Pictorial Shakespeare, 1880-1890 - eTheses Repository - University ...

287
at 103 - "You perceive she stirs*1 . In 1857 Charles Kean's
directions had included general movements of terror (91) and
awe ("; 11 fall on their knees" as Hermione turns her head ;:t
100). v»'lien Leontes exclnimed "0 she's warm", they all raised
their hands and a "Grand burst of music - chorus" iv/as heard.
The stage-manager was itwainued to "raise flote a little" .
Kean had included all but cixteen of the lines following 128a,
where Ttary Anderson had ended the r>lay, paying more attention
than the actress to the denoumerl' 4 significance for the other
characters.
The production was one of the purest examples of tableaut
Shakespeare, and as such it enjoyed consider; ble success.
On the opening ni..?ht no.-rie inhabitants of the pit were disruptive
in thair protects about the further restriction of
their area of the auditorium, but no serious mishaps narred
the nerforraance, and, at two hours and ei fc^ht minutes, it did
not exceed t.ie usual length of programmes at the Lyceum, "cvcrtheless,
critics were not behindhand in objecting to flics
Anderoon's way v;ith the National Poet and his creations. Scott
was the most eloquent and authoritative of the reviewers v;ho
dialiked the actress's interpretative method:
icrnione is more than a beautiful wom^n ooced
for figure on a Vedcev;ood r>laque; Ver'.ita xc
..luch more than :n artist's model. In DO: king
change the actrccs arrived at . n even, wellordered,
bl .meless monotony.
He complained of a Id: of intellectur.l and cpirit x:.l dcith:
from her delivery of the text it was not cacy to
notoct if lies Anderaon h; d otudied either
v;oi:;D.n very i lucli cave in externals. It di(n not
matter what t.icir nlnds v;ere about, so long no they
lo ked well and poocc well.
Miss Andcr; on»a way of acting was, like Irving'c, predominantly
visual: in Irving, t'.ic appeal 1' y in the actor's o.bility to
depict intellectual and or.iotional workings of the :.dnd, but
Miss Anderson' s efforts appeared to contribute to an absence
of intellectual or emotional por.er - Her characters v;erc reduced
to a series of oi.OTlified crises. Irving might £,how the conscience
of Mathias in tho way in which he untied hir; lioe, and