The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1906-11-16
Makes Earth Look Clean and Some Human Beings Try Init
M0DJeSKA IS COMING
Greatest living Actress Except Bernhard,
Coming Here.

| WI MhcDch next WccA frluay nlght'
Tho was at Springfield, Mass, few
days ago and the Springfield Republi'
can has the following relative TO II;
"In spite OF her crime, OF her disloy.
atty, her breach OF the sacred laws OF
hospitality aud OF kInshlp In tbs mur.
der OF Duncan, she remains woman
70 the last and ever retains the sym.
patty OF M audience. The plot TO
murder the king was not thought OF by
her, but by Macbeth, although the
Idea comes 10 her when she reads his
letter. The guilt Is equally divided be.
tween the two, although he Is forced TO
the crime by the superiority OF his
wlfe's intellect and force OF character.
The s.eep'walking scene Is the key TO
the character In many respects. II
shows that the woman was not harden.
cd 10 her crime. that her conscience Is
still alive 10 the axfuness OF her trans.
erosion and that the remorse has
gnawed at her heart until the mind has
become oyerbu.dened and the soul TO
q certain degree, repentant.
"The version OF the play used was
that made and acted by Edwin Booth
Only 10 few particulars were chang.
es made, and these, for the most part.
In stage effects. The witches did not
appear above the battlements after the
murder as they did when Booth was
Macbeth, and u mate ial ghost Of Ban.
quo did appear Ia the banquet scene.
Although the text calls for this, II
seems rather absurd upon the stage
The "ghost" Is OF course perfectly Wis
ible 10 all, yet all but Macbeth must
gaze at the bloody form with unseeing
eyes. A powerful impersonator OF the
title roll needs no "ghost" or no lurid
spot light 10 represent one. II capable
OF playing the part he Is capable OF
creating the impression In the mind OF
his audience that he Is facing the sup
ernatural aud Charles ID. Herman who
was cast as Macbeth last evening need
ed no slowly stalking figure to add
color to his work.
"Much praise is due Mr. Herman for
his strong, intelligent portrayal OF
Macbeth His Is an excellent voice
and well suited TO the reading OF verse.
Exception could be taken TO the inter
pretatlbn given TO number OF lines
but as whole the performance was
unusually big and satisfying. The
character Is one OF the mos. complex
TO be found 10 any Of the tragedies,
yet Mr. Herman ably showed the differ.
ent sides OF the perplexed and desper-
ate man.
Frederic Montague as MacdufI
read the scene In which he learns oil
Macbeth's perfidy with much power,
aud deserved the hearty round OF APP
plause given him. But for the rest
there can little be said. The casting Of
the secondary parts was such as We
have come to expect. The production
was good, but, after all, the one thing
which will be treasured in memory Is
that sleep.walking scene. Ii was rea
acting, acting of the great, broad. sat.
isfying sort, acting that lifts an audi
ence out OF itself, in fact acting OF the
sort that causes people to realize with
deep regret that they have said fare
we'll TO Helena Modjeska
ut will be long time before we SEE
the overpowering role ofLady Macbetl
properly acted again in the Cour
Square theatre, for the last night NJ IN,
Helena M odjeska Dade farewell to thii
city by impersonating the character
There Is none in sight who can step 10
to her place. She is the last OF the ia
nous actresses no shone so brilliant
ly generation ago In classic and no
mantle tragedy. The passing years
have dealt most kindly with the grea
Polish histrion. None Ct the, subtl
phases Of her art have been lost, he
strong, mobile face still portrays ever.
mood and thought Of the character Ii
hand, each gesture is as effective an,
as graceful as ever and the keen intel
lect still illuminates the most Intricate
and hidden portions of a part. Th,
great rich voice alone has lost SOM
OF its marvellous power, but none o
its cadence.
"Modjeska's reading of blank vers
is still almost faultless and the slight
ly foreign accent Is still noticeable, es
pecially so when the words must flo,
quickly. The woman herself is mar
vel for none but one with great physic
al and intellectual strength can hop
to assume the role of Lady Macbeth
yet she does 1t and does it grandly
even as the afterglow OF her caree
grows brighter and more beautiful.
Macbeth Is the greatest of tn
four great Shakespearian tragedies a
far as force and vividness of imagina
ton and rapidity OF action Is concern
ed. Tragic action is the keynote @
the structure and 1t begins with the ris
of the curtain, increases and grows u
to the murder of Duncan, whirls on {
the death of Banquo and from there o
grows more and more stunning a
event succeeds event. Its two gres
characters must be in competent hand
If the strength of the tragedy as pla
Is to be appreciate To be fully al
! preciated the drama should be acte
by company the like of which
now upon the stage.
"The characters are perfectly ba
anced and even the least demand int
ligent portrayals to be entirely effec
tive. Tho secondary players left som
to be desired last evening but no NOR
than Is usually the case in moder
t Shakespearean productions. The da
t has gone by when leading actors ar
content to play subservient roles |
order TO make perfect whole.
, "Modjeska first played the role {