Life — March 17, 1904 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

Ni carey ee as Ivan, the Terrible Bore. R. RICHARD MANSFIELD isang M ‘To be convinced of every him that fact, all one has todo is to sce hi ‘The whirring of the wheels and the clanking ay be distinctly heard, but with Mr. Mansfield's name on the bills the citizen who pays the price of ad- mission may be sure there will be something doing. More than that, Mr. Mansfield enjoys his own acting. No small boy who ever put on his parenv’s silk hat and said, “Do ye who Tam? I'm papa,” ever took more enjoyment out of his impersonation than does Mr. Mansfield reveling in grease paint, wigs and unusual rai- ment. The unfortunate thing about Mr. Mansfield’s fondness for such details of acting is that oftentimes it know gives one the impression that we may be taking arti y for art. Its a good deal like the distraction which the sleight-of-hand fukir provides to make us think he is doing one thing, ally doing another. ld’s Ivan he has, consciously or unconsciously, made the character at many moments so close an imitation of Irving's Louis XZ. that it is almost impossible to resist makin comparison, and this comparison goes to emphasize Mr. Ma field's over-elaboration in the purely artificial aids to acting. He is not quite so badly handicapped with mannerisms as Irving is, but nevertheless Louis is a far more credible and natural bad old man than Jean, Both are grotesque in their senile peculiarities, but the strange shifts of the moods of Louis fall pose of Ivan, on the other hand, em merely impossible ex- hibitions devised to show the actor's versatility. There is no doubt that Irving bestows quite as much care on artificial detail as Mansfield does, but when it comes to the acted part it sinks into the individuality of the character. With Mr. Mansfield it stands out above his acting and makes us feel that we are witnessing only the autics of the mummer. From Irving's Louis we take away the indelible impression of a strange but from Mansfield’s Jean we part made up of unusual contortios ed with the nervous use of very sfield when he is within our powers of belief. as demonstrated by Mr. Mansfield, s real historical persc confused picture of an of voice and person and theatrical accessories, It is unfortunate that Mr. ked this comparison, because it only goes to ris the art of Irving. i * Monsieur” should have prov show how much we seen Mr, Mansfield It would be a better t since th acting in anything like his natural guise. test of his powers to sce him less artificial. HE play itself sounds very much like one of the war dispatches which are coming to the American newspapers via St. Petersburg. Its many -koffs and -skys and itches recall to the exr a violent attack of hay fever. Outside of these, itis 1 gloom and talk. The story it tells is obscure, many of thescenes, where Mr. Mansfield is supp to be most impressive, lose their force because the motives which govern them have not been made clear. Cloudiness is a el teristic of all of ‘Tolstoi’s work, and while one may penetra his books, on the stage it is an unpardonable offence. With the material at its command a fairly good cast wrestled manfully and womanfully, but without great success. Miss Ida C brought her personal at Arthur Forrest was picturesque Boris. The nquest ctiveness to a colorless part, and Mr. stumes were gor- nd coloring, and the settings, w geous in texture 2 tlimsy in construction, were thoroughly Russo-Byzantine in design and coloring. “Ivan the readers through the country, however, will have opportunity to sit through this tedious play—if they want to rrible” is off the boards in New York. Lirr's matter of sur- s| VILE destinies of the Garden Theatre have b: It iy now announced that Mr. Henry W. Savage has taken the house for a term of years and will make it mise. the home of light opera and musical comedies. Of late the Garden has seemed to be a little off the beaten track, and the Syndicate has used it as a sort of dumping ground for attractions which it did not wish to see succeed. The theatres have been moving up-town with the centre of population, and the Garden has been left stranded on the extreme southern limit of the theatre district. ‘There is a reaction, . against abandoning the delightful Madison Square neighborhood as a residence locality. The announcement that the near future some thirty million dollars’ worth of fine hotels and apartments are to be built in this vicinity shows that Mr. Savage may have been foresighted in taking on his new venture. The house is a comfortable and well-constructed on nd with its decorations bit should prove an attractive home for the kind of avage knows how to provide. warmed up entertainn ° ° . SERVATIVE Boston is also. having its troubles over theatres which do not take the proper precautions to protect the pub- lic against fire and panic. Complaints ve been brought to the notice of Boston's Common Council, and its aldermen are leisurely taking in one show after another to sce whether the theatres are safe. This results in considerable fun for the aldermen, but the theatres con- tinue as before. Unlike Mayor McClellan, Boston's mayor takes comicbooks.com