The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-04-23
ADJUSTMENTS

Was Annie Russell Puck-or was Puck
Annie Russell2
II you read your Shakespeare before
you see this eifisn. wiggly, laughing, lit
tie body trip, romp and verify fly
through the four acts of "A Midsummer
Nights dream as presented by the
! Wagenhalls and Kemper company at the
SAT- Lake theatre, you'll find the Puck
That has been given Miss Russell to play
isn't Mr. Shakespeare's Puck by many
lengths.
You'll not care. however. for the wood
scene In the first act If the sunshiny little
girl in the ragged clothes and the hood
puileu about her pretty head Will only
keep on with her loving mockery il won't
make any difference to you whose Puck
tt Is, for you'll dreamily float away Il ON
your seat up among the trees and caper
gieefully with the fairies you find there.
If you had a lovely, happy dream from
which someone had taken all the dark
places and left you a perfect fantastic
Illusion would you mind the loss of the
shadows? So. then, it doesn't really mat
ter at all whether Puck has descended
from her realm of fairydom and is just
plain. everyday. demure Miss Russell or
whether the latter has put aside her
charming personality and has lost her
identity in whimsical child of the great
Shakespeare's fancy.
You cannot analyze a dream-you have
MT time in the first place and in the
SECOND II would only slip out OF youl
grasp and be spoiled in the attempt
To analyZe Annie Russells work as
Puck would be of as much use as at
tempting to reconcile fact with fancy.
She is wholly lOvable in the role. but
to love her you will have to see her. for
to catch a fancy, endowed il with
whimsical and lovely personality and
type IL is beyond the ability of the writer
Miss Russell will be at the Salt Lake
theatre tonight, tomorrow afternoon and
tomorrow night in "A Midsummer
Nights Dream There have been few,
II any, better productions scenicaIIy and
artistically OF Shakespeare's exquisite
comedy than this one.
1t is splendidly staged IN every scene
and particularly so in the acts wherein
Puck and her fairies frolic about over
woodland, hill and dale. A wonderfully
true atmosphere of the greenwood has
been retained in the investure of the
piece and the scenec of the gilded pomp
of an Athenian court are equally well
ton runs with that smoothness and
Steadiness that beSpeaks Broadway I'm
an unmistakable manner
So elaborate and real scenically is the
production that one talks of il quite nat
urally before reaching Miss Russell and
her fellow players, for the Illusions of
"A Midsumemr Nights Dream must be
obtained before they can be maintained.
annie Russell has scored triumphS in
her time, but she has never done any
thing better than the Puck she PLAYS at
present 1t suits her temperamentally-
she understands and her voice makes the
rest easy.
Such a voice,
Clear as a bell-yet mellow and full of
music, it rings out a moment here i'm a
merry peal and then soft and beautiful
as the soughing breeze through the
boughs. while it leases the laughter from
you lrresistibly. The secret of Miss Rus
sells delightful Puck is her voice, with
its music and laughter. She moves with
n dolS me
from the moment she flies in from the
Wings 20 the niche in the big tree and
huddles there in her quaint, fairy way
The aerial illusions are well handled and,
every scene is reDlete with scenic novel;
ties and original and enhancing electrical
effects.
The play and the character of Puck are
too well known to warrant an extended
review of either 1t is a simple foolish
little tale of how two men loved the
same girl, while another girl pinned away
wooers. The fairy Puck is commissioned
by her fairy king to cause the beloved
wooer to love the maid forever, whether
he will or no. Mischievous Puck charms
the wrong man and then completes the
tangle by charming the other three i'm
just the wrong way. Through four acts
the fun goes and ]. NJ. Barrie. with his
Peter Pam or any other of the latter
Gay playwrights. who so dearly love to
set their fanciful dreams to masks and
buskins and set them scampering about
a stage, have never evolved half so pretty
and delicious comedy.
It's great fun to see stalwart Edwin
Mordant, Lionel Adams, Oswald Yorke
and James Young hopping around with
elfins and other fairy land creatures. Mr..
Mordant is TheSeus, Mr.. Yorke Lysander
and Mr.. Adams. Demetrius. Mr.. Young
is King of the Fairies They play most
acceptably. as do their host of associates
in the other parts Of The comedy. Ina
Brooks is pretty as the Queen of the
Fairies. Catherine Proctor as Hernia
and Lansing Rowan as Helena are pleas
ing In the two roles. Space f0rbids men
ton Of the other members of the COM
pany. though the work of several deserves
notice.
Miss Russell's voice loses none of its
sweetness when she uses it in song. Eye
last night. with pleasing arrangement
of the music by Augustus Barrett. The
incidental music of the entire production
is one of its most enjoyable features and
The audience that greeted the star last
evening was not what ii should have been
in numbers. The welcome Miss Russell
received. however, lacked nothing in en-
thusiasm. 1t is not given to local play
wooers more than once twice season
to witness so finished presentation of Q
Shakespearean play as the present produ-- !
ton of "A Midsummer Nights Dream"
at the Salt Lake theatre, and for that rea-
son and for the pleasure of seeing Miss
Russelfs Puck" Salt Lake can i'll af-
lOTO 10 HISS TIE cOAiSuy turing It's pres
ent engagement
The Orpheum patrons of last night had
the worth Of their money in wealth of
laughter, and they took it. There is
nothing remarkable or unusual on the bill
unless it be the illustrated lecture of
Mile Toona on the great southwest, and
this is more than excellent and it is new. |
But the bill is a good one throughout. |
The headliner, Her First Divorce Case
presented by Matte Keene and two capa-
BILE assistants, is filled with clever lines
and funny situations, but the play is
rather thin for as good talent as is de- |
voted to it. and one is forced to the con-
clusion that Matte Keene has better pos |
sibilities
Two old stagers, Finley and Burke. in |
stageland satire, are fine, and disprove !
their own adage, ITS the same old |
story" for they provide new and clever |
surprises in their representations and |
take-offs. Matthews and Ashley do |
particularly good bit of work in their |
pipe dreams, and q most realistic one. too |
The bill opens with the three Durands. !
Italian singers. possessed OF fine voices |
and a goodly measure of ability in the |
character line. They were recalled again |