Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1905-07-27
THE ROLE OF HAMLET
MANY FAMOUS ACTRESSES ESsAYED
1T AND FAILED.
Even the Gifted sarah siddons and
the Brilliant Charlotte Cushman
We're Not equal to the TnsI-Anna
Dickinson In the Part.

the hEAAkt-tAt NHdf10ktc 04sA ia ~
We're MOI equal to the TnsA-Anna
Dickinson In the Part.
Although many of the cleverest ac-
tresses the world has known have es-
sayed the part, they have, with few
exceptions, failed in it.
Even Sarah siddons, probably the
greatest tragic actress of all time, was
a failure as Hamlet, largely owing to
the nondescript nature of her garments,
! which were neither masculine nor femi-
nine and when made 1t almost impos-
sible to forget that her Hamlet was a
woman and not man, says London
| Tit-Bits
Charlotte Cushman was perhaps the
most brilliant player of male parts of
her or, indeed, of any other generation.
She was equally brilliant and conyinc-
1 ing as Romeo, Cardinal Wolsey or
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 it again.
And yet her Romeo was such a tri-
umpn Of acting that James Sheridan
Knowles, the great dramatist and crit
ie, was completely carried away by it.
OF her acting of the passage where Re-
meo filings himself upon the ground,
taking the measure Of an unmade
most passion, not simulated passion;
no such thing-real,s palpabIy real. The
genuine heart storm was on in its Wild
est fullness of fury, and 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 abb
sorbea IN Romeo till a thunder of APP
plause recalled me to myself
And of her assumption Of the difficult
part of Claude AIelnotte in The Lady
of Lyons Justin Mccarthy says: 7
have seen Claude Melnotte played BY
many great actors. from Macready to
| Irving, but Miss Cushman eclipsed
them all She created for me the on y
human, the only possible and the only
endurable Claude NIelnotte have ever
seen"
| Miss Julia Seaman, a 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 it was one Of her least success
! full assumptions, and in the fifties 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.
Ellen Tree Mrs. Charles Keanl 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
a picturesque and clever rendering of
Hamlet, although it was not to be com
pared with many of her brilliant as
sunptions.
Charlotte Champion was noted for
her clever acting of masculine parts.
! which would have been even more CON
| vincng IL she had not been such tiny
woman There is woman" Mac
ready once said, referring to her, who
would startle the world if she We're 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
a genius IN her way, with a courage
commensurate with her skill
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 fail
ed as signally as her rival, Charlotte
Cushman. had done.
Probably tie 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, I"
she said. None, believe. with any
success. Yet, in my opinion, the char
acter of Hamlet is eminently suited for
/ a woman's capabilities. Hamlet was
very young--a mere college boy, in
fact. Resides. a fine actress is more
likely to bring out the wonderful wo-
manlike delieacy 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
CrfnoIine.
i In the World Of Fashion of 1880 is
/ a reference to 'the new stuff called