New-York tribune., 1911-09-25
SHAKESPEARE IN LONDON
A New JuIiet-Lady Macbeth's
Fascination.
London, September 8.

at two theatres and in each instance
With a sumptuous stage setting. An
easy-going. pleasure-loving audience
could not perhaps endure the tragic
horrors OF either Romeo and Juliet" or
Macbeth" unless there were stage pict-
ures OF sensuous or weird beauty to
divert the mind from the sombre catas-
trophe that was impending; nor could
the four hours traffic of the stage be
brought to O close with rapturous out
bursts OF applause either at the New
Theatre or at His 31ajesty's without an
actress Of exceptional charm or power.
Lovely indeed were Mr.. Harker's re-
productions Of street scenes in Verona
and of the ballroom and gardens OF the
Capulets; and how artistically were they
enriched by Mr. Percy Macquold's Co.'S
tunes and furnishings. With colors and
details drawn from Carpaccios and
Mantegnas paintings! Yet with all the
beauty Of graceful dances end all the
spirited turbulence OF mediaval street
combats and blood feuds. 1t was the
sirlish Juliet who fascinated the imag-
ination with the romance Of first love.
So also It was Lady Macbeth who pro-
foundly moved the spectators when
witches on the heath and ghosts in ban
quoting hall and corridor had ex-
hausted their resources.
II Miss Neilson-Terry was received
at midnight OF the first performances
with a frenzy OF excitement, as though
another Siddons had been discovered, II
was not because her acting had been
free from blemishes. crudity and inde-
cisiop. Reminiscent playgoers could
easily recall more finished impersona-
tions OF Juliet, such as Adelaide Nell
sons, with revelations OF tragic power
in the potion scene, or Mary Anderson's,
With statuesque beauty in ballroom and
balcony, or Julia Marlowe's, with re-
sourceful art in byplay with nurse and
lover and In the grewsome terrors OF
the charnel house. They had never
seen, however. so girlish Juliet before,
nor felt. so keenly and sympathetically
the abandonment Of youth to the pas
sion Of first love. This tall and fair
English girl with her golden hair might
not be an italian, although her draper
ies, plaits, yelling and jewels Gould have
come from the canvases Of Carpaccio,
Botticelli or Ghirlandaio; but she was !ui
her teens and IN an ecstasy OF pleasur-
able excitement when she first saw her
d. ~ nd y1rhathar n
was pouring out her rhapsodies from
the moonlit balcony, or coaxing the
nurse with affectionate cajoleries, or
fiuttering with anguish over her hus-
bands banishment and the terrors OF
magical potion and the Capulet tombs.
she had the incompatible charm Of radi-
ant and inexperienced youth
Other impressions Of that first night al
The New Theatre are likely 10 be tran
STORY. The stage pictures, bewitchinsl
dances and blends of color will fade from
remembrance. The Romeo OF Mr.. Ver-
non Steel will be recalled as a fierce
fighter rather than an ardent lover, and
Mr.. Calvert's boisterous Mercutio. Miss
Rosina Filipprs garrulous Nurse, Mr,
Fisher Whites eloquent FTiar Laurencei
and Mr.. Brydone's fiery Capulet will pass
into the whispering gallery Of stage
echoes and speedily be forgotten Tho
Juliet alone will stand out among un-
recognizable or too familiar shapes, and
not merely because-she was young and
radiant but because she embodied the
Shakespearian ideal of a sensitive and
innocent girl entranced by the first
glimpse Of a lover, reaching out her
hands to him from the balcony, giving
herself toyously to him IN spite Of blood
feuds and his murderous sword, defying
for his sake the perils of subtle polsons
and entombment in a charnel house and
triumphing IN death as in life by the
constancy and intensity of her devotion.
The ideal Juliet Of literary criticism may
be as hypothetical a figure as the really
great Juliet, whom the oldest dramatic,
critic confesses that he has never seen.
although one actress or another has had
splendid moments This Juliet, with all
the flaws of technique and limitations OF
art, was attuned 70 the sweetness, s.l-
cerity and simplicity Of the nightingale's
song, which she seemed TO hear from the
garden, with its tall expresses and fr&'
grant roses and lilies.
The stage management at His Mai-
esty's is never lacking in inventiveness
and the production of Macbeth" is con.
spicuous for new devices in the treat
ment OF Banquo's ghost and the SUPER
natural horrors OF the haunted castle.
BY many subtle processes and resources
Of scenic art the weirdness OF the play IS
accentuated, and yet the main motive IS
logical and consistent-the ambition OF
superstitious warrior, who IS whipped on
by the valor Of HIS wife's tongue from
one insensate crime to another in the be-
lief that he is anticipating the DEGREES o.
destiny. Sir Herbert Tree is a more ef'
fective Macbeth than Mr. Bourcher VIZ
in a few experimental performances ~
the Garrick Theatre and at Stratford'
and his superiority is due TO the lucidiy,
OF mind which has enabled him 10 re-
duce a composite character 10 elemen'ai
form Here is an ineligible Macoeu'
who IS neither a Celtic dreamer nor
wanton butcher. nor a vacillating Ham
let with perverse talent for play actins'i
but brave soldier, immoral rather thaA
immoral, who is a sensitive medium ios
receiving impulses from supernatu'"
agencies and from Lady Macbeths irn.
perious will and natural courage
not one Of Sir Herbert Trees best I'M
presentations, It is vitalized by an 'n.