The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-02

leOpou OOuO8ptton On buo CnhIAOp0Es but
know no actor who can rise 70 such an
altitude and 10 such power Of emotio nj
and this 4 the truS Measure Of goninA. In
the English speaking world to-day there
b no actor who, taken ell In all, Is bis
superior ~ S.sGEtst-A sssf,-s-
Lntelllgencei There arc two kinds, actor
intelligence Rnd-inteligence. OF actor in-
telligence Mansfield has abundance. 1t
shines out In every triumph Of his manifold
versatility. In bis Characterization Of
Richard he even evinoes subtlety and COM
polling originality Of oonOeption-the light
hearted dandy Of assassination, the ironical
Virtuoso Of crime, who calculates every
effect Rrtistioally, except The ultimate one
Of sodden degradation and defeat. But
there are depths Of human nature which
his plummet has not sounded.
Some years ago II happened that he
and Irving were playing Shylook on Broad
way ct the same time. In most respects,
or 30 1t seemed to me, his rendering was
far superior. Avoiding the sentimental
sophistioations Of the nineteenth century,
according 10 which the Jev was the pro-
tagonist In the tragedy Of a doWntrodden
race, commanding veneration like an
austere Hebrew prophet. Mansfield kept his
performance, In the main, within the sphere
Of character delineaton In which Shake
spearO undoubtedly conceived It; and II
be suppressed the arohaioally grotesque
hlimorS Of the part, the comedy Of Jew
batting, there is warrant, perhaps, In the
change which three centuries have wrought
In popular taste. Even the business with
which he gave theatriO point 10 his exit
from the tTiAl-the jsers and hlhses with
which TEbdI and his tribe scorn0d him
for his conversion TO ChristiAnity-waa a
useful I,ternAtive, perhaps, to the comedy
exit which Shakespeare provided In
Grdhdno's Eibe about his christening. In
sheer dramatic force there was no com
pArison. MAnsheld's ShylOok was q creature
Of volcanic, Of oosmio, emotions, Of which
Irving could embOdy only the faintest
shadow.
But In the hnsr and more sincerely In
tsIleOtual phases OF the character Mansfield
vas q poor second best. When In answer
to Grdtianos rough invective he retorted:
TIL thou oanst rail the seal from on my bond
Thou but onendst thy lungs 70 speak 20 loud.
He bald the bond up and dangled the seal
before Rrdtiano'S hps-a touch Of crude
and gratJdtous theatricism. Irving pref
aoed the lines by gathering the precious
instrument beneath the folds Of his gown,
at once elevahnR the passage into the
sphere Of finely OWNED Interpretation.
Nothing could more sptly indicate the
difference between actor Intelligence and
intelligence.
Il 10 In reEard to the drama a. literature
that MansAelds lack Of the finer intelligence
ls most evident, In classifying books
Lamb dismissed the major portion Of them
as books that aren't books at all Most
Of the pieces in Mansheld's repertoire are
plays that aren't plays. @Dr. Jekyll and
Mr.. Hyde IL a mere orgy Of sensational
theatricism, powerful In the extreme, but
otherwise innocent Of the least pretenston
"A Partisan Romance" Is 80 out Of date,
with its feeble and mAwldsh sentimental
ity, that when Mansfield Is % the stage,
e. In the last act, the audience with dihi-
Guilty Restraints itself from gigging. Beau
Brumnel' IL equally feeble In all but us
title character. sIvan the Terrible 10
tho crudSst and most chaotic chronicle
history ruthlessly Earbled. Richard III.
"A much the same, and requires the adapting
hand Of Collsy Cibber 10 make it viable.
Even az that Mansfield leaves out two OF
the most famous passages. the winter OF
dlSoontent" sohloduy and the dream and
death OF Clarence. The Merchant OF
Venice IL q play OF a very high dramatic
order, but Mansfield has 90 cut and trans
posed IL in the interest OF his own per
Torrance % TO destroy It's virtue as whole
AZ for the American drama, he has con-
tributed nothing to 1t since his coutretemps
With Clyde Fitch over Beau Brummel
and though be was the fiSt TO recognize
the ability Of Bernard Shaw. he has rele-
mated Arms and the Man and The DeviIs
Diaciple' TO oblivion, refusing even to take
advantage OF the recent Shaw boom. In
A word, he has given Us a magnificent gal
lsry Of tbsatrio figures, but no dramas'
One may we'll pause in contemplating the
fate that would await MansBeld's best
HneS on the Continent, There the part
n never permitted 70 outweigh the whole
To any actor Of high ambition, as, for ex-
ample, Coquelin or Somewhat, the drama
n literature or It is nothing. At the Thea
tire Ffancais, at the Sohauspislhaus OF Ber-
I'm, At the Vienness HofburgtbeateT. the
repsrtory now on view ct the New Arnstsr-
dam would be whistled down the wind.
Do you CRY: Away with the classics ana
traditionl' Very well, Go 70 any one OF
the independent theatres, Antoine's, for
ohoios. The ideals and the rePeTtofies are
different, but the play Il still the thing.
Let Il not be thought that am throwing
\ All the blame on Mr.. Mansfield, Those who
i've 10 please must please 70 live, and II Is
aadly true that there IL no public here for
the drama as drama. When Mansfield puts
on Moliere's 'hisanthrope,' as be has had
the courage and ambition TO do, We shall
eee what we shah Sc, But the facts are the
faetS. Here lies one wrote Keats for
his epitaph, whose name was writ In
water Untrue Of the poet, the sentence
Il REALISTICALLY true Of the actor. Thieves
no help for that; but it's q pity when the
water is 90 very far from clear and the
actor happens 70 be one Of the most versa-
tis and powerful geniuBes Of the modern
world. JOHN CohblN'