New-York tribune., 1911-04-23
THE PLAYG0ER
Mante|| and King Lear; the llt'
eraI.Minded and the Shake
speare Hungry.

,,eves on a steep roof. and stirring no
smile in their inward parts once IN
while. or oftener. the gentle art OF irony
haff,es the literal minded. and then they
nrav 70 their gods. or abjure them.
The gentle ironist therdApon discovers
anew that undreamed of numbers IN the
population read print with an appaihhe
seriousness. The other morning persons
with clouded faces took Meianchoi! ds
,beir guest and sent sorrowing missives
IN the dramatic critic of The Tribune
whose remarks on Robert Mah'eil 5
King Lear had caused them to weep at
their affairs. They had read. with
solemnity almost religious. what as
surgical operation might make clear
was conceived in not discourteous irony
in the hasty half-hour after midnight.
II their saddened natures were made
heavier there is now an opportunity to
render first aid to the injured. There
are ever among the great and wise,
beings so afflicted that they must be
dosed as elephants are, not as the del
icate gazelles of the Zoo. They find the
wholesale treatment wholesome taking
their remedies by the barrel.
One tortured soul asks why it was
stated that Mr.. Mantel opened his
month of Shakespeare at Daly's Theatre
under favorable conditions" May
peace be with this eager querist. The
house was full and interested. What
conditions more favorable could an actor
desire? The interest was keen though
auiet."' What more need be said on that
point? Must there be printed an
ironic chart? Who ever knew the house
10 be quiet when Edwin Booth acted
King Lear? Quiet, yes. during the ac-
ton. but Booths scenes were followed
with gales of applause. with storms of
cheers Was il impossible for the auerist
To read the meaning in the difference?
Should the gentle line have been set in
six-inch type?
In choosing to play King Lear an
actor makes his most audacious .chal-
lcnge. Mr.. Mantell's challenge is per-
hars less audacious than any other Eng
lish speaking actor of this time would
make" wrote this chronicler next morn
with pain. Behold then: If all the
prominent actors, save one. starred or
unstarred know that Lear is beyond
their powers. would they not be most
audacious in attempting this titanic
part? Mr.. Mantell. presumably, does not
know that Lear is beyond his talents.
hence he is less audacious than other
actors Of this time He rushes in with q
serene and amazing confidence. Could q
Iikestaff he palmer? Audacity is meas
ured by discretion. and discretion by per-
ception. Mr. Mantells perception and
discretion may be less developed than
certain other qualities. Mr.. Mantell is
undeniably most persistent man. But
who shall explain. even to the literal
rinded why he persists in trying TO play
King Lear?
Mr.. Mantell's performance was similar
in quality, certainly not superior. to those
which he and his company have given in
preceding years" Is there a cry for
bludgeons? Must the meaning be beaten
in? The merciful mode seemed the bet
ter one. A declaration that none of Man
tells contemporaries can portray King
Lear so well as he seems to have ruffied
some tempers. Precious souls hearken:
None of Mr.. Mantelfs contemporaries
plays King Lear. or tries TO do so. Stay
There was an exception recently in Eng
land: an actor there did his best But
his best could not be Lear. Mr.. Mantell
does his best. but, if you must have the
chart. what's Hecuba to him or he to
Hecuba that he should try this thing?
He is remote from Lear. No English
speaking actor now living can play King
Lear. And Mr.. Mantell is the only one
in America who tries. King Lear"
said, the other day, sis the supreme test
4 a great tragedian And King Lear
died with Edwin Booth. Until. in the
fulness of time. an actor of genius equal
TO Booths visits the glimpses of the
moon, King Lear will not arise from the
unseen" Does any valiant citizen doubt
this? Yet there is one at large who
thinks the words imply a belief on my
part that Mantell is q great tragedian.
and that he will, on the strength of this,
ne SO blllcu IN iuTdi pidttS anu pciidps
IN what a Western sage has called
'metrolopuses May the tremors Of the
valiant be stilled. and his tossed mind
Iepose.
Another spectators heart was broken
hy the sentence: mir Mantell may not
be a great actor but he is chief among
those who now belong to US" If that
was a binding line it was because the
Foul Fjend. Tom o. Bedlam's or an
other. converted it TO print before COM
pletion with delicate hand had rested on
il. "Chief among those who now belong
10 US i'm this part" The last three words
somehow got suspended somewhere be-
tween heaven and the Printers Devil.
But the world wags merrily none the less.
For even the most rigid minds must
know that Mr.. Mantell is in America now
,nrivalled in Lear since he is the only
actor belonging to us who plays Lear or
tries to. Can you o Sobersides, find "
in your heart TO deny this? The actor is
st the head Of a class of one. See chart
VIII-XI-IX.
Mr.. b. Furioso of Skaneateles, RACES
over a sentence about Mr.. Mantells re-
markable gifts improving year by year
Remarkable gifts surely. since they are
remarked upon. And they improve as
surely in their capacity for exciting re-
mark. Time and B. Furioso giye us
proof And since the gentle ironist'must