The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-10-12

secure enduring rame without acting
Lme greater roles OF Shakespeare
therefore such Hne artists as David
,MSarfield. John Hare. fully MARSHALL
Henry Miller, George Ari!ss. A, r.,
Anson and Charles Wyndham have
!ett the question of the full extent
oil thelr abilities still unanswered;
only SotherG and Otis Skinner
among living actors OF the first rank,
nave dared TO stand up TO the su-
pveme test
HIS brief letter offers neither
space nor the occasion for a de-
tailed consideration OF Forbes Robert
sons Hamlet You may have seen
It, II not, 1t is 10 be hoped you
VIII have the opportunity-he de-
votes this season 70 the eastern half
Oh tIlis country, and next TO the west
ern. Suffice 1t TO say that, like all
great art creations, his prince I'm
presses us above all as having been
conceived with practically no effort.
~ Is all so simple. Can this possi-
Dly be the character that students
nave been discussing and disagree cling
about and writing essays on for three
centuries? How can they argue about
this line and the other how can they
consider any passage obscure? Sir
johnston makes II all as clear and
gratiatins 1913 youth impersonated
by Harry Warner. Briefly, the quail
Ties In complex. many sided and
matured art that make this appar-
ent economy OF effort possible. are an
exquisite enunciatlon clear and dis
tinct even in the most hurried pas
saSes; fine phrasing. n voice that is
IKE music, handsome. classic,
thoughtful face; graceful, prncely
carriage, a suggestion of great nerv-
Gus activity. underlying a perfect and
patriclan self-restraint. q sustained
aloofness. which, nevertheless. is
never out OF sympathy with human
frnilty; and, above all, a clear and
noble intelligence to guide these sew
eral elements OF great creation
THE staging and the assistant ac-
tors are adequate Gertrude
Lady Forbes @ r. Robertson. wn. aannoa NnDwa' be
said to help much with a trivial and
modern Ophelia. but then. she does
not do much harm. e. II, Sothern has
the unique advantage of having his
Ophelia played by the only great
artist who has dcigned TO waste her
time on the part since Ellen Terry
and Helena ModJeslSa were young,
and. because of their professional as
sociations with Henry Irving and Ed
win Booth, respectively, consented to
undertake the role. Doubtless they,
as Julia Marlowe does now, showed
how much can be done with the char
acter. The Marowe Ophela is as
superb, within its limitations. as her
Juliet. 1t reappeared two nights after
the Forbes Robertson premiere. when
Mr.. Sothcrn, with admirable and Jus
tihable courage. came forward with
his own finely conceived and eio-
quently expressed Hamlet II II does
not reach the heights OF Sir John
ston's. II scars high In the classic
sky. I was too young when I saw
the Booth Hamlet" to have any
judgment OF its qualities and l
missed Otis Skinner's and the late
erosion Clarke's, but I have seen all
other Hamlets that have trod the
New York stage In twenty years.
and Mr., Sothcrn's is about as far
above them as the Singer buildings
flagstaff is above the subway. Also,
for some strange reason, IL Is al
most as far above any OF his other
Shakespearean performances.