Even in our own
days of triumphant stage illusion, it must be owned that the
presentment of Banquo's ghost still remains incomplete and
unsatisfactory; but where such adroit managers as Mr. Macready, Mr.
Charles Kean, and Mr. Phelps (to name no more) have failed, it seems
vain to hope for success. Pictorially, Banquo's ghost has fared
better, as all who are acquainted with Mr. Maclise's "Macbeth" will
readily acknowledge.
A curious fact in connection with the Banquo of Betterton's time may
here be noted. Banquo was represented by an actor named Smith; the
ghost, however, was personated by another actor--Sandford. Why this
division of the part between two performers? Smith was possessed of a
handsome face and form, whereas Sandford was of "a low and crooked
figure." He was the stage villain of his time, and was famed for his
uncomely and malignant aspect; "the Spagnolet of the stage," Cibber
calls him; but it is certainly strange that he should therefore have
enjoyed a prescriptive right to impersonate ghosts.
The attempted omission of Banquo's ghost, however, made it clear that
the old substantial shade emerging from a trap-door in the stage had
ceased to satisfy the town.
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