SIR HENRY IRVINS.
A CRITICAL APPRECIATION. Irving will rest near Garrick and i& him the theatrical world has lost now almost the last of the old order of players better known to the preceding generation than to the present. His day knew not the subtleties of the Problem Play. Ibsen and Sudermann with their merits and demerits were not of his time. The productions with which he was associated dealt with aspects of humanity more simple and more universal than, those treated by the modern playwright. Though it is the province of the stage to present all phases of life perhaps in that simplicity there was a depth, m that universality of appeal there was a grandeur, which is not to be found in elaborate expositions of the intricate social and sexual questions of to-day. The enthusiasm which always marked the welcome Irving received from playgoeivs of all ages had rise, rather in a sense of gratitude for what, beyond question, lie has done for the stage, than in any appreciation of his art judged oy modern criteria. Stage craft, the technique of mounting a play, owes more to him than t> any actor of the past century. England and America will mourn the loss of a personality familiar to them for so many years. Irving had a cult of his own and its followers, worshipping him, condoned his mannerisms, regardless of their frequent detractions, from his art. A stranger, on a first impression, was amused rather than inspired, more especially if that first impression were acquired from a performance such as his Mathias in “The Bells.” The great actor was familiar to many through the medium of the mimic before they had seen the original and, accordingly, that first entry of Mathias, in which Irving. was so over emphatically Irving, seemed but another grotesque caricature. Yet before the end of the second act the stranger, witn the rest, was held spellbound. Two of hie creations are sufficient to mark him as the premier actor of his time and will leave on the minder of those who were privileged to see him an indelible impression. In character study nothing has surpassed his Corporal Gregory Brewster in “Waterloo,” and his Louis XI. Who can forget the pathos of that picture of the old soldier, the straggler, waiting the call for the last muster. Irving’s highest genius was seen in the changin'’ l chases of that study. The childish querulousness of the old man giving place to the return of the soldiers spirit at the sound of the fife and drum, or the sight of his colonel, and the end, the call, comes in a vision of battle. “Louis XI.” showed, as has recently been shown in this city in another work bearing a regal title, how the masterly conception of one central character can lift an inferior play to the plane of a classic production. The burden fell on Irving in the title role and memory vividly retains certain scenes. The fiendish outbursts of anger against his rivals; the senile familiarities with his favourities; the momentary pause of Louis in his plot of murder, while, he reverently crosses himself at the chime of the vesper bell and mutters prayers to the images upon his cap. Most vivid of all is the recollection of the death scene. The frail form of the tyrant_ seems to sink, oppressed by the weight of royal crown and robes, while the spirit, malevolent to the last, will not resign the Sovereignty. There can be no more pleasing recollection of Irving than the memory of the old ixi an, visibly worn at the end of a trying performance, coming before the curtain to respond to overwhelming calls for a speech. He did not speak on the slightest call as seems the custom of some less distinguished men. One wearily remembers the simpering smile of a wellknown society actor who appears to have .imbibed from a fellow countryman the philosopliv of clothes, but not the doctrine of silence; or again the alacrity with which a certain one was wont to return from the lions to the footlights, and there, folding his arms over a Praefect’s toga, disburden himself of laudatory personal reminiscences. Irving had nought in common with those. The old man would come forward with his kindly, self-effacing smile to say a few words with a gracious courtesy not wholly of this day; to thank an audience on behalf of Miss Terry and himself for the reception they had given to one who styled himself “their loyal and humble servant.” Such a last memory the writer has of Sir Henry Irving. Vale in aeternum vale! -COSMO A. RALSTON.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Mail, Issue 1756, 1 November 1905, Page 54
Word Count
781SIR HENRY IRVINS. New Zealand Mail, Issue 1756, 1 November 1905, Page 54
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