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

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degree of refinement and intelligence greater then she lhau\
hitherto exhibited", and The Sunday Times f'ouna her "very
picturesque throughout"(loLrN, 7 December 1878j ST, 8 December
U78). In 1883 s. e repeated the part at a Gaiety matinee
with ci.S.V.illard as lachimo * her performance "though rtther
v.efik and thin in its pathos, wts by no means deficient in
refinement and grace" (loljrK. 31 March 1883). In Ifcfcl tnd
1883, at the Olympic and the Gaiety, she appeared as Hoselino,
and was not ill-received, but for a few years, between 1884
and 1888, hername disappeared from the london theatrical
papers.
The production of As You Like lib in ,.hich Miss Wallis made
her return was unsuccessful: it lasted from 20 October to 17
November, and '..as not greeted ,ith any enthusiasm by the critics.
The ant r * A c te wns blunt in its condemnation - the plry ..c s
"not .well staged and...indifferently acted" and ixosclind v.as
out f Mss «allis f s range, she being "better fitted to play
Lady Macbeth":
Until Saturday, l\r John Hare and the bo net1 Is
ere, cccording to my judgement, to u« cefoited
ith about the worst rendering of As You Like
It that London has .;itnessedfor the" liast ten
yeprs; but I am not certain that the performance
at the Shaftesbury is not even more commonplace.
This is s. ying a good de;l.
i
(27 October 18< 6)
The cast included Ve^in and Forbes kobertson, but their efforts
did littl; to s^ve the production from failure - nor uio umden's
sets rna the costumes designed by H.u.Glinaoni. Archer, v.ho
admired Miss Wallis f s Rosalind} found the st-.^in^ "elabor-te,
yet inartistic snc unoleasing" (Th-j ^orlo, 24 October 1868).
Scott, in The II tustr.- teci Lone'an lie-.s. listed the inace
of the designs:
ae hrvo foresters x;ho look like court-cards,
anci peasants the least pictures uc ever pruso
and castles of modem design, surrounded by the
no -.;e:>t Hampton-Court ribbon-beds; cr.u old ;.c-m
issuing from a modern villa th.-.t mi^ht hrv.. boon
built yesterday at Brixton or Balhm.
(k7 October Ibic)
Of more interest t!,rn the ineffective out expensive procuctl >n