HERR BANDMANN AS OTHELLO.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3079, 10 May 1881, Page 3

HERR BANDMANN AS OTHELLO.

————— I A large audience attended to witness ( the representation of Othello at the , Theatre Royal last night. Othello, i although in some respects one of the ■ greatest of Shakespeare's creations, is not, ; perhaps from the nature of the plot, the . favourite that Hamlet is. To \ attempt the presentation of such a \ character in a great task, and it is quite . evident that Mr Bandmann brought to , r the attempt most careful study, in j addition to a thorough knowledge of ] stage business. He possesses a good i presence, and fine voice, which he knows , how to modulate admirably. His address , to tbe Duke and Senators was remark- , ably fine, but its effect was marred by j want of stage accessories. In the scene , with lago, where the poison of jealousy ( is first instilled into the Moor's ear, there was a power of expressing the various emotions exhibited which we have rarely seen equalled. But it is in the delineation of passion that Herr Bandmann really reaches a high degree of excellence. In the scene where he seizes lago by the throat and demands occular proof, or in the scene with Desdemona at the beginning of the fourth act, and again in the last act, there is displayed a very whirlwind of passion which carries the audience away. In parts we think Herr Bandmann scarcely succeeded in expressing the swift and subtle working of Othello's mind. We have read, for instance, that when he exclaims " I found not Cassio's kisses on her lips," there should be " tears in the voice." Herr Bandmann s rendering somewhat lacked this expression, but where the cloud is for a little raised from Othello's mind, and he exclaims, "If she be false, O then heaven " mocks itself," the change was marked with wonderful expression. Although, perhaps, on the whole, not so equal a performance as Hamlet, it was done in a way that will leave a lasting impression on those who saw it. The character of lago is less subtle than that of the Moor ; there is not the conflict of opposite emotions, no change from first to last. In the first act, speaking of his master, he says, "I do hate him as I hate the pains of hell," and this continues to the final consummation of his villany. Mr Cathcart brought to the impersonation cultivated taste and long hibtrionic experi- — ence, and his rendering will bear com- '■' parison with any we have s*een. There was just a sufficient amount of the bluff soldier about his conception to impose upon everybody, even the shrewd Amelia, who little dreams of the depths of villany which lie beneath the seeming honest exterior of her « wayward husband " Tbe Desdemona of Miss Beaudet is to'our thinking a long way ahead of her Ophelia. Her appearance and manner admirably fit her to represent the «gentle lady," whose hand "has feltjno age, nor known no sorrow," and from beginning to end she sustains tbe part with a grace which we have rarely seen equalled. As Amelia MissJCrawford was over-weighted, and although in the last act her efforts were praiseworthy she failed to realise our idea of the character. The other characters were fairly filled, and the whole performance most have

been enjoyable in the extreme to many who, residents in Napier for many years, have not had opportunities of seeing the works of the great bard worthily represented. To-night " The Merchant of Venice " will be produced, with Herr Bandmann as Sbylock and Mies Beaudet as Portia.