The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-08
SIR HENRY IRVING
 SPRANG INTO FAME
 IN SINGLE NIGHT
Famous Star Better Fitted to Interpret Comedy Roles - Successfully
 Played sThe Bells"

| Sir uenrv Irving became famous in
 nipht hy his great rendition of Matthias | in "The Bells" While in a sense thls was
 true because it brought his great abliity
 before inc eyes of all London and Eng
 land. vet way back of this particular per
 formance the unknown Irving was plou
 ding and delving into the lntrcacles or | his art with no one to applaud ana au-
 mre.
 | What was true of Irving is true of ev-
 cry actor who achieves fame in the legiti-
 mate or classic drama No actor can, by l the sheer force of his natural ability, play the masterpieces of Shakespeare or his fellow dramatists without patience, study
 and severe concentration.
 | Irving, however. had more things to l contend with than other great actors.
 His personality, in his younger years, I was better fitted to interpret comedy roles l than to be the leading exponent of the | classic drama. He was awkward and un- | gainly, painfully slender, with haggard face and voice strikingly weak to sound | the depths of tragic power. But Irving overcame all this and his first perform ance in London of Matthias awoke the critics and the theatregoers to the fact that here was great actor and student,
 who was pioneer of detail. Much in the | future would be expected of him, and | time proved that much he gave. | Irving was the first actor to see the pos 1 abilities of Erckman and Chartrain, and
 with his keen analytical mind he felt
 'here is a play for all time. as long as | the stage endures, for it's dealing with | conscience, the moral sense of which de- | termines right and wrong"
 | In America this wonderful drama has | been kept alive by the performance of
 MT. Thomas E. Shea as Matthias. MT. Shea has been playing "The Bells' the | last 15 years and has given more per- | formances up to date than even the late | respected Sir Henry. In the east, where 1 MT. Shea has starred for 20 years, the expect two or more per 1 formances of this wonderful play during | his engagement.
 The play tells the story of an old inn
 keeper of an Alsatian village who. to ob- | ta in money necessary to relieve his ailng wife and child, murders a rich Polish l Jew. From this point to it's tragic con- | clusion, the drama concerns itself with l the vain efforts of the murderer to stihe
 the voice of a guilty conscience. l The Matthias of Nr. Shea is undoubted- | ly one of his strongest characterizations There is great scope in this part for great actor and Mr. Shea accepts them all. Figuratively speaking he loses him | self completely in the role and as a re- sult succeeds, little by little. in creating
 an illusion that leaves much more than f1eeting impression in the minds of his
 audience. His interpretation is indeed
 masterly one, better than any actor of the present day, and to some, rivaling | that of the gifted Irving.
 being a task requiring discrimination and | taste--Mr. Savage has elected to establish the new department and put it in charge of professional.
 The job has not yet been filled, but ap- plications are being considered.