Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-10-12
FonpEs-noBEnrso IN "IIAMLEr.'
GREATEST ENGLISH ACTOR
PLAYS HIS GRIiATEST PART

| PLAYS HIS GREATEST PART
There is but little hope that we of
| this generation shall look upon the
IKE OF that Hamlet who swayed us to
his varying moods last night: for that
Hamlet was Forbes-Robertson, who
then played the Prince of Denmark
here for the last time. Other Hamlcts
Will come and go, but we who have
seen and lived his tragedy with
Forbes Robertson will measure them
| all by the stature OF his great art.
and none of them will attain to It's
| heights.
OF the men who have played Ham
let here within the last haif-genera-
ton. only Mantell and Sothern have
been particularly notable, and even
they. have gone from memory, swept
away By the simple humanity OF this
towering actors genius. Doubtless, IL
Is the quality OF simplicity that makes
MS Hamlet so saliently alone to-day.
| where other men seem to Law out a
course and hew to the line. whether
! the course lead them always along
the path of robustious vigor, or tend
TO hem them within the confines of a
deep and !nsistent melancholy, the re-
firing leader of the Ensllsh-speaking
stage seems to play spontaneously,
hitting himself. his gestures, his voice
and his very spirit to the immediate
moment OF the play.
The melancholy Dane" may not be
applied to him. In the beginning, he Is
grave, but ne Is not cast down In mel
ancholy: he is just that-a grave. gen.
teman. Borrowing over the loss OF his
father and the hateful marriage OF his
mother. Nor is he ever n mad Hamlet
Tons OF good paper have been covered
BY students in controversial disserta-
tons on this very point, and TO little
purpose. 1t may be that one vas al
ready inclined to Forbes Robertson s
View, but. in any event. II would seem
Impossible not to adopt it. after hav-
ing seen him give It demonstration.
His trouble and distress pile upon
him, tragedy heaps itself upon his
soul, and at times their weight threat
ems 10 shake his brain. But his mind Is
never unseated. He Is a philosopher
Shakespeare made him that, and
Forbes Robertson stresses IT, he Is a
| lover Of poetry: he has both theoretical
! and practical knowledge OF acting, and
! with his mind given 10 those habits of
thought, II is but natural that the dis
closure OF his fathers murder should
! unnerre him and distract him.
! All this bes-Robcrtson makes
most clear, but he makes IL unmistak-
! ably apparent that his distraction Is
| only momentary. And herein lies per-
haps the most wonderful manifestation
Of his compelling art: the death of
the later knowledge of the murder, the
madness Of Ophelia and her death, all
are shown IN their effect upon him
with such intense force, with So realis-
tic presentation OF their cruelty, that
one marvels why he is not mad. He
! offers vision of man SO tortured,
both by misfortune and treachery
and by self-criticism. that madness
would seem 10 be his only refuge And,
at the same time, he subtly conveys the
certain feeling that even that is de-
MED him.
If one couplet may be employed to
outline the Hamlet that Forbes Rob-
ertson himself outlines, il is this:
The time is out OF joint o cursed
spite.
That ever l was born TO set il right"
1t Is the means that he must take to
set il right in accordance with his
fathers commands, that goes against
the very grain of him. This is most
strongly displayed in the scene with
his mother when, after she ras said
30 Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart
In twain" he lifts her up and takes her
in his arms before he begins the re-
Of Of ia" " '''
Throughout the play, he indicates
the fact that he but puts antic dis
position on" by intonations and express
themselves. which convey 1t as dis
tinct!y as though he had said, 'I am
not mad" His reading OF Words,
words. words" is as light and blithe a
bit OF comedy as could be found In
The Tanning of the Shrew." He jests
with Polonus and gibes at Rosen-
crantz and Guildenstern, not only with
completest sanity, but with pretty
appreciation Of his own humor.
And his superb voice lends itself to
the expression of every thought. Leav-
ing aside the famous soliloquy and the
less famous, 20, what a rogue and
peasant slave am T." and the advice
to the players all of which he does
so surprisingly that to speak of his
reading as a lesson in the art of read
Ing almost cheapens 1t, there are in
Vulnerable lines, sometimes only Il word
or two. that thrill by the softness or
the splendor with which they sound.
Rest. rest, perturbed spirit" seemed
benediction.
In fairness to most excellent COM
pany. II would BIO Just to speak of a
number OF other characters: notably
the Polonlus Of Ian Robertson. a gar
rulous and amusing impersonation. and
the Ophelia of Laura Cowie. which was
really that of, n dlstraught maiden,
chokingly real and pathetic; but the