Life — October 4, 1894 — page 10: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

- LIFE: ZHI “THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR.” commendable and artistic ambition of almost I' is the every earnest actor to measure his powers in one or more of the great Shakespear- ian réles. It is to this feeling more than to the greed for money that we revi- infre- owe the vals, quent as they the the master, It is are, of s of not to be de- nied that to-day Shakes- peare, per se, attraction to the American theatre- is not an goer. Surround him with gorgeous scenery, magnificent costumes, and all the resources of modern stage production, and the public simply endures his text. Strip even Mr Irving's productions of these acces- sories and we fear he would score more failures than successes. Mr. Crane has reached that point of affluence where | We do not attribute to him utter unseltishness in the production of he Merry Wives of Windsor, and most mirth-provoking of Shakespeare's plays, and, with But there can afford to make artistic experiments, for it is one of the lightest adequate staging, may more than pay its wa are less hazardous experiments that Mr, Crane might have made and we are glad to credit him with the artistic ambition which makes him let the words of Shake- peare once more be heard upon the New York stage. The Merry Wives of Windsor ” is one of the least readable of Shakespeare’s plays. There is in it little to pique the scholar or delight the philosopher. It is essen- nally a play of incident, and what excellencies it may pos- sess depend entirely upon its To this Mr, Mistxnss f pretation. Crane has brought an admirable com- Knowing the scant opportunities nowadays for learning in the Shake- pany. spearian school, it is more than creditable that the younger members of the cast should do so well. Lire would confess to more years than it possesses if it sought to establish any for Mr. Crane's Falstaff. ‘The history of the American stage does comparison not show many impersonators of this remember Hackett, Burton and Jack would imply more white hairs than LiFe far Mr. Crane realizes the ideal. Mistress Pace character, and to (Miss Contin.) will own to. It is only a question of how Shakespeare gives us two pictures of Fa/stagZ not inconsistent with each other, the Stir John of the “Merry Wives” of the thoroughly disreputable and “tough” Sir John of Henry IV.” Mr. Crane has, wis we think, ignored the “toughness” that he might have used and made his Szr Johar being rather a refinement simply a bluff and gruff old rascal with far more regard for creature gratification than the Ten Commandments. The company is well nced and the contrasts are well maintained. Miss Paget and Miss Collier as A/rs, Mord and Mrs. Pa; artistic levity which are required to make them, as they The Ford and Page of Messrs. johnson and Putnam are also capab ndled and in the Mr. Joseph Wheelock, Jr.. has brought the foppishness, inaninity and bring to these parts the physical energy and are, two of Shakespeare's most enjoyable creations. proper spirit. sentimentality of Aéraham Slender to the point where it “THEY ARK PAIRLES: HE THAT SPEAKS TO swane pir,” comicbooks.com