o her arms; she has to pass and repass, without a pause, from one extreme
of her art to the other. There is probably no actress but Sarah Bernhardt
who could render all the various phases of this character as they should
be rendered. There is only one phase of it that comes fairly within Miss
Anderson's grasp. Of vivacity there is not a spark in her nature; a
heavy-footed impassiveness weighs upon all her efforts to be sprightly.
The refinement, the subtlety, the animation, the _ton_, of an actress of
the Comedie Francaise she does not so much as suggest. Womanly sympathy,
tenderness, and trust, those qualities which constitute a far deeper and
more abiding charm than statuesque beauty, are equally absent from an
impersonation which in its earlier phases is almost distressingly labored.
While the actress is entertaining her guests with improvised comedy,
moreover, no undercurrent of emotion, no suggestion of suppressed anxiety
is perceptible. It is not till this double _role_, which demands a degree
of _finesse_ evidently beyond Miss Anderson's range, is exchanged for the
unaffected expression of mental torture that the actress rises to the
occasion, and here it is pleasing to record, she displayed on Saturday
night an earnestness and an intensity which won her an ungrudging round of
applause. Miss Anderson's conception of the character is excellent, it is
her powers of execution that are defective; and we do not omit from these
the quality of her voice, which at times sinks into a hard and
unsympathetic key."

_Morning Post_, 28th January, 1884.

"A change effected in the programme at the Lyceum Theater on Saturday
night makes Mr. Gilbert responsible for the whole entertainment of the
evening. His fairy comedy of 'Pygmalion and Galatea,' is now supplemented
by a new dramatic study in which, under the ambitious title 'Comedy and
Tragedy,' he has been at special pains to provide Miss Mary Anderson with
an effective _role_. This popular young actress has every reason to
congratulate herself upon the opportunity for distinction thus placed in
her way, for Mr. Gilbert has accomplished his task in a thoroughly
workmanlike manner. In the course of a single act he has demanded from the
exponent of his principal character the most varied histrionic
capabilities, for he has asked her to be by turns the consummate actress
and the unsophisticated woman, the gracious hostess and the vindictive
enemy, the humorous reciter and the