Show MODJESKA S A Fair Rosalind anda Delighted Audience Helena Hodjeska the great actress act-ress made her debut last evening to a large mainly intelligent and fashionable audience After her appearance had been noted the most striking feature of the lady was her accent which while clear and distinct was nevertheless that of a pronounced pro-nounced foreigner and as the text of Shakespeares plays unless one is familar with them is rather difficult diffi-cult to follow at any time it was not until the madame had talked for a brief period that she could be generally understood However it was not long before the peculiar accent berame familiar and in many instances seemed really to add to the sweetness of the expression The first act gives no more than a faint idea of Modjes kas rare powers but in the remainder re-mainder was to be seen a thousand evidences of careful study clear appreciation of the authors meaning mean-ing and a power to give expression to conceptions such as is only found in those on whom the his tronic genius has fallen like a mantle I man-tle She is so soft so gentle I so retiring and so modest in the first act as to appear the embodiment embodi-ment of innocent simplicity while in the other acts save the last where she dons the dublet and hose and in app irel changes her sex she moves about the stage with an ease a grace and an abandon that charms and delights yet all the while there is not the slightest slight-est suggestion of immodesty If one has sufficient intelligence to comprehend what Rosalind should be then he can imagine what Mod jeska makes of it She makes of Rosalind a woman whose heart touched with love at i nrst sight displays that love in a thousand womanly ways and while resorting to various expedi eats to test the fidelity of her admirer ad-mirer in which there is a never ending run of ready wit and of satire and of humor the love light always illuminates her eye her countenance ever shows constant devotion and her every gesture even of seeming inconsistency true to the emotion which has taken possession of her whole being The momentary outbursts of grief seem so real that it almost appears mockery to hear the rippling peals follow as she laughs at Orlando in those scenes in which he plays lover to the Ganymede of Rosalind The good nature the sweetness cf disposition the decision of character charac-ter and the firmness of purpose of Rosalind become clear in the delineation delin-eation 01 Madame Modjeska and leave the most delightful itnpies sion on the audience It is so seldom sel-dom that an actress of the unequivocal un-equivocal genius of Modjeska appears in such characters that a failure to see her in them is to wrong oneself To miss such an oppoitunity shows a lack of appreciation appre-ciation of that histrionic genius which after years of study and thought so illumines the lines as to bring form out of chaos cloth with their appropriate qualities the several characters and give palpable palpa-ble and tangable realization to that which is born of the warm imagine lion of an author Is not this TtniusV If it is then Mofljeska possesses pos-sesses that quality in a rare degree But returning to commonplaces it was a treat in itself to see one of the great dramatists lighter productions produc-tions put on the boards particularly where there was so much life and where the inherent and immortal wit is not lost be cause of an insufficient outlet or murdered by a blundering delivery of the text and still more blundering comprehension of its meaning Modjeskas support was far above the averageand its membership embraces em-braces several gentlemen and ladies decided talent who have either a tact for Shakespearian recitation or have been schooled properly and have profitted by that schooling There was a beauty and a grace about the piece which delighted all who saw it and which will go along a-long way towards removing the impression im-pression which bunglers of Shakespeare Shake-speare have given to the public regarding re-garding his immortal productions She appears in cr Adrienne Le couvruer this afternoon and in Twelfth Night closes her engagement engage-ment this evening |