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

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unable to deny some power in Mrs L mgtry's acting of the
final a qaonce. She ,:rve "excellent expre;.t.ion" to many
pasties, notably the "inco-i arable", "I am acain for Cyc'.'nur/
To meet ;,iark Antony". n e felt that "t-iio quiet acuity of
despair" became the actress ..oil. The stage w, s relieved to
note that Mrt- :,iagt_-y did not seek to emulate *-.rah Bernhardt*;
use of a live asp.
The published ,!Ctin^ edition ends v.-ith Cieoiatra's "As
sweet as balm, as soft as fir, as tontlo - /O Antony!" (309f.)
The programmes indicate two t bleaux for the find act,
•istinguishing t'io.n as evening and morning in the interior
of the jionuinent, and it is pos ible tivit tVie tabs were lowered
after the deota of Cleoontra, and raised a^.-'in to chov/ CaeL-rr,
silent uoon a str^e in Oxford street. ri.'hore is no indication
of any such arron. >':\ent in the text - if 0-:C3 ir did intrude
upon the early perform noes, he u-:y 1-u've been dir. i:./ cd cis
.'.nti-climatic later in the run, iao rir^t-ni^.at nerforrnance
la^tc", over xoar hours*
Some of the r:-viev/ers v;e . -e exasperated by the length of
the evening. The Tineo,in a brief notice published the following
day, commented:
Of a performance v;hich 1-cts from ei-ht o'cl >ck
iii the evening till c, qort, in the iTovcnber 26 is ue of .\io i /orId,
be-: .an:
:irs L-.in "try r 3 careful and costly rovivl of
Antony and C c oor.tra reduced \y brain, in t.io
co a'ce of the focir cuw2 a qu.-.'rter hoarc it
lasted on the firi.t nirjit," to the conc'ition
of a haleidoGCOpe - a whirl oi cliiftiiv; li,.:its
zxiC colours, -,-ith hero anri triere a ourple patch
of yiialcespearean verce connin-.liaf in the vortex.
laniaiily he re.'T.i r>.;cd th..t :.lthough bcott left the theatre "well
on for h?;.lf-:, ;..t-tv;elve t! , a loarthy notice occavjied t-..o-tlaro^
of a coin.-n in the morning e iti 11 oJ^ -.-•': /nily IelGr;r;.ph.
I ..c-vitt.bl./, aDst revicv;ors contrr.Gtcc"1 . t.-ie ian.d q i: cies
of the r:cting ;.;ith the el£'b r- tion of olio decor. Tr'Ath, in a