Press Clippings for the week ending
Saturday, 14 December 2002

A random selection of cuttings
from newspapers and magazines

* * * * * * * * Louise Hibbert plays Juliet, Queen's Theatre, London, 20 June 1874

Louise Hibbert

(photo: The London Stereoscopic & Photographic Co Ltd, London, circa 1866)

'On Saturday last there was a Shakespearian revival (for one night only) at the Queen's Theatre, Romeo and Juliet having been chosen for the purpose of giving Miss Louise Hibbert an opportunity of making her debut in the character of Juliet before a London audience. Mr [John] Ryder, who has been Miss Hibbert's preceptor, made a very excellent Friar Lawrence. The debutante may be congratulated on having made a success. Although indifferently supported, she succeeded in eliciting very frequent and hearty applause from a well-filled house, being most successful in the tender, pathetic, and passionate passages.' (The Graphic, London, Saturday, 27 June 1874) 'In Miss Louise Hibbert, the latest Juliet presented to a London audience, we find an actress possessing far more than the average capabilities for classical tragedy. Miss Hibbert has one great advantage, of looking the part of the lovesick maid to the utmost perfection, and by her manner and her gestures she carries out with considerable success the effect produced by her charming appearance. Never falling below a fair standard of intelligence and execution, she frequently rises to excellence, and the careful study and training which are traceable throughout have wrought the happiest effect upon Miss Hibbert's style during her absence in the Provinces. Miss Hibbert has flexibility of a voice by which the sweet tenderness of the balcony scene and the farewell should be most clearly contrasted with the accents of despair and woe; but, while her faults are those of most young actresses, her merits are extremely rare. It is no small thing in these days to find an actress who is at all able to realise for us the girlish charm of this most delightful heroine, who can indicate so distinctly the varying thoughts which pass through her excited brain, and who can make us forget her paltry surroundings in her conception of the beautiful character which she has to indicate under such difficulties. Miss Hibbert easily commanded the sympathies of her audience, and was greeted again and again with genuine outbursts of applause. The house was a full one, and appeared to be most favourably impressed.' (Observer, London, Sunday, 21 June 1874) 'Miss Louise Hibbert's benefit took place last Saturday at the Queen's Theatre, which was numerously attended by an audience disposed to welcome the efforts of the young actress with the utmost kindness. Romeo and Juliet was the sole and sufficient entertainment provided, and Miss Hibbert herself undertook the arduous character of the heroine, we are bound to say with great credit to herself. Graceful in figure, and possessing a pleasant and musical voice, Miss Hibbert is also gifted with a face capable of expressing the varied emotions necessary to be depicted in such a character. She was most exquisitely dressed, and from her first appearance completely won the sympathy of the audience. The scene with the Nurse and the interviews with Romeo were acted with much natural effect, the girlish impulses of Juliet being portrayed with grace and refinement. This was especially shown in the famous balcony scene, where Miss Hibbert was seen at her best; but even in the more impassioned scenes we found much more to praise than to condemn, and the very flattering verdict passed upon the young lady's exertions by the audience, after making the fullest allowance for the friendly indulgence of a benefit night, was certainly not undeserved. Miss Hibbert was frequently recalled and honoured with enthusiastic applause.' (The Era, London, Sunday, 28 June 1874) * * * * * * * * Clito at the Princess's, London, Saturday, 1 May 1886 'The English drama, so long in a feeble and declining way, is exhibiting just now a decided tendency to that unrestrained exuberance and those daring flights which are the ordinary tokens of a literary revival. Only the other day the management of the Haymarket chilled our blood with Nadjezda; and now Messrs. Sydney Grundy and Wilson Barrett have cooperated in the production of an original play which is even more uncompromising in the employment of the sterner stuff whereof tragedies are made. For diabolical persistence in a scheme of revenge, Mr. Barrymore's Nadine would hardly bear comparison with the heroine of Clito, the new tragedy brought out at the Princess's Theatre on Saturday evening with the all-but unanimous approval of one of the most sympathetic and enthusiastic of first-night audiences; while for cynical delight in cruelty and mischief this latest incarnation of feminine wickedness stands without a rival. No dark-haired Achaian, with flashing eyes and imperious airs, is the Athenian courtesan Helle, but a smooth-browed, fair-complexioned sorceress, who, in the person of Miss Eastlake, is all smiles and sweetness, and gentle ways – that is, with those whom she would lure to ruin. Delilah was a traitress with moments of love-sick compunction – at least in Milton's drama. Lamia, in Keats's poem, was subtle and insinuating as befitted her serpent origin, and but for the officious interference of old Apollonius would probably have made a tolerable spouse. John Webster's "white devil" might seem at first sight to offer a fair parallel; but Vittoria Corombona's crimes had at least their root in certain susceptibilities. Perhaps M. Octave Feuillet's Leonora has as many points of resemblance to the wicked mistress of the tyrant Critias in Clito as any heroine of fiction who could be named; and though there is a wide gulf between the two plays, it is not improbably that it was in M. Feuillet's Dalila that Mr. Grundy found the germ of his story of life and manners in Athens under the rule of the Thirty Tyrants. Leonora's wickedness, however, did not go much further than declining to convert a momentary flirtation into a permanent union with a weak-minded young gentleman whose lungs were diseased. On the other hand, the fiend whom Miss Eastlake impersonates has no measure in her iniquity. Her most tender glances, her most winning graces, are accompanied by "asides" which indicate an ever-present consciousness of her cruel and treacherous designs. Not for a moment does she dream of being other than the cunning courtesan and revengeful betrayer of men that she is. "Fancy me modest!" she exclaims, in mockery, at her infatuated lover's ideal, as she throws herself back upon her couch in wanton attitudes, or in cold blood consigns his innocent foster sister Irene to the hands of the wretch Glaucias, who is avowedly plotting her ruin. And why does Helle do all this? For no reason than because the young sculptor and patriot Clito has been heard to speak of her as the mistress of a tyrant and the monster that she is. It might be imagined that a creature so shameless would have cared little for the talk of the streets or the studios of Athens. But not so Helle. With the acquiescence of her paramour, Critias, she seeks the sculptor's studio, fascinates him in spite of the disclosure of her identity, and having learnt from him with incredible facility the secret of a certain projected gathering of conspirators under his leadership at the Piraean Gate carries away the sculptor, held captive by her charms, to her place. Here dreaming, like Ogier, in the enchanted isle, and deaf to the warnings of his adopted father, the sculptor Xenocies, Clito lingers till the Athenian popular break into the palace, bearing with them the body of Irene, who has presumptively been slain by her father from some such motives as those which decided Virginius in the Forum. The last act passes in the sculptor's studio, where the wretched Helle, hunted by the mob, piteously craves shelter from her quondam lover, till the people pursuing her thither, both Clito and his mistress fall victims to the popular wrath. 'It will be seem from this sketch that Clito is a tragedy of a more than commonly gloomy cast. Its fault, however, lies not so much in the lack of relief to its somber tones as in the absence of any prominent element that claims the admiration or secures the sympathy of the spectator. If the end and aim of tragedy be to arouse pity and apprehension for the fate of human beings, then Clito must assuredly be pronounced wanting. Wise men, it is true, have fallen ere now into the toils of designing women; but the young sculptor who is blind to the transparent love of his foster-sister, who betrays the patriots he has sworn to lead, and who, in the face of glaring evidence of her true character, persists in regarding the tyrant's mistress as - One in whose wake the beaten tracks appear A little greener where her feet have trod, 'can hardly be other than a contemptible personage. Mr. Barrett plays the part with great energy, but he cannot conceal its inherent weakness, or redeem the monotony of long speeches delivered, it must be confessed, in many places too hurriedly and with too little variety of tone and emphasis. Miss Eastlake's Helle is indeed a performance of great power. Never before has this actress, we believe, portrayed with equal skill the subtle play of passion – the swift yet not abrupt transition from mood to mood of a mind ever watchful to attain its sinister ends. If the terrible picture of the guilty woman, broken in spirit and abjectly craving for protection from the man she had ruined and betrayed, failed to move compassion, it was certainly not the fault of the actress. To these twain and their relations the other personages and their doings are wholly subordinate. Mr. [E.S.] Willard, as the cynical voluptuary Glaucias; Miss Coote, as the feebly plaintive victim of his designs; Mr. Hudson, as the tyrant Critias; Mr. Wilford as his colleague Theramenes; and even Mr. Clynds as Xenocles the sculptor, have much to say but little to do which has any appreciable influence on the action of the play. With all this, the sincerity of the work and the courage with which the authors have departed from well-trodden ways are of hopeful aurury to the stage. Hardly less is to be said for the careful study which the acting betokened; and the completeness of the mise-en-scène which has had the advantage of the archaeological learning of Mr. E.W. Godwin. Mr. Hann's street in Athens, with the view of the Parthenon and other temples of the Citadel in the distance; the sculptor's studio, and the room in Helle's house by Mr. Stafford Hall are find examples of scenic art. Beautiful again in all its details is the scene in the palace with its lofty massive Ionic capitols, between which the blue sea and the floors of the city are visible together with the revelry, the incense from the sacred tripods, the musicians with their flues and lyres, the processions of boys wearing garlands, and the other features of festivals in honour of Bacchus. The curtain fell to loud calls from the principal performers and the authors, followed by the customary demand for "a speech" from Mr. Barrett, who reappeared before the footlights to thank his patrons for their friendly demonstrations, with some parting references to the approaching departure of the Princess's Company for the United States.' (The Daily News, London, Monday, 3 May 1886, p.3d) * * * * * * * * Opening of the Albert Palace Theatre, London, 1886 'A new theatre, erected in the grounds of the Albert Palace at Battersea, was inaugurated last evening [Thursday, 3 June 1886] with a public dress rehearsal of a new patriotic choral ode by Mr. Clement Scott, entitled Our Empire, and set to music by Mr. W.C. Levey. The theatre is situated in the grounds, at some distance from the main building, and consists in reality of a stage, there being no auditorium. For the accommodation of the audience seats and tables are placed in front in the open air, in the same way as at the summer concerts in the Paris Champs Elysées. The stage is a large, handsome structure, offering ample accommodation for the evolutions of a large corps de ballet. A numerous array of young ladies, prettily attired in the national costumes of the United Kingdom, took part in the entertainment provided last evening. At the head of them was Miss Hill, who appeared as Britannia and sang some spirited solo passages. The dancing, which included Irish jigs, Scotch reels, and characteristic English and Welsh dances, were a prominent feature in the performance, and were skilfully contrived under the direction of Mr. Paul Valentine. Of the nature of the lyrics some idea may be formed by the opening stanza, in which Britannia welcomes her colonies-and-dependencies - Welcome to you island home Girdled round with sea, Mother England bids you come, Children of the Free! Lands of everlasting sun, Lands where golden rivers run, Fruit of labour grow! 'The military band of the Albert Palace, under Mr. Hiram Hinton, efficiently performed the orchestral portion of the music. The weather being fine, although somewhat chilly, there was a large gathering, and the performance was received with applause by a large gathering.' (The Daily News, London, Friday, 4 June 1886, p.3g) * * * * * * * * Diane De Fontenoy, poses plastique, the Tivoli music hall, London, 1899 'Mdlle. Diane De Fontenoy, who came to the Tivoli on Monday [27 November 1899], is not new to London, as she appeared at the Palace at least a couple of years since in her revelations of the female form divine. The queens of mythology then largely occupied her attention; but on Monday in her statuary entertainment she varied the undraped with the draped, her most successful picture being "Faith," a figure clinging to a large cross. The realisation of the "Marly Horse" was boldly conceived, but not more boldly than the figure of Mazeppa strapped across the back of the steed apparently urging on a wild career. For real prettiness we may single out the "girl in a gondola," and for crass stupidity nothing could have been worse than "Black and White." In this picture Diane simply held a black kitten, which, of course, attempted to escape. Very much more successful was "Andromeda," chained to a rock, awaiting the monster, from which she is presently to be rescued by Perseus. Here the pose was admirable.' (The Era, London, Saturday, 2 December 1899, p.21a) * * * * * * * * A drunk and disorderly actor at the Magistrate's Court, Bow Street, London, 1900 'Clifford Winsthorpe, of Middle Temple-lane, described as an actor, was charged, on remand, at Bow-street, with being drunk and disorderly. – The case originally came on last week, but was adjourned at prisoner's request. – Mr. Coyle, barrister, now appeared for prisoner, and said that, acting on his advice, he would plead guilty, and say he was very sorry if he had caused any inconvenience. At the last hearing he was suffering from an imaginary grievance because his own doctor was not sent for. – In answer to the magistrate, Inspector Croxton said prisoner asked for a doctor, and the divisional surgeon was sent for. He said prisoner was drunk. Prisoner then asked for another doctor. Witness referred him to the assistant divisional surgeon, who was standing close by, and prisoner used insulting language. The inspector went on to say that on the evening in question prisoner and another gentleman were shown into the inspector's office at Bow-street Police-station. They were both drunk. Prisoner said, "I have just come back from America. I went into a restaurant and saw this gentleman there. He is wanted in America, and I brought him here." Witness asked prisoner by what authority he had arrested the other gentleman, and what offence he was accused of. Prisoner absolutely declined to give him any information, and defied witness to release the other man. As no name or address or definite information of any kind could be obtained witness directed prisoner and his companion to leave the station. Both of them, however, had to be put into the street. The second man went away, but prisoner tried to force his way back into the station, and it became necessary to take him into custody. As already explained, the divisional surgeon certified him to be drunk. Prisoner beat his cell door during nearly the whole time he was locked up, and made most unreasonable requests. Inspector Croxton said prisoner was charged with a similar offence at Vine-street about seven months ago. – Mr. [Albert] De Rutzen [the Magistrate] said some people were never satisfied unless they got exactly what they wished. Last week prisoner asked for a remand, and he got it. He would now have to pay 10s. and 3s. 6d. costs.' (The News of the World, London, Sunday, 13 May 1900, p.3d) * * * * * * * * Marie Lloyd in New York, October 1913

Marie Lloyd

(photo: unknown, circa 1912)

'Marie Lloyd's forte is the "blue" song. She makes her entrance at center and walks straight to the footlights. She talks her songs, with now and then a knowing wink to emphasize a risque line and sometimes a brief comic dance between verses. 'It would be expected that the questionable tone of her songs – and a few times they are on the border line – could be forgotten in possible flashes of artistry. The songs are broadly, heavily and almost staidly done, rather than delicately pointed. 'Miss Lloyd crowded the Palace last week. The theatregoers were undoubtedly curious. Miss Lloyd received applause after each song, but it can hardly be said that the audience in general expressed any startling amount of approval.' (The New York Dramatic Mirror, New York, Wednesday, 22 October 1913, p.21a/b) * * * * * * * *

Return to home page

© John Culme, 2002