Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1905-06-26

Claude Melnotte, but when she made
the crucial experiment Of playing the
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-
umpn of acting that James Sheridan
Knowles, the great dramatist and crit
ic, was completely carried away by it.
Of her acting Of the passage where Ro-
mee filings himself upon the ground,
taking the measure Of an unmade
grave, he says: 1T was scene Of top
most passion, not simulated passion;
no such thing-real, palpably real. The
genuine heart storm was on in its wild
lest fullness of fury, and listened and
gazed and held my breath, while my
blood ran hot and cold. am sure it
must have been the case with every
one in the house, but I was all alb
sorbed In Romeo till 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: II
have seen Claude 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 Claude Melnotte have ever
seem" .-...; go ... ~
Miss Julia Seaman, q once popular
actress, was SO severely; criticised when
she played Hamlet some years ago that
she turned round on her critics and as
sailed them in a very vigorous manner:
The late Miss Marriott, who had one of
the most beautiful voices ever heard on
any stage, was more fortunate, al
though 1t, was one of her least success
full assumptions, and in the f1fties an
American actress, Miss Percy Knowles,
made such an unfortunate exhibition
Of herself as the melancholy one that a
country manager actually issued a no.
tice warning his patrons against going
to see her. ts.@
Ellen Tree (Mrs. Charles 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 Nine. Sarah Bernhard gave
q picturesque and clever rendering of
Hamlet, although it was not to be COM
pared with many Of her brilliant as
sumptions. IL
Charlotte Champion was noted for
her clever acting of masculine parts,
which would have been even more con-
vincing If she had not been such tiny
woman. There is woman" Mac
ready once said, referring to her, "who
would startle the world If she were but
two Inches taller" She was such a
magnificent swordswoman that few
men cared to try their skill against her
on the stage, and she was undoubtedly
genius in her way, with courage
commensurate with her skill. II
She was one Of the finest personators
OF Richard III. ever seen on the stage.
her Shylock was among the most bril-
liant pieces Of acting in her day, and
she was almost equally clever as Iago,
Romeo and Don Caesar de Bazan, and
yet when Charlotte Champion chal-
lenged criticism with Hamlet she fall
ed as signally as her rival, Charlotte
Cushman, 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 women have tried Hamlet"
she said. "None, I believe, with any
success. Yet, in my opinion. the char
acter Of Hamlet Is eminently suited for
woman's capabilities. Hamlet was
very young-a mere college boy, In
fact. Besides, fine actress is more
likely to bring out the wonderful wo-
manlike delicacy of Hamlet's charac-
ter than very young actor" And she
supported her views by giving an at
tractive and clever rendering of the
part. &c..