bee., 1903-04-14

pany in Shakespeare's "Othello,' a trag-
edy in six acts. The cast;
Brabantio, a noble Venetian
Ptkington
Lodovico Frank Landers
othello, general OF the Venetian army.
Charles ~. heTman
Iago, his ancient. ...........Francis MeGlnnl
Cassie, his lieutenant.......-..Joh Tyrrel
Montana. ................. Harry c. Barton
Roderigo ~. hyneS
julio. f~iSFrlnston
besdemona, wife Of othelio.
Miss Anna Roberts
Emelia, wife Of Iago..... Miss Mary Holmes
without pretensions to histrionic great
ness. MIR. Charles D.. Herman modestly
contents himself with the general descrip-
tion Of sterling actor" and he well de-
serves this distinction. He has been seen
in Omaha often in connection with the
classic plays, and his name is well known
to the discriminating theater patrons who
look down the bill further than the name
Of the star. Mr.. Herman comes now lead
ing a company Of players who, like himself,
are ambitious to become known as actors
Of merit without undue ambition to achieve
stellar celebrity. Last night this COM
pany presented "Othello" at the Boyd the
ater, and 1t is only justice to say that
while the performance may not have been
we'll on this side of greatness, it was still
marked by an intelligence and with such
taste that the real strength Of the piece
suffered nothing by its treatment. Each
member Of the cast at least understood
what his or her character stood for in
relation to the general whole, and each Is
qualified by nature and training to give
such expression to the lines as to make
them acceptable IL not indeed enjoyable.
1t is always a pleasure to hear the noble
poetry Of the greatest Of English poets
spoken with the clear enunciation and con-
hdent utterance of a trained actor, and this
pleasure was certainly that of the audience
last night.
Mr.. Herman closely follows tradition in
his characterization of the Moor. And why
shouldn't he? He has behind him a long
line of most illustrious actors who have
given to this part such a certainty Of in
depreciation that the methods and means
are almost as immutable as was the code
of Cyrus. 1t is not a part one wants to
see experimental with; nor would II lend
itself readily to the undertaking, even were
the actor willing to make the endeavor
Incident to a new or modern" interpreta-
tion. Othello is the embodiment Of the
fundamental passions in their crudity; there
is no refinement of any Of the emotions in
him; he is elemental, not subject to an
alysis, and as such has been accepted too
long to permit of any bubble as to his
composition. Thus the procession Of Moors
that has crossed the stage since the time
Of the goodly company of players at the
Globe has varied only In degree, exactly
as the actors have varied and not other
wise. Mr.. Herman is only different from
any Of the others az his personality differs
from theirs. In the minor passages he
reads the lines with a fullness Of voice
that is delightful; in the more impassioned
portions his voice loses much Of its ro-
tundity and to this extent falls short OF
producing the effects that have won fol
more gifted actors their triumphs as the
Moor. His scene with Desdemona just be-
fore the murder was most effective, and
in the scenes following he rose to real
strength.
Mr.. McGinn gave a most creditable pres.
e~ntation of tho part of Iago, speaking hi:
lines with intelligent force and giving t.
the crafty seeker for revenge such, life az
might have been that Of the original, hat
he ever lived save in fancy. Miss Roberts
has a double advantage in her role o
Desdemona; she is fair and comely, a.
must have been the daughter of Braban
tino, and she is possessed Of a voice tina
is both powerful and musical, and which II
equally flexible and under control. She
too. acquitted herself with much credit
In all respects the performance was salts
factory and merited much more liberia
patronage than it received.
This evening the same company will pre-
sent Henry Guy Carleton's romance o
Venice, "The Lion's Mouth"