The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1905-05-06
SOTHERh At HIS
BEST IN HAMLET
Plays Part Of Melancholy
Dane in Manner That Is
Very Near to Greatness
PERSONALITY FITTING
Miss MarloWe as Ophelia Is
Not So Successful, but
There Is Much for Praise
PERSONALITY FITTING

A Hamlet touching greatness In
It's central figure, OF distinguished In
telligence throughout the cast. of no.
BILE beauty Of picture and pageant was
that given by Mr.. Sothern. Miss Mar
lowe and their fellows at the Column
bia last night. Every grace and splen-
dor OF lighting, background, costum-
ing lent illusion to the picture: the
stage was managed after q fashion
that reminded of an Irving stage.
Worthy indeed is Mr.. Sothern's
Hamlet Of Its noble setting. The ac-
tor has done nothing SO far Of equal
dramatic conviction, the intellectual
truth, even the poetic value Of his
Hamlet. One expected large intelli-
gence in the Characterization. One
was, however, not prepared for the
rare Intellectual beauty of the conoep-
ton. One recalls that in his reading
Mr.. Sothern had the criticism OF Al
fred Ayres. the terror of the mum
bier, the parrot elocutionist, the vocal
acrobat. To this Mr.. Sothern possibly
owes much Of the beauty and certain
ty Of his reading, the fneness Of
his delivery. To listen only to
the lines was pleasure sufficient, given
as they were with the nvelest under
standing and keenest sympathy. But
throughout, In gesture, in a most elo-
Quent facial play, In delightfully."- ar
tistic makeup, Mr.. Sothern's Hamlet
is Of the best stage portraits Of the
day.
His personality is essentially fitted to
the part to begin with, as well fitted as
1t is ill-f1tted to the Benedick role. He
looks the part wholly, looks like some
Of the old Booth pictures, as Hamlet.
It is a modern conception, however.
Still, one gets an odd bit Of the old
school In a Hamlet-like stride the actor
occasionally drops into. There Is some
thing, too, Of the passion torn to ratters
at one lone and unhappy moment In the
play, where Hamlet tells Ophelia to
get to a nunnery. Here Mr.. Sothern
1t is the only place. Reserve. natural
ness, freedom. are the keynotes of the
rest of the Interpretation.
One finds no dark corners In Mr..
Sotherns Hamlet Not for a moment
Is there any doubt of his sanity. Not
for moment is there any doubt as to
his bve for Ophelia- Quite charming,
too, is little touch. In the closet scene
though not alone here-where he re-
veals his affection for Polonius. All the
agony Of the strong purposeful mind
with its weak executive faculty is
finely depicted. There is humor, too. in
the conception. There is the fine dig
nifty of the prince, the nobility of the
scholar. Something Of depth, breadth
is yet lacking to the portrait, and 1t Is
In such places as the soliloquy that one
feels 1t. But Mr. Sothern's Hamlet is
nobly keyed, pitched in the truth and
needs nothing but time to lift 1t to sure
greatness.
Beautiful Miss Marlowe is as ophe-
liza, beautiful in her mad scene, beau
tlful throughout. But It is here a
case of marring personalities. Miss
Marlowe's Ophelia Is too sane. too
normal, In fact too healthy a young
woman to have gone madaoyer any,
thing. She has not the fragile, eIu-
sive charm that is Ophelia's chief
characteristic; the fower-like weak
ness, the spirit too gentle for contact
with the worlds harshness. She Is
with all her humility a very capable
person, and one finds her mad-very
charmfngly and picturesquely mad
with some surprise. Everything that
the intellect can further has been
done, to a reading most eloouently
lovely. But withal It is not Ophelia.
OF the support, the whole cast Is
harmonious. conspicuously excellent
in the first gravedigger done by Row
land Blackstone, and Polonius most
alphabetically played by W. H.
Crompton. Norman Hackett is a rood
Horatio, Sydney c.. Mather a spirited
but somewhat unintelligible LAertes.
G. Harrison Hunter lastly does well by
the King, and Doris Mitchell Is a fine
picture as the Queen mother. The
whole cast is effective, the whole per-
Torrance distinguished, and emphat-
ically Mr.. Sothern's Hamlet one by no
means to be missed.
BLANCHE PARTTNGTON.
s-s