The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-02-05
"shakespeares Mt Like That Of His Contenporary of Don Quoxote Fame, Is as Modern as George
 Ade's, Although Not Always Confined to His Fools
Bx DOLLY DALRYMPLE

By DOLLY DALRYMPLE ] vo.ls 'ssi,s counts men. but ssl.slss 50 S enderly by the sculpturings of time that the finest expression of his the happiness, the buoyancy "of the be- lieving years is with him; this is the casualists first impression of MT. Robert B. Mantell, the eminent Shakespearean actor.
 Tall, erect, slender-he stands very straight and looks you squarely in the eyes when he is talking to you, his gra- ciousness, his elegance, suggesting that he might have been brought up in the most gallant of French courts; his fin ished Reclamation, his splendid art, his exquisite touch of poesy and his old classic school traditions so pre-eminent in his stage art, permeating to a tre- menGous extent his personality off the stage, which personality in return has essays-from the simplest to the most complex.
 Perhaps the most acute impression of MT. Mantell is that made by his marvel ously beautiful voice; a voice so deep, so resonant, so exquisitely modulated, that the tones of the cello seem to re- sound you hear him speak; added to this, the world has given the verdict that to natures generous endowment of graceful and distinguished appearance rare intelligence and splendid talent, all that can be obtained by study, observa- tion, training and steadfast devotion to the highest ideals of his calling are his-plus!
 We half imagine if the immortal Shake speare could rise from the dust of his tomb and place his quill to parchment again his first works would be praise of such an artist as Mir. Robert B. Mantell, who has lived his unforgetable and undy- ing volumes in the face of modernity and the tremendous onrush of very restless, impatient age, where sex tanges and whirl-girly productions acknowledged to be frivolous and unsatisfactory are de- manded constantly, and it is with sincere tha nks to the splendid ideals of MT. Man tell to maintain the best standards on the stage that we Cdu enjoy all over again for the hundredth time mayhap, the sad little love affair between the Montagues and the Capulets, the cunning sly, revengeful machinations of a certain willy merchant" down through the be- loved list until we come to the glover ing, dashing, character of King Richard III, who frowns at us from the shadows of yesterday!
 Who knows perhaps that after all in some mystic fashion the immortal Bard of Avon has not really with trembling quill indited a master tribute to MT. Mantell and his fine artistry? Has pen ned his thanks done in that quaint, rug ged language of his, which has survived the ages? Who knows but that in some remote pigeon-hole of time webbed and forgotten, there reposes this precious manuscript won 100 times over by the romantic Mir Mantell, who fares forth now again to the four corners of the earth to deliver the dramatic Shake Srearean message?
 l Everything MT Mantell does, he does 1 well; his record is one of personal acf evement, distinctive, fine; from ven erable and honored traditions handed
 down through generations, he fashions
 his convictions and his art; he plays to
 no clannisN audience; he plays to a na- l tion and nation applauds!
 | But, let MT. Mantell speak: listen to his words of wisdom about the stage and Shakespeare told to me yesterday (when I met him for the first time) in golden, | liquid tones, his matchless voice and graceful personality infusing magnetism
 and charm into his conversation. | 'Instead of talking about the serious
 side of Shakespeare MT. Mantell sug-
 gested, suppose we take look at the
 critics who find fault with the wit and | humor of the great Bard of Avon. They
 emphasize with frequent insistence that | the wit of Shakespeares fools often | seems so pointless that they wonder t l its introduction by so powerful a play 1 wright Some of these observations are
 not bad; but the idea is just this; Shake speare's real wit and humor-his very l best wit and humor-does not fall to the
 lot of his fools The commentators have | tried to tell us that the court fool was
 the sole dispenser of wit during Shake
 ST cares day embodying in himself all l the humor of the age: but they utterly fail to take into consideration Cervantes Sarcho Panza, Rabelais, Panurge an6
 Shakespeare's own Dogberry, Bottom and Launcelet Gobbo. all three of whom are much funnier than his fools. Samue Pepys less than a century after Shake
 spears death quite often found the same l objection to the wit of his fools that is found now.
 'The truth of the natter Mr. Man tell continued, "is just this: To my mind | Shakespeare introduced his fools in or der to give one of the very best and
 most popular actors in his company something to do, thereby increasing the
 drawing powers of his play. For, be Ii known, Shakespeare had no idea that posterity would take him so to heart Like all successful playwrights, he wrote for his times and for his public. This accounts for the appearance of the foo In apparently the oldest and most un
 called for places. Shakespeare made hi. Hines fit this popular actor, just as oul
 playwrights nowadays introduce 'catcf phrases which some actor, cast for tht
 part, has made famous, but which, ir
 themselves. are stupid enough. Witness