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Article MEMOIRS OF CHARLES MACKLIN, ← Page 5 of 8 →
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Memoirs Of Charles Macklin,
literature , Arthur Murphy , appositely described Macklin s prerrorrnance , when he said , that Macklin had given ' a good black-letter edition of Macbeth . ' There was , in truth , so much critical merit in his exhibition of the character , . that we can have no doubt , if he had adopted that province of acting in early life , he would have made a more distinguished figure in his art . he met With
On the first nig ht of his performing this part , _ some interruption from a faction , who professed to consider the attempt as the excess of presumption , vanity , and folly . The more matured critics , however , supported his cause , and the general sentiment of the Public was evidently in his favour . This interruption was resumed on his next attempt in the character , and was at length so
violent , that in some scenes it was impossible to hear hirn . Macklin , finding that a party had determined to persevere in opposing him , thought it necessary to trace the authors of this persecution , and rather too hastily accused Reddish , the Actor , of having been the chief agent in the disturbance . Reddish denied the charge , and Macklin promised to come forward with his proof . Accordingly , on in
the nio-ht on which he was to make his third appearance Macbeth , the house was soon crouded , in expectation of a speech from Macklin , in support of his accusation against Reddish . ' Macklin came upon the Stage . before he dressed for his part , and was received with very great applause ; not , however , without some marks of disapprobation from the party who had occasioned the confusion . So great
was the partiality of the audience , that they would not suffer him to speak standing , but demanded a chair . " A chair was brought upon the Stage , and he made a long speech , but without offering any substantial * pr ' oof against Reddish . At length he concluded with asserting , that his wife was in the Gallery , near Reddish , heard him hiss , and ' saw him take an active part in hostility against the performance of
her husband . This account did not seem very satisfactory to the audience in general , who , however , felt for a man at his advanced age , and one who had been an established favourite . The audience therefore would probably have passed the affair quietly over , after such unsatisfactory evidence ; but the friends of Reddish grew " outrageous , and as it is alwayin the of a party to disturb the entertainment of an
aus power dience at large , Macklin , when he appeared dressed for Macbeth , was assailed by the most violent uproar . In vain he attempted to address the audience—in vain he attempted to perform the character—Not a syllable that he uttered could be heard from the beginning to the end of his part . He endeavoured to play it a fourth time , but without the least chance of attention ; foralthough the other Performers were
pa-, tiently heard , not a word from Macklin was audible . ' His next attempt was in Shylock , but with no better success ; the party continued their clamours , and at length a board was brought upon the Stage , on which it was stated , that ' in obedience to the ¦ wishes of the audience Mr . Macklin was discharged from the Theatre . ' This was too serious an injury for Macklin to bear with patience ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Memoirs Of Charles Macklin,
literature , Arthur Murphy , appositely described Macklin s prerrorrnance , when he said , that Macklin had given ' a good black-letter edition of Macbeth . ' There was , in truth , so much critical merit in his exhibition of the character , . that we can have no doubt , if he had adopted that province of acting in early life , he would have made a more distinguished figure in his art . he met With
On the first nig ht of his performing this part , _ some interruption from a faction , who professed to consider the attempt as the excess of presumption , vanity , and folly . The more matured critics , however , supported his cause , and the general sentiment of the Public was evidently in his favour . This interruption was resumed on his next attempt in the character , and was at length so
violent , that in some scenes it was impossible to hear hirn . Macklin , finding that a party had determined to persevere in opposing him , thought it necessary to trace the authors of this persecution , and rather too hastily accused Reddish , the Actor , of having been the chief agent in the disturbance . Reddish denied the charge , and Macklin promised to come forward with his proof . Accordingly , on in
the nio-ht on which he was to make his third appearance Macbeth , the house was soon crouded , in expectation of a speech from Macklin , in support of his accusation against Reddish . ' Macklin came upon the Stage . before he dressed for his part , and was received with very great applause ; not , however , without some marks of disapprobation from the party who had occasioned the confusion . So great
was the partiality of the audience , that they would not suffer him to speak standing , but demanded a chair . " A chair was brought upon the Stage , and he made a long speech , but without offering any substantial * pr ' oof against Reddish . At length he concluded with asserting , that his wife was in the Gallery , near Reddish , heard him hiss , and ' saw him take an active part in hostility against the performance of
her husband . This account did not seem very satisfactory to the audience in general , who , however , felt for a man at his advanced age , and one who had been an established favourite . The audience therefore would probably have passed the affair quietly over , after such unsatisfactory evidence ; but the friends of Reddish grew " outrageous , and as it is alwayin the of a party to disturb the entertainment of an
aus power dience at large , Macklin , when he appeared dressed for Macbeth , was assailed by the most violent uproar . In vain he attempted to address the audience—in vain he attempted to perform the character—Not a syllable that he uttered could be heard from the beginning to the end of his part . He endeavoured to play it a fourth time , but without the least chance of attention ; foralthough the other Performers were
pa-, tiently heard , not a word from Macklin was audible . ' His next attempt was in Shylock , but with no better success ; the party continued their clamours , and at length a board was brought upon the Stage , on which it was stated , that ' in obedience to the ¦ wishes of the audience Mr . Macklin was discharged from the Theatre . ' This was too serious an injury for Macklin to bear with patience ,