The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1905-08-23
THE ROLE OF HAMLET
MANY FAMOUS ACTRESSES EssAYED
IT AND FAILED.

Dickinson In the Part.
Although many OF the ~cleverest ac-
tresses the world has known nave es-
sayed the part, they have. with few
exceptions, failed In II.
Even Sarah Siddons, probably the
greatest ira gle actress Of all time, was
n failure as Hamlet, largely owing to
the nondescript nature of her garments.
which were neither masculine nor femI-
nine and which made Ii almost impos-
sible to forget that her Hamlet was u
woman and not a man, says London
Tit-Blts.
Charlotte Cushmnn was perhaps tho
most brilliant player OF male parts Of
her or, indeed, Of any other generation.
She vas equally brilliant and convinc-
Ing as Romeo, Cardinal Wolscy or
Claude Melnotte. but when she made
the crucial experiment of playing tho
melancholy Dane even she proved
unequal to the task. In fact, her Ham
let was so badly received In Dublin
that she there and then made up her
mind never to play 1t again.
And yet her Romeo was such a tri-
umph of acting that James Sheridan
Knowles, the great dramatist and crit
lc, was completely carried away by 1t.
or her acting Of the passage where Ro-
meo filings himself upon the ground,
taking the measure OF ar unmnde
! grave" he says: 1T was a scene Of top
most passion, not simulated passion;
no such thing-real. palpably real. The
genuine heart storm was on In Its Wild
| est fullness Of fury, and I listened and
| gazc<l and held my breath. while my
| blood ran hot md cold. I am sure 1t
must have been the case with every
one in the house, but L was all alb
sorbed In Romeo till n thunder OF ap-
plause recalled me to myself"
And of her assumption Of the difficult
part Of Claude Melnotte In THE Lady
Of Lyons" Justin Mccarthy says ~
have seen Claude Melnottc played by
many great actors, from Macreahy to
Irving, but Miss Cnshmun eclipsed
them all. She created for me the only
human. the only possible and the only
endurable Claude Melnotte l have ever
seem"
Miss Julia Seaman. n once popular
actress, was so severely criticised when
she played Hamlet some years ago that
she turned round on her critics Inc as
sailed them In a very vigorous manner
Tho late Miss Marriott, who had ono OF
the most beautiful voices ever heard on
my stage, was more Fortunate, nj
though 1t was one Of her least success
full assumptions, and In he f1fties IN
American actress, Miss Percy Knowles,
made such nh unfortunate exhibition
Of herself as the melancholy one that Il
country actually issued n no.
tice warning his patrons against going
TO see her.
Ellen Tree (Mrs. Charles Kean) was
the first to put on Hamiet's doublet
and hose; Mrs. Glover won Edmund
Kean's approval by her playing OF the
part, and Mime. Sarah Bernhardt gave
a picturesque and clover rendering Of
Hamlet, although 1t was not to be com
pared with many Of her brilliant as
symptoms.
Charlotte Champion was noted for
her clever acting OF masculine parts,
which would have been even more con-
vincing II she had not been such n tiny
m There Is n woman" Mac
ready once said, referring to her, who
two inches taller" She was such a
magnificent swordswomen that few
men cared to try their skill against her
on the stage, and she was undoubtedly
n genius In her way, with n courage
commensurate with her skill.
She was one OF the finest personators
OF Richard III. ever seen on the stage,
her 6hylock was among the most bril-
liant pieces of acting In her day, and
she was almost equally clever ns Iago.
Romeo and Don Caesar dc Bazan, and
yet when Charlotte Champion chnl-
lenged criticism with Hamlet she fall
ed as slgnnlly as her rival, Charlotte
Cushmnn, had done
Probably the most successful OF all
lady Hamlets was Anna Dickinson,
who made considerable reputation as
Macbeth and Claude Melnotte. "a
number Of m have tried Hamlet
she said. "None, 1 believe, with any
success. Yet, In my opinion, tho char
acter OF Hamlet ia eminently suited for
n woman's capabilities. Hamlet was
very yOung-a mere college boy, In
fact. Resides, a fine actress la moro
likely to bring out the wonderful wo-
manlike delicacy OF Hamlet's charac-
ter than Il very young actor" And she
supported her views by giving an at
t%roct've and clever rendering Of the
part.