Word: roles
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...cannot postpone forever some remarks on the performance of the title role, here undertaken by Jason Robards, Jr. Truthfulness obliges me to state that herein lies the chief weakness of this production. Now Robards is one of our most richly endowed native actors, and his performances in 20th-century American works have been unbeatable. But he is as yet vocally unequipped to cope with the demands of Shakespearean language. This is not surprising in view of the fact that his only previous experience with the Bard was a brief go at Hotspur last summer in Canada. Good classical diction...
...courage to murder Duncan. He protests, "If we should fail--," and she retorts with "We fail"--two words with at least three possible interpretations (each with more than one inflection): (1) "We fail?"; (2) "We fail!"; and (3) "We fail." Mrs. Siddons, history's most celebrated portrayer of the role, finally settled on the third; and Miss McKenna does the same. But this is the most inadmissiable solution. Lady Macbeth must not toss the words away with shoulder-shrugging resignation. She cannot allow her husband to believe that failure is even possible; she must thunder these words, or at least...
Particularly impressive are Michael Wager's Malcolm and Lee Richardson's Ross. In his big colloquy with Macduff, Wager speaks with clarity, conviction, and nice rhythm. And, since Malcolm is the last person to speak in the play, it is good to have someone in the role who excels in classical diction. Richardson brings a force and earnestness that make his Thane of Ross the best of the dozen or so I have seen...
...years that Miss McKenna has been seen in this country, she has done a superlative job in two recent plays, Enid Bagnold's The Chalk Garden and Morton Wishengrad's The Rope Dancers. But she has also recreated an impressive number of classic roles. She has given us a warm Sister Juana and a wonderful Maggie Wylie; and an unmatchably transcendent Saint Joan, which may serve as a yardstick for all future performances by an actress. In Shakespeare, she has now offered us a memorable Hamlet (yes, the title role!), Viola, and Lady Macbeth. And I have not cited...
...young widower, Sinatra gives a kind of bubble-gum snap to his role, and delivers just about as much substance. Young Eddie (The Music Man) Hodges is fine as the child who plays gin rummy with his father at 4 o'clock in the morning. As the feverish businessman who cannot fathom the playboy's vagaries, Edward G. Robinson has an intonation and gesture to fit every line-and all the best lines are his. To a cab driver who cynically returns a ten-cent tip: "What'sa matter, you don't need a dime...