The San Francisco call., 1909-04-09

1t was ABOUT 10 years ago, ! Should
say, that ] was engaged to appear
with Nine. Modjeska in New York. [
had played in her company before then.
and when she and Edwin Booth were
co-stars. Fourteen years ago / closed
with her in this city at the old Bald
win theater, and since then, though 1
have seen her often. have never been
associated with her professionally.
MoDJEsAA'S ART PURE
Where Nine Modjeska's art was
greater than that of any other actress
was in its womanliness, its joyousness
and its limpid purity. She played Ca
mile. even, with such serene sweet
ness that the unworthy in the char
acter was forgotten and only the in
trinsic womanliness of the role was
presented. Nine. Sarah Bernhardt s
Camille was a technical triumph. 1t
was finished with a diamond cutter S
skill, but it was theatrical. objective
and studied. Duses Camille was a
magnificent performance of hard, un-
lovely realism, which grew in effect as
il grew in unpleasantness 1t was big
and brutal. Nine. Modjeska's Camille
was the work of a poetess, whose soul,
sensitive TO suffering, comprehended
Camille's misery and reflected it. as a
pool of clear water reflects an OBJ
1 think Modjeka's Camille was the
most truthful of the three.
Rosalind was, in my mind, her best
part In that role she had scope for
those characteristics which chiefly
identified her. Her Rosalind bubbled
with the exuberance of youthfulness;
it shone with a spiritual merriment:
it was blithe as a spring morning, and
il was vital with truth. Other act
Ma &c
well or better than She; as Adrienne
Lecouvreur some might not have been
as great in the opinion of many play
goers as others who have essayed the
Scribe role; so with Camille it may be
that there are those who prefer a. more
realistic consumptive and a more ami
nal portrayal than she brought TO the
Dumas drama, but as Rosalind, Nine.
Modjeska was peerless. Rosalind and
she were one in the perfection of an
harmonic prime.
PLAYED IN NEW YORK
At the beginning of my engagement
with her we played at the Garden
theater in New York. In our single
weeks stay there 1 played Benedick
to her Beatrice Orlando TO her Rosa
lind, Macduff to her Lady Macbeth,
Mortimer to her Mary Stuart and
King Henry to her Queen Katherine.
When the curtain dropped on our final
performance 1 raised my voice in a
sincere Thank Cod" AS a compare
tive young actor the strain had been
almost too great. The madame, pass
ing, took me in her arms and said:
You poor, dear boy.' She, better
than any one, knew what a tax on
nervous and physical energy the week
had been: but she was as gentle and
calm after it was over as she bad been
poised and sure throughout the en-
gagement.
PORTRAYAL OF BEATRICE
Next to her Rosalind. on the line of
Nine. Modjeska's picture gallery, rests
her portrait of Beatrice. Her certain
art, with its sparkling facets, made
her Beatrice a thing of scintillating
beauty. In Mary Stuart / think she
struck deeper note than Ellen Terry
could have done had she ever essayed
the role, though Nine. Modjeska had
less of that sprightly stiffness of
mood than the English actress pos
sessed. AS her soul mirrored her
imaginary characters it was but natu-
raj that she should send them forth
touched with the quicksilver of her