The Washington herald., 1913-10-12
STUART RnRsoN.

taken 10 Baltimore, Nd, IN whlcn StaIe
he was born. remaining in that city until
his fifteenth year; he then adopted the
dramatic profession. continuing the same
until his death, except a short interval
while following the art preservative. He
was many years a member of stock COM
panies in various cities, performing
large variety OF roles. in plays. long ago
forgotten. such as Bonnie Fish Wife
"Clari," Little Savage" THE Enchan-
tress. "Naiad Queen" THE Pride Of the
Market" The Young Prince" Mother
and Child" Money" The Robbers"
"The Elder Brother" Unequal Match"
Extremes" The Bottle" &c. He gave
many burlesque limitations, being fea-
tured in them on the programs. Ham
let" Camille, with comic song; "A
friendly setto between B. B. and
chicken, during the piece" in the
"Benica Boy Abroad" called B. B. for
: short, &c. In more recent years his
work was seen at the Union Square The
alter Company in Lovelrs Loves Sac
rifice," Led Astray," &c: Our Board
ing House." Our Bachelors" Forbid
den Fruit THE Comedy of Errors
with the co-star. William H. Crane. fol-
lowing Robson as Dromio, Of Syracuse,
with Crane, his Ephesian brother and
namesake The makeup" Of those anus
ing comedians was startling. OF course,
Robson was Robson: his lisp, his squeak,
his cnuckle, the peculiar drawl and in
Elections which made him what he was.
could not be changed or disguised; but
Cranes imitation of all these pecuIiari-
ties, so opposed to all his own manner
isms. was exceedingly absurd. 1t was
Boucicault's idea to have Charles Webb
and his brother who had appeared in
twenty-eight consecutive performances ar
the Covent Garden in the Comedy of
Errors" to give some similar enactments
here.
Mr. Webb was in his eightieth year
and his brother not much younger. As
Boucicault could not perfect the arrange
ments satisfactorily. he let the matter
drop. Robson performed some promi-
nent roles in his support OF William Z.
Burton. Mrs. John Wood. Caroline and
Peter Richings, John Sleeper Clarke
Frank Chanfrau, James E. Murdock
Matilda Heron James W. Wallack, Mag
gle Mitchell. Barry Sullivan, and others
After shelving Bret Hartes The Two
Men Of Sandy Bar" he returned to stock
work at the Park Theater. II he had
done so sooner he would have saved
! considerable money. preserving his pro-
| fessional status intact. The Two Mem
started a lively discussion. which was
entered into by all classes of people. the
press taking the lead in finding faults
The play, the author. and poor Robson
all came in for criticism. The play
lacked symmetry and continuity, and
was withdrawn after a somewhat event
full career. 1t was after the remarkable
success of John T. Raymond in Colonel
Sellers that Robson conceived the idea
of rivaling with a play by the only
humorist Of a popularity and reputation
equal to Mark Twain's. "Starbottle'
was made a leading part. after consid-
cradle distorting and wrenching. from
its secondary consideration. Both plays
were alike in being one-charactered.
In the "GiIded Age" the action revolved
! about Colonel Sellers; in The Two Mem
Colonel Starbottle revolves about the ac-
ton. The elaborate makeup" OF Rob-
son was very amusing, but IL was not
true to nature Robson and Harte took
the criticism very much TO heart never
letting an opportunity of being inter-
viewed escape them. Robson said he
| had the ''kindest feeling toward the
press and was always ready TO give
them any information he possessed.
Harte fails 10 possess that knack of
getting along with its representatives
which is so invaluable to an author or
| an artist" Robson thought that the
obviously unfair articles published by
some OF the New York critics rather
aided than detracted from the interest
| of the play, inducing people to witness
! the performance through curiosity" "
Lawrence Barrett was about to produce
| Lear in New York, and he wondered
If he would be attacked in the same
| manner. saying Barrett had great as
surance to play Lear with Davenport
in the cast. Robson considered Barrett
to be the hardest student and one>of
W11 haEW
warmed up considerably while pursuing
this line of talk. and he would not oe
surprised or astonished ere long to see
an article from these same critics on
| The. Faults of Shakespeare" He also
greatly complained. In fact. his greatest
complaint in regard to dramatic critics
was that while finding fault they failed
to say how errors could be corrected.
While he was visiting in London. Bouci-
cault invited Robson and Charles r.
Thorne to supper. Among those present
were a number of literary men. among
whom was Charles Reade. Robson was
seated next to the old gentleman. who
was very deaf, but who Immediately
commenced the conversation by refer
ing to the United States. and that age
alone prevented him from visiting it. In
speaking of our authors he considered
Bret Harte a great writer and one
whose works he greatly admired. He
could write a great drama" Becoming
quite enthusiastic. he added, The next
Shakespeare will come from America"
About the time that Mark Twain's
drama Of the "Gilded Age was produced.
Robson was visiting at the home of Jo-
seph jefferson. He asked him his opin-
ion of that play. Jefferson said he con-
sidered II horrible. but he added: Ray
mond will make it" Speaking of Bret
Harte. jefferson said: He could write
when visiting BoucicauIt he asked his
opinion of Bret Harte. His answer was
characteristic; he said: ''Harte is a great
man and a-fool. He is the man who can.
II he will, write a great play" After
the adverse criticism Of the drama had
appeared in New York, he met Bouci-
cault on the street and asked him IL he
had seen them and what he thought of
them. BoucicauIt replied that he had.
and without having witnessed the piece
knew that II was a good one from their
tone. Mark Twain wrote a letter to Bret
Harte, in which he said: II saw your
piece last night, my dear Bret, for the
first time. and did not laugh once, for
the simple reason that you have sold a
piece for sum you should have received
for three months performance of it"
Boucicault saw this letter after he had
witnessed the performance and said: II
indorse every word of It. Robson will
make money. Let it stay; don't alter