The Warwickshire Herald. — 1889-02-21 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

ERDINGTON. DRAMATIC RECITALS BY MR...1. L. CHILD. This gentleman's engagement with the Erdington Institute was fulfilled last Monday evening, in presence of a large audience, probably the largest muster of members this session. As announced, the first part of Mr. Child's programme consisted of selections from the first two acts of Shakspere's tragedy of " Macbeth ; " and the second part of selections from Poe, Mark Twain, Robert Buchanan, etc. Additional interest was given to the "Macbeth" scenes by the fact of Locke's music being specially pr.-pared for the occasion by a choir under the conduotorehip of Mr. Adam Wright. Mr. Child presented the two scenes wherein the witches diet appear, and make their prophecies of Macbeth's "present grace, and great prediction of noble having, and royal hope," followed by the scenes at Forres, where the ambitious Thane and his wife plan and accomplish the murder of Duncan. These called for a variety of eharacterisation, and afforded a large scope for a display of that dramatic power which Mr. Child has aforetime proved himself so largely to possess. He naturally reserved himself for the murder scenes, and concentrated his strength and detail upon the speeches and seliloquies of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The dagger soliloquy was finely rendered, and Macbeth's impassioned remorse at his dreadful deed, aloally so; but we should question the reciter's lodgment in giving the lines with which he finished—"To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself. Wake Duncan with thy knocking: I would thou could'et loudly as be gave them. Such an out-cry would have alarmed the household, and drawn its suspicion upon those who were plotting to avoid it, even if it could not awaken the dead. The recital was most attentively followed by the audience, and warmly applauded. The MIMIC was sandwiched between the acts, and comprised nearly all of Locke's composition. It formed an agreeable interlude, and was performed very efficiently; the conductor, Mr. Adam Wright, having a subject for his baton quite after his own heart. The solos were given by Mrs. F. T. Read, Miss Middleton, Miss Emily Turner, Mr. Billson, and Mr. C. J. F. Tranter ; and Miss Broad rendered valuable service as accompanist. The "getting up" of the music was a proof of the enterprising spirit of the Institute Council: whilst they acknowledge the great kindness of Mr. Adam Wright in placing himself at their disposal for the object. Mr. Child's second part consisted of four selections, two of which, "The Raven" and Fra Giacomo," were excellent subjects for dramatic and tragic treatment, and the other two, "European Guides," by Mark Twain, and "Mr. Montpellier's Recitation," by E. F. Turner, equally good for quiet subtle humour and farcial fun. To our thinking " Fra Giacomo" was the finest thing of the evening. The incident is morbidly painful, but the mixture of the sensational, of biting sarcasm, of terrible vengeance, which the reciter severally displayed fascinated his hearers, who seemed too spell-bound at the recital to applaud the reciter at its close. In Mark Twain's experience with an Italian showman of relics Mr. Child's humour was seen at its very best. This is the piece he gave before the Prince of Wales, and for which he was warmly complimented by the Prince. There is no doubt by his efforts on Monday Mr. Child again proved himself one of the front rank public elocutionists.