The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1905-12-28
! he ThEATRES
PROVIDENCE OPERA HOUSE.


! A Sea Captain ............ William Harris
/ Valentine ................... Frank Kingdom
! Curio ..................... Pedro De Cordoba
] Sir Toby Belch ..... Rowland Blackstone
/ Sir Andrew AEuecheek Malcolm Bradley
/ Malvolio ................... F. ii. Sothern
| Fabian ....................... T. L. Coleman
! Feste ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Frank Reicher
/ SPricst ................... Edison r Miles
] olivia ................ Miss Alice Harrington
! Viola .......,........... Miss Julia Marlowe
| Maria ,....... Miss Millicent Mclaughlin
sailors-Messrs. Davis, Pelter. Kelly
/ and Dame.
Pages to Duke-Misses Bradley and
| GRAY
Attendants on Olivia Misses Sanford
! Kelly Stoughton and Mrs Reicher
| Pages to Olivia-Mlsses Sadlier, Gray
| and Gladys wilkinson
! Musicians-Messrs Biondi, Blondi, Lu-
ciano and Esposito.
At the Providence opera House last
! evening Mr.. f. H. sothern and Miss Ju-
| la Marlowe presented the second I'm their
| Shakespearean repertoire Of the week
Twelfth Night or What You Will" The
/ bill Is repeated this evening. Tomorrow
evening Romeo and Juliet" in which
! both artists arc eminent and familiar will
/ be produced for a single performance. At
/ the Saturday matinee. Sothern and Mar
/ lowe will be seen for the first time here
I In The Merchant Of Venice" which pro-
! duction will also close the engagement
Saturday night
OF last evenings performance IL may
be said that the impression It left with
! the audience must inevitably have been
marred by the lateness OF the hour when
the iinal curtain fell. Even with the
| classics We want our comfort SO ex-
perienced a public entertainer and so ex-
pert stage manager as Mr.. Sothern
I ought To feel the value OF cut down or
! a speeding up TO Twelfth Night" and
know just how to bring IL about. The
comedy Is by no means a thing of en-
thralling interest. The revelation Of the
relationship between Viola and Sebastian
being indicated early in the development
OF the play and the scenes being often
| fragmentary and not always concentrat-
ing on the plot. the undue prolonga ton
OF the denouement TO 1130 strains even
such an audience as was gathered last
eveningaand mars the recollect ton of the
production That man Is privileged by
ancient usage TO take a respite between
the acts only makes the position OF woman
the more painful when she Is locked in
her seat for three and one-half mortal
hours with pictures that wear by their very
brilliancy ever shifting before her eyes.
The pretty bit that the clown furnishes
for an epilogue was sadly handicapped
last evening by the restlessness OF the
audience. but the audience could not he
blamed for tfat. The comedy is a series
OF prettT lively and fantastic pictures
an optCi tainment I'm the dainty sense
rather than an impelling drama that
clinches YOU and consistently develops
your interest II is a panorama of scene
and character, pretty and not vigorous or
vital scintilatng rather than stimulating
and can hardly hold up against the
strain OF long hours, as Macbeth" say.
Hamlet" Romeo" the Merchant" or
"Othelo' would hold you to your seat.
forgetf,l OF time and train and trolley
car schedules.
Miss Marowes Viola Is dainty and
winsomo just as you would expect her
TO play it. IL Is a popularity Of the play.
however. that it only focuses on the star
part very gently in the run OF the story
Viola is not a dominating figure. but one
of several characterizatlons OF we'll nigh
equal Importance so far as the eneter-
tainmcnt, II not the interest OF the audi
cnce Is concerned. And with reference
90 Miss Marlowe's portrayal II Is to be
said that pretty and delightful as It Is, IL
often lacks VlVidness-or, at least It so
seemed to do last evening for there
seemed 10 be about her performance
repression that was eXtrcme-that i'm an
actress Of less charm and less engaging
personality would surely have been set
down az perfunctory. Mr. Sothern's NAL
volio was. on the contrary a new reve-
latiun OF that actors versatility as a
character artist. The absurdity OF him.
the grotosqueuess of him his ridiculous
vanity and counterfeit dignity. were
amazingly well done. and when after Sir
Toby and other rascals. had performed
their abominable trick on him. ne excited
the sympathy OF his audience 20 the ex-
treme I'm his pliEht--so that when he I'm
ally left the stage his dignity reasserted,
nc made YOU feel that it was quito chast-
ened OF its absurdties and he was fell
low man entitled TO a large measure OF
fellow feeling I'm his misfortune II was
a capital bit Of work consistently devel-
oped and not e. ily TO be forgotten among
the really strong creations OF tho stage
and of Mr. Sothern's long list W oxcep-
tional Characterization.
Mir Buckstoues Sir Toby Belch is 10 be
remembered as "a fine and finished per-
formauce of one OF the most delightfully."-
human ana mirthful of Shakespearc's
characters Tho old rascal was splondidly
portrayed with an the contrasting Inca
ter character creator evidently intended
him TO be. Indeed, the company through
out. shows un finely in this Twelfth
Night fln-makinF comedy the import
ant II briefly eketchcd parts of the Duke, |
OF Sebastian. of Antonio. and others be- /
ms afforded their fun value by the play
ers who portrayed them. As a scenic pro- |
ducti0n nothing I'm the repertoire offers 1
more brilliant stage than is provided FOR /
the comedy
IL Is a rest treat 10 have this unfamil- /
Tar play acted and done IN every detail /
Ia "a way SO memorable as the Sothern- |
Marlowc production