3-085-616 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

"Peter the Great," the new play at the Lyceum, 1898. London stage production. 'The Empress Catherine (Miss Ellen Terry). Peter the Great (Sir Henry Irving). Peter: "There's an Empress for you! Look at her! - isn't she splendid?"...Mr. Laurence Irving, softening nothing of the savagery which makes Peter the monster of only too many authentic stories, has sought to make him a great tragic figure by showing us the father who sacrifices the life of his only son to the supreme interest of Russia...We see Peter, a strange mixture of brutality, grim humour, and lofty purpose, applying himself to the education of Alexis, only to discover with wrath and contempt that the chosen instrument is utterly worthless...Alexis escapes...but is brought back to Russia and tried for his life. The trial is one of the most original scenes upon the modern stage...Peter, in a soliloquy of real power, persuades himself that the execution of his son, though a crime in the eyes of many, will be justified by history...Sir Henry Irving's impersonation of Peter is very powerful. Rarely has the actor conveyed so successfully the idea of physical and mental vigour. Miss Terry is delightful as the Empress Catherine...and Mr. Robert Taber...plays Alexis with great skill'. From "Illustrated London News", 1898.