The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-07-31

Even the Gifted Sarah SiddOns ana me
 Brilliant Charlotte Cushman Were
 Not Equal to the Task-Anna Diekin-
 son in the Part.
 Although many of the cleaverest ac- dresses the world has ever known es- sayed the part, the have, with few exceptions, failed in 1t.
 Even saras siddions, probably the greatest tragic actress of all time, was a failure as Hamlet, largely owing to the nondescript nature of her gar ments, which were neither masculine nor feminine and which made it almost impossible to forget that her Hamlet was woman and not a man, says London Tit-Bits.
 Charlotte Cushman was perhaps the most brilliant player of male parts or her or, indeed, of any other generation She was equally brilliant and convinc- ing as Romeo, Cardinal Wolsey or Claude Meinotte, but when she made the crudical experiment of playing the melancholy Dane even she proved un- equal o 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 dranatist and crit ic, was completely carried away by it. Of her acting of the passage where Romeo filings himself upon the ground, taking the measure of an unmade grave,' he says: Tt was scene of topmost passion, not simulated pas sion; no such thing-real, palpably real. The genuine heart storm was on in it's widest fullness of fury, and l listened and gazed and held my breath, while my blood ran hot and cold. I am sure it must have been the case with every one in the house. but I was all absorbed in Romeo till a thunder of applause recalled me to myself"
 And of her assumption of the diff cult part of Claude Melnotte in 'The Lady of Lyons Justin Mccarthy says: ''I have seen Glade Melnotte played by many great actors, from Macready to Irving, but Miss Cushman eclipsed them all, She created for me the only human, the only possible and the only endurable Glade Melnotte I have ever Eeen." ......
 Miss Julia Seaman, a once popular actress, was so severly criticised when she played Hamlet some years ago that she turned round on her critics and assailed them in a very rigorous man. ner. The late Miss Marriott, who had one of the most beautiful voices ever heard on any stage, was more fortu- nate, although it was one of her least successful assumptioEtre and in the ffties an American adpssss, Miss Percy Knowles, made such 9fh unfortunate exhibition of herself a the melancho- ,ly one that a country Aanager actual ly issued notice WaN 1g his patrons against going to see E.
 Ellen Tree (Mrs. Chales Kean) was the first, to put on Hamlet'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 cleaver rendering of Hamlet, although it was not to be compared with many of her brilliant slrnptions.
 Charlotte Champion was noted for her cleaver acting of masculine parts, which would have been even more con- Winciflg if she had not been such a tiny woman. There is woman, '' Macready once said> referring to her, ''who would startle the world If she were but two inches taller" She was such a magnificent swordswoman that flew, men cared to try their skill agains her on the stage, and she was un- doubted a genius in her way, with a courage commensurate with her skill.
 She was one of the finest persona tors of Richard III: ever seen on the stage, her Shylock was among the most brilliant pieces of acting in her day, and she was almost equally clever as Iago, Romeo and Don Caesar de Brazan, and yet when Charlotte Cram ton challenged criticism with Hamlet she failed as signally as her rival, Charlotte Cushman,, had done.
 Probably the most successful of all lady Han1lets was Anna Dickinson who made consideration reputation as Macbeth and Claude Melnotte, "A number of women have tried Hamlet" " she said. None, I believe, with any success. Yet, in my opinion, the char acter of Hamlet is eminently suited flor woman's capabilities. Hamlet was very young-a mere college boy dn fact, Besides, a fine actress is more likely to bring out the wonderful womanlike delicacy of Hamlet's chara. ter than very young actor" And she supported her views by giving anat- traotive and cleaver rendering of the part.