MISS ELLEN TERRY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2181, 20 June 1914, Page 10

MISS ELLEN TERRY

SHAKESPEARE'S HKKOES. ■ That the name of Ellou Torry lias cast a spnil nruiiiid people even in a country km iiir awa.y from ilio scenes of her triumphs «» New Zealsad, was evidenced by the warm applause with winch the artist was received last evening, when she made her swift passage across the stage to Iter station beside lite little Mower-clocked table, <m which lief text book rested. Clad iu a sage ujreeit gown, whose flowing draperies were ifce work of a master hand in designing, with scarlet leaves intertwined in her hair, she made a strikingly picturesque figure, awl wasting no time in preliminnries beSan iter discourse on "The I'a.thotic ijeroines or Shakespeare." Seated somctiHies beside hor bock rest, on a chair that matched to a shade the colour of her gown, at other times rising to emphasise the meaning of her wards, with eloquent gestures of the long flexible hands, .Miss Terry began by saying that the worst trap laid for tlio student of Shakespeare was that of trying to lit the meaning of the text to some preconceived idea of a theorist, just as s tailor fits his garments on to a dummy. Shakespeare was as fluid as life itself, and lie must be taken just as Maturaliy, This she had discovered wlieji she was preparing tJiose discourses, and tlio.ii Miss Terry proceeded to explain tins reason of her division ( of Shakespeare's heroines into sections': Taking Dcsdo roona as lior first heroine, Miss Torry claimi*! hor as a strong personality, althoßgt; aatrcsses wore often etiaseii tq play that part just because? Vlray were colourless. It was not, perhaps a manysided character, but it was distinguish, ed by a boandio-ss constancy, a great pnritv. Shakespeare did net make the blunder of representing a # piire wfimnn as a silly Woman, as many writers often did. There was something Hun-like in Desttemo-iia, and so great was her purity that she gradually won erect to her the easy-going, worldly-vise Emilia, who boldly championed her cause at a time when womtn were not supposed to wake tttefflsoHves felt in public. Vititjly, with words and gestures, Miss Terry described the, bedroom where &nilia -was- disrobing Desdflfcomi, ami the. stillness and parity that pervaded tbft room, so that it seemed the resting-place of a spirit, and finished 1 - by reciting part <u the dialogue between Othello and Emilia after the death of DesdeinoHa. From Pesdenwim she passed mi to Juliet, From the beginning Juliet was fated, and knew it, ln.it she was horn one of the great lovers, and faced her destiny with fearlessness. Fearlessness was one of hor great ehftfaottfristies, and in her hrro she was a poet. Her utter isolation in the midst of her family was pointed out, and then jtiss Terry gave the "proud me no proads" scene with old Gapnlnt, the- rebuffs from hor Mather, and the impossible ftdvice of the coarse-grained old nurse. Hor discourse upon Juliet was closed by the delivery of the potion scone, which was"a revefcukm of wonderful acting, and made her audience realise to the fall how she must have thrilled people through, and through' in the prime of her life. Never could the tragedy tfl Juiirt's love fcivti been more vividly portrayed, her suffering, and her des4wr«i.o"'rmirn«i.

In this second part of her prog-fa mm© Miss Terry recited the scene between Cordelia and Lear at tire close af the tragedy, ami touched briefly upon Cleopatra., reciting the heau't-i-fnl words which she utters over tlio of Autany. if Shakespeare mane white tvM-ter than anybody else's white, beeanse ho saw tones that no ene else did.- ho did not iiiakty, the others ware* (fceiijingiy black, and so it was that. Cleopatra had Iter fineness,., and died. ■ with splendid courage. Cresstda ivas tho one exemption that pxoyed the rule, for Ctossida was nnutierabie. Miss Terry closed her talk with Ophelia, the" only timid heroine of all Simksispea-re's characters, and gave the mad scene "Whole is the beauteous- majesty of JD-omtnark?". in the intefprctnliott t.A which she reJired a part she has so often pl.a.y<?d, It was acted most poignantly, and again her -audience count realise the great -actress that lay in Ellen Terry. The lieswtiftil-spuafeißg voice oacried to every part- of the house, aud the perfect eloeution and beautiful gestwes were somethisg to reinemher. Abuve and beyond all was the wonderful personality of mm who was the queen of tlio English stage. It- was net surprising that the ajalieuee Would not part- from her for ft long time, and again awl again recalled her, so that she had to thank them for their cardial" ity and warm reception. Beautiful floral tributes were itanded up to 'ter hofore the cverunj* efoscd. ''The Pat-betis Heroines" was -preeeded by an enjoyable eutertaimueht, contributed to by Mr. ~Joseph Bksolteck, whose finished monologues completely «'6n the liioarts of his hearers,- so that he was brought back several toes; Miss 01-ftdys M'DoWoll, and Miss JJinti Forbes. The atte-iuJancc was much larger than on tlio previous night.