Dramatic Criticism.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2992, 17 September 1878, Page 2

Dramatic Criticism.

i , ' '< i iJ '7/' Actors and .actresses' are proverbially thin skinned—that is, sensitive to adverse J criticism*,*,:lh& pjnbjio; yx, ;sbe ,<theat£Bgoing. public, are exacting* and of varying tastes, south'at'{he/mostimpartialcriticism wil^ißt^easie'/'eTei^bo'dy. '[ Thej.'^stf intelligent actors, anaractresses are, asj a' rule susceptible of'flattery, and canawak low any itnouat of fulsome praise, being" bet'or pleased, therewith than an honest ! analysis of their merits and demerits, if the latter;fc«'po,inted out/in ever so kindly a manner. Indeed-it-is- a moot point if any ac:pr oj actress who has; fit^in'ed "to thpjp6ritiQa'oiF'ffep^'' ! wouldaamitiany'deiferit."'^WnVir tk&f "get toacertain paint they fancy themselves- above' cfritioiswp and, however strongly they may resent being told of their shortcomings, they affect- an -indifference, which is not felt.> MoveoveVtf theyftet "'slated'; thfeyputit down to spite/ or the undue influence of a rival; at other times to the want of discernment in the critic, lack of experience, or ignorance. .>Tbe tact is that many persons who, make the stage a pro* fession are very ■ common place people indeed. Ttey, are. like other' people in . every jrooation—whether of the learned professions or mechanical callings —misplaced. The accident of Circumstance has caused them to drift into a groove iuto which they can never fit; no matter how.i.eonscientious^they; may be in desire, they^:oajd t -never rise above mediocrity. Odnsegjien^y,- kindly criticism is taken as cruel animadversion; modest advice as impertinence; comparisons as odious. Actors, in fact, are very human, and hate to be reminded of their ■hortcomings., Some^no doubt, are occasionally treated badly. They never get a good word,.but always a bad one where it can ponsibly be said. We have seen instances of this in the case of some r bright particular "stare*,"-and also in the case of the novice ' who considered the success of a piece depended mainly on himself, although 1 he but carried a banner or spoke only the words "My lord, the carriage waits," or " He dies to-night." All rules are subject to exceptions,' but from the highest to the lowest fulsome praise is, we fear, more acceptable than honest i criticism. Thorough , independence in criticism is not necessarily synonymous with just criticism.- If-it were so we .should not see actors of respectable pretensions so often slated. In Melbourne, for instance, The Australasian is regarded as a standard of high class criticism, yet who shall jsay that the critic in that paper has always been impartial in his notices of the poor player. Actors there have been of old world fame who- have' been literally scarified —no good word for them having been forthcoming; while others who have been bespattered with praiße less pretentious writers could see nothing of genius in, scarcely ordinary merit. ■Noticeably, Mr James Anderson was ostracised, while Herr Bandmann was exalted. In our own little community an actor was. lately mildly criticised, and the verdict was approved by the intelligence of the tbeatre-going public.. The one who' was reminded of his faults considered himself a badly used man—a victim, in fact.. We are induced to make these remarks by perusing two recent numbers of The Australasian, in which " Tahite," the talented and experienced, but, as we think, partial critic, administers some rather hard hits. The first we will notice is a mixture of praise with uiv complimentary reflections. It is mild in comparison with some that follow. Of Mr Vincent who played Hotspur at the Thflaire^Rojjttl^^^filhQurne^ji^jlie^Bro-

duction of the first part of " Henry 1V.," with Mr John Jack as Falstaff, "Tahite" says : " Most of the characters that Mr . Vincent has played have only irritated me. He has seemed to be always Mr Vincent—loud, strident, self-assertive, artificial, indiscriminating. But as Hot* spur he seemed, on a sudden, to go out of himself." Again, of another in the lame play : "Mr Csesar reddened his nose a good deal for Bardolph, but that is about a», far at he. reached, in, the realisation." Following these we come, to a notjcejt of <( ? Assurance "at another placa of amusement,*'and after Complimentary notice*' of "msir-CTtnteg, iwe read that, //jMt^jan/a. Max Harka|way was especially'Mr Ryan's and nobody . jelse's.V ... . . "Mr Darbyshireoughr to ;be,i wbipped/for givpqi; fuoMr jpreposlerous creature/oft Isaacs." .. W I" There remains, the, .Charjes Courtly of meat 1 ought' to have htfd more •oasiderfition for an intelligent'audience than to ihara'. engaged'web, auaetor.V^ IlrtgSrd it as something little short of an affrontxto the publicrto'Lare.altoirid,rAi»O person to go on the:stage. There is not a supernumerary in the company who woa'd not have played/thb Wftif X> 1»»*les .Courtly more respectably. He was as little like Charles Courtly as "a" ba3~turnip~ jis like a choic% pjn<g-apple." s In another ' number of The JUsttaJasiaji' we. |iave a notice of " The School for Scandal/ in -which we find <^at/f.Jfeßy s ao, as Joseph, jprobably bad no option but to'play it, and !so did his best, whichMvasinpt ■■nnchiVr . . . . <'MisV£e reVesUu¥^lW'M Sneerwell more thatf sheM H J \ \{ was cruel to Miss Lester to send her on in a burlesque dress in sucl'tijplay'lasV'irhi/flchool for iScandal.' ... Mr Shaw Cross, as Careless, -was-only obttusivfely^faisyV'mflD he maltreated grievouslytfae good old festive •song 6T'Lat'the t«wntpass^ :,'.;, ItaJfcapgL :the worst of all wm the Snike of Mr DsAand on where, is our own Gladstone gone, Iwho used to make of ■Sni^e 1' a real [character The^f ett(taigaßL/who played Rowley, in tryinj ,tq. makejun his .face only dirtied it, and his atfffiifwas 'as unsatisfactory aVhfr MW.W -<.<">" I".. [These are a few of tfee ;Wstj $#jpflable istriciuresof "Tahite"on,the.poorpwen jof the Melbourne stage?' They 1 maf be jubt, but they strike one as being offen-> (lively ' 'put. ' Postibty : tfe> T^dtimi :>rsUi !" little people/ who hate to! grin and bear |it, as The, Austjialasjan i» t a miabty. organ, {and the critic a privileged body. A. little ir^ctionimar rec9fl ß |le th 9 .ppor^ vjareis less favored regions to bmiuWm $% criticisms their efforts receive, and possijbly induce them to moderate their resent* jment vhea Jbqjv find that f pJace of igeneral cbmmerida'tio^ tliefWr¥ firstly (reminded of their shortcomings. Dramatip criticism at .best is generally the opitiioWof >pn^ maiViy a ai;i Wb foi«!ei4^rf in7iy sometimes be taken as the highdiL jfoim of'praise ;• buY aia, hx/nesPenttf. does mot ai-n to be regarded ag".the_Bcourg£u !of players."