The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1904-01-21
TIE GOLD LEAF.
Shakespeare at Henderson.
FairbrotiIer's Everything.


By the shining lights of the Aurora
BOrealis and there was something |
bidding in Henderson the other night |
in Henderson, North Carolina. Th' |
Simvelle Company was billed to dc |
Romeo and Juliet at Cooper Opera
house-and as Romeo and Juliet had
long been understood to be some
thing Of IL hot number, Henderson
people turned out to see the mirror
held up to nature as the Master writ
it-but as the GOLD LEAF SAYS:
Those who had witnessed it knew
what to expect Those who had not
perhaps did not have proper apprehen
sion OF what to expect"
The same dramatic critic of the
GOLD LEAF says:
'The play was well staged and pre-
scented by capable company. That
there was lack of enjoyment and appre
citation was due to no fault of the play
or the players. 1t is not calculated to
excite the admiration or mOve the risrDles
of the general audience but that does not
detract from the merit of the play in the
least
So we take it that a part of the
audience expected something else and
was sorely disappointed. At best
Romeo and Juliet is not on the order
of Uncle Toms Cabin or Red Handed
Dick the Hero of the Lost Gulch, and
people who go out to see it ''acted'
expecting to get something OF. the
order of Ten Nights In A Bar Room
are rarely loud in their praise-at
least not enthusiastic.
Another great trouble was. it seems,
that Mr.. Louis NJ Mortelle was not
at his best. When an actor is not at
his best-especially if he is doing a
Romeo stunt there is a lack of fire
and a lack of everything essential to
bring Romeo out for all that he's
worth. The GOLD LEAF, however,
comes to the rescue OF Romeo i'll this
entirely satisfactory explanations:
''Mr Louis NJ. MOrtelle was laboring
under a serious disadvantage and his
Romeo was lacking somewhat in the
brilliancy of acting, passionate love and
ardent spirit of the role essay9d He was
sick and almost too weak to go through
with his part at all. After each appear
ance on the stage he had to throw him
self upon lounge in his dressing room
to regain strength sufficient to go on
with the next act. Until just before the
time for the doors to open it was not
certain whether there would be any per-
fOrman at all SO intensely was Mr..
Morte l. suffering. But rather than dis
appoint the audience he went on with
his wo and did the best he could under
the circumstances"
Now with this statement of facts
before us we can easily comprehend
,,,l,,, Ja r,,;,. T,,1iot IL ~, hn,
lover: "Hist, Romeo, hist" he
heisted with a lethargy and a dull
ness and a stupidness that detracted
from the real intent of the author
And imagine. if you can, a painting
Romeo with the hallyache trying to
essay a character more fierce than
empty tigers or the roaring of the sea"
threatening to tear his servant Joint
by Joint and strew the hungry church
yard with his limbs-Hhy, we tell you
ladies and gentlemen it cannot be
done
Imagine also the great disappoint-
ment of the audience if Mr. MOrtelle
had absolutely refused to have taken
his belly ache on the stage. There
was assembled the beauty and the
chivalry of the town--and Juliet was
ready for the fray. 1t was Il great
sacrifice on the part of Romeo and
had we been Romeo we wOuldn' have
cared cuss for the audience-until
the pain had ceased AS Shakespeare
well and truly said, ''fOr never was Il
story of more woe, than this of Juliet
and Romeo" And this estimate it
should be remembered took no ac-
count whatever of Romeo having the
stomachache.
However, it looks to us at this dis
tance, had Romeo, instead of going
into his dressing room to throw him
self upon lounge done that stunt
before the audience, he could have ad-
ded a great deal to the interest of
the play. The audience, for the most
part does not know what is trans
piring behind the scenes, and instead
OF mentally arranging to hang
Romeo it might, had he remained
with his agony in full view, have ex-
tended sympathy and felt that it got
its moneys worth.
AS to those people who were disap-
pointed because the plot did not
strike their fancy-that was their
own fault-and they had no right to
demand their money back at the box
office. When man coughs up four
bits to see q Shakesperian play he
should remember thai Col Shake
speare has a we'll established reputa-
ton in North Carolina as being
among the foremost writer's of the Tar
Heel State. AS poet lariat of the North
Carolina Press Association he won
distinguished honors, and the play lie
wrote for the Lexington Dispatch.
called Julius Caesar was the direct
cause OF seventeen new subscribers
this according to statement made in
confidence to us by Mr.. H. B. Warner
proprietor of that paper. Colonel
Shakespeare has also written several
other pieces which have been pro-
nounced equal to any of the writings
of the established editors on the
State press, and why the Henderson
Audience did not get what it ex-
pected, or why it did not fully appre
ciate what it got we are seriously
disturbed to know OF course in a
play like that it should not have beer
expected that anything abiding tC
the Bassett incident would be intro
duced. As we understand it Colone
Shakespeare wrote the play before
the issue of the South Atlantic Quar-
terly containing Bassett' s article had
come from Henry Seeman's six roller
press. Andlagain if Romeo had not
been sick. he might have referred tc
the incident before taking cold pizen
Yet in these days when all the state
press is eegaged in squabble, we are
not surprised that some of the Hen
derson people are attempting to dis
count the writings of Colonel Shake
speare and. threatening to hang him