"Their Majesties' Servants." Annals of the English Stage (Volume 1 of 3)Doran, Dr. (John)
History
"Their Majesties' Servants." Annals of the English Stage (Volume 1 of 3)
Doran, Dr. (John)
Actors -- Great Britain; Theater -- Great Britain -- History
Mrs. Barry, like many other eminent members of her profession, was
famous for the way in which she uttered some single expression in the
play. The "Look there!" of Spranger Barry, as he passed the body of
Rutland, always moved the house to tears. So, the "Remember twelve!"
of Mrs. Siddon's Belvidera; the "Well, as you guess!" of Edmund
Kean's Richard; the "Qu'en dis-tu?" of Talma's Auguste; the "Je
crois!" of Rachel's Pauline; the "Je vois!" of Mademoiselle Mars's
Valerie, were "points" which never failed to excite an audience to
enthusiasm. But there were two phrases with which Mrs. Barry could
still more deeply move an audience. When, in "The Orphan," she
pronounced the words, "Ah, poor Castalio!" not only did the audience
weep, but the actress herself shed tears abundantly. The other phrase
was in a scene of Banks's puling tragedy, "The Unhappy Favourite,
or the Earl of Essex." In that play, Mrs. Barry represented Queen
Elizabeth, and _that_ with such effect that it was currently
said, the people of her day knew more of Queen Elizabeth from her
impersonation of the character than they did from history. The
apparently commonplace remark, "What mean my grieving subjects?" was
invested by her with such emphatic grace and dignity, as to call up
murmurs of approbation which swelled into thunders of applause. Mary
of Modena testified her admiration by bestowing on the mimic queen
the wedding-dress Mary herself had worn when she was united to James
II., and the mantle borne by her at her coronation. Thus attired, the
queen of the hour represented the Elizabeth, with which enthusiastic
crowds became so much more familiar than they were with the Elizabeth
of history. But this "solemn and august" tragedian could also command
laughter, and make a whole house joyous by the exercise of another
branch of her vocation. "In free comedy," says Aston, "she was alert,
easy, and genteel, pleasant in her face and action, filling the stage
with variety of gesture." So entirely did she surrender herself
to the influences of the characters she represented, that in stage
dialogues she often turned pale or flushed red, as varying passions
prompted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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