The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-03-13
TOPEKA SEES MRS. PAT.
And the Verdict as Whole Is De-
cidedIy Eavorable.

Mrs. Patrick Campbell has been hail
| ed by many as the foremost English
speaking actress on the stage of today.
Maybe she is. And assuredly, it would
not be quite proper for writer Of the
atrlcal affairs in a town where the ap-
pearances of really great actors and
actresses are few and far between to
| ga1nsay this. But one thing Is certain.
| She did not rouse the unusually large
audience which gathered at the Grand
last night to see her in 1.-The Second
Mrs. Tanqueray," to any marked de-
| gree Of enthusiasm. This audience was
decidedly representative of the INTEL
| ligence of the city, an intelligence. the
acumen Of which will compare favora-
| bly, with that found in any city. Of it's
| size In the country. But perhaps Mrs.
CampbelPS greatness as an actress can
not be appreciated until she has been
seen half dozen times or so as is evil
denced by the fact that a second and
third thought of her work is much more
satisfactory to her reputation than the
first one.
But whether Mrs. Campbell is the
greatest English-speaking actress in
the world, 1t matters not. She unQues-
tionably is wonderful actress, real
ly remarkable one. She is remarkable
because she Is so unusual All of the
parts that she essays and in which she
has made her greatest successes are
highly emotional ones If her work as
Paula" in THE Second Mrs. Tan
query" can be taken as criterion of
her playing in all parts she is an emo
tfonal actress of an original type. Her
emotion is repressed to a surprising de-
gree. And in this there is marvellous
charm. She accomplishes her points
with a subtility Of continuance that is
peculiarly her own; an art to which all
other actresses are strangers. 1t is a
wonderful art but it is not one to sway
| strange audiences with.
Where Mrs. Campbell is most won
| derful. probably, is in the exquisite
reading of her lines, in her diction and
| her elocution. She has rich, mellow
voice, voice Of wide range. In ex-
tended passages her words flow with
| the seductive babble Of brook as it
| courses merrily along it's pehbly way
| Sentences follow sentences in mellif-
| uous cadences until one is enthralled
| with rapture, until one Is under a sort
| of spell and it may be that because
| of this spell one forgets to applaud
| Mrs. Campbell seemed to be in a happy
| mood last night and put her all into her
| work, and while there may have been
| not few In the audience who were dis
| appointed the great majority will be
| forced to say, on thinking the matter
over, that Mrs. Campbell is an actress
| Of astonishingly rare attainments-at-
| tainments that are peculiarly her own
4
Mr.. Ben Webster as Aubrey Tan
| queray,' Mrs. Campbel's support last
| night could not be called better than
| fair. Her daughter, Miss Stella Camp
| bell, who plays the important role of
''Ellean," was indisposed and her part
! was taken by an understudy who did
not seem equal to it's requirements,
| although 1t must be said that it is a
particularly hard part to play. But
| then the cast did not need to be espec-
tally wonderful as there is not a whole
| lot for 1t to do. Mrs. Campbens clothes
| were radiant as were the gowns of the
other women in the play and the stag
ing of the piece was effective.
AS for the play-well, about everyone
| who is at all interested in theatricals is
| familiar with it and has his or her own
opinions as to the propriety of the dis
| cussion of such problems as it presents
| through the medium of the theater.
| There are good many problems in
/ the play and many of them are not
| solved by its conclusion. One of the
| most perplexing of them is this: IF
| Paula" she with a wayward past
| considers herself good enough to he
come the wife of Mr.. Tanoueray and
he also considers her good enough to be
| elevated to the station of his wife. whv
! do they consider one of the companions
| of her hayward days not good enough
daughter, even though she be a most
| sanity girl?