Australian Lincoln

Some weeks ago a plump little man entered the office of the U. S. Consul at Melbourne, Australia. Said he: "I am about to portray the role of Abraham Lincoln in Mr. Drinkwater's play of that name, which we are shortly to produce at the Melbourne Repertory Theatre. May I ask your advice as to the playing of the role?"

In the Consul's office is a man of suavity and tact. He showed his plump questioner a portrait of President Lincoln, a tall, full length portrait. He hoped it would sink in.

The actor crossed his legs. "I have my own conceptions of Mr. Lincoln's character," he said, "but I wanted to find out how far they accord with your own. . . ."

Last week the fruits of the ensuing conversation resulted in a performance in which what has been called Lincoln's "noble humility" was played as though it were a cringing "inferiority complex." The cast, envisioned from the. reports of horrified U. S. spectators:

President Lincoln. Smooth and sleek-faced as a well-fed Britisher, he spoke with the accent peculiar to Piccadilly Circus. He discussed the U. S. Civil War with a comfortable affability, an easy indifference, a polished negligence. To indicate that he had aged during the performance, he hooked on a fringe of whiskers running from ear to ear.

The Cabinet: 1) Seward, played by a self-important young man of 25, although supposed to be 60; 2) Stanton, equipped with a beard at least two feet long and portrayed with a stock "old man's shuffle" suitable to street mendicants; 3) "Hook" (Drinkwater's fictitious cabinet member), played as the chief character; browbeating the diletant President, transfixing him with the reproving stare of a Victorian "stage father."

General Grant. The General's notorious fondness for tobacco and whisky was emphasized. He smoked a cigar having an odor like that of burning cotton. He wilted, however, before Lee, who entered and surrendered with the air of a conqueror.