The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-12-19
TIE MEN WHO AMUSE US.
SOME AUTHORs, lCToRS, AND THE
PTBIIC or PdRIS.


|
VINO spend almost ail their evenings ~ the play
| II must he said before al. int we have now the
| most admirable school Of actors. do not speak
of the actors and actresses alone who have
made their names famous not only In France,
! hut in Belgium, In England In Russia, wherever
there IL u Ifcuch stage. There Is a school Of
actors, IN innumerable number OF men and wo-
men, who can act win a ndtsiel, good grage'
tension, OF awkwardness, which IS truly won
| derful. This Is the time OF year when new
| pieces are produced on tue stage society
has not yet opened It's salons. the gentlemen
have little freedom, ana they can give their
| verdict on the new drauas. Such a verdict. "a
Of course. only necessary for pieces when have
literary character and social object; oleras
and small upcrcttas have their own public,
| which ia quite different from the public that
s able TO pass judgment on comedy or a
| tragedy.
Among our dramatic writer's who will try to
| give some satisfaction to literary judges and are
railways bring every day to Parts from the prov
| inces ana from the whole world. is NJ. Sardou.
His name "a probably not very popular 10 Amer
| lea, es he wrote that bad piece called Oncle
| Ssn;" his excuse lies In the fact that he had
never crossed the Atlantic, and that he believed
| called NJ. Assoant. Sardou writes too much,
aud does not take sufficient time for the choice
school ~ over. production. lie was determined
to build up a large fortune. and wanted to show
that he could do as much with his brains "a the
bears or bulls Of the Exchange can do often
without any brains at all lie was so poor in his
youth TINT. on leaving college he WINS Obliged to
re enter It in the humble and despised capacity
OF what the French call t1on. The rion -
| university eerlcHnf. the man MnOm YOU see
walking by the colegians he sleeps in their
dormtorv, eats at their table, and generally acts
IKE the s,.bneard Or rnnSr sae dne r1opnefn ns
country house, a art OF the ROYAL PARK OF NARY.
He adorns his house with the finest tapestries
Of the grand siecle;' he is
RICH AND PROSPEROUS.
nut hs has remained an artist; he works
like slave: he is extremely eager for all pos
sbe Information. for all details concerning the
history Of mankind. One of his last pieces. the
Z" Mpfyeil sea,' a complete failure the
plot WAS too Insignificant, but the costume, the
characters were ali drawn out Of a magnificent
collection made at "a great expense. Sarduu's
friends told him on this occasion that the pub.
himself; IL did not matter " the costumes Of
the Directory were more or less faithful; the
public wanted real passions not clothes. Sar-
dou Is not obstinate; he changes his manner,
not In the course Of afew year,, like the great
psin,efs-he can change 1t three times year
He rather likes to change II. to jump from one
thing 70 another, TO alter his system he Is
sort OF dramatic clown. Who would think that
the same man wrote Les pattcs de Mouchc," a
piece which might have been signed by Scribe.
and ratre." dark and awful drama, full ~
always he the greatest work Of Sardou. There
was much artistic beauty 10 piece Of the same
calibfe called " La l.aine. but there was too
much horror in it for the Partisan palate. " La
lIaine' was inspired by the history OF the
trio was INSPIRED bv Motleys history OF the
Netherlands. sardou Is always looking for an
inspiration on all sides In every direction; he
has no system. he will not restrict himself to
any particular set OF Ideas.
YESTERDAY he brought out new niece on the
stage at the GymnasC. called " fertOl had
not Tor some time seen a frst representation
what the Parisians call "une premiere word
which must be pronounced with certain emo.
ton. 10 be at premiere Is the dream OF
many young man, Of many lady. For many
II often rem ans always dream No tickets
are sold At tho ofllce If the theatre on the mys-
FERROUS day of the birth OF n new piece; the AL
thor gives away a large number OF tickets to his
friends aud admirers. what the director does
with the rest is known, as FAR as the press is
concerned every important newspaper ana re-
view receives places for Its critics. The dtrec-
tor must also give tickets TO those authors who
have their entrees In all tue theatres. and who
nre considered as the natural lords Of the liter
AIRY field; How he disposes OF the remaining tick-
t. simply this there are seats to be had. not at
tue regular Office OF the theatre, but at some
Irregular es-sometmes At wins shops. bars,
&C.. These are sold At extrayagant prices. aud
the result OF 1t Is that Ia the audience ot q
panSation Of ParlsVihe literary Clement. when
with Its various representative hlls hall the
room, and the element which / hardly Know
! eigners, dssoute men Of the clubs, actresses,
am .-dies Of the "demi- monde " In their fines
clothes and W." all their artillery ot diamonds
MoMrNTors MOMENTS.
1have II from several authors that this odd
public ~ extremely formidable In their eyes.
From the literary element they fear jealousy,
coldness. great disposition 20 see the defects
OF every work. fasiidiousness from the other
far Indifference. They can only act on
the nervous system Of such public by ind
tons. TINS punllc OF the "pretnieres" Is some
times very cold nj moments when the author
expected TO make his greatest effect; ana some
times ic~ Vrrt simple words, soft inionatlon.
some cr dc ame'' some exhibition Of youth
aud innocence. will send thru Of genuine emo
ton anon. these tired, worn out literary hacks
and anxious Aspasils. The author never apuears
on such evenings; he Ia in the coulisses giving a
last word a ADVICE To one Or another. The ac-
tors are uneasy; th-y are always more OF less
excited "hen th~c have to appear In new char
acteF before the public, who will pronounce II
nor part IL a" success or IA lure In his
new piece IL Wa quite clear at once that sardou
had taken bis in-pirauon from Gahorau.
' ou must know Gaooriau even in Ameri-
ca. lie died two years ago, Worn out
wi'h work. He had ,inyented kind
cultice in detcc'ingthe author Of cert In crimes
Justice was always on the WRONG tack an he
evidence went against one man, while another
m n W., guilty. The agony OF the innocent was
kept M IN one two. or three volumes, 20 II
| Wa SO ..'eriaN IA five acts, only Sarduu has not
tthct the simple Glboriau system; he his IL" =
pr ned It; he has added to II tie oramAu" Gle
rient. the struggle of c0p'vnllng passl"'s. The
Truth could be made huo Ah ut any moment in
his draua II one hln spoke; ~. ho could not
sneak without DESTROYING the reputation of a
woman. Here YOU nave roa drama winch
ought on to prefer, the honor ~ woman you
love, or the life 81 trendt If You speak. the
Wnn MS - II Won 40 not SIC H. the man, out
~ thu situation Slrdou mas drawn veri dramatic
scenes hut TINS is only one of the aspects of
tue new On ma. lhcre Is another couhict or
dIcl Of paa-i MS Ia tue heart OF a judge,
lie must choose between the honor Of
q his own wife and the ACCOMPLISHMENT
OF II DUTY lie does not hesitate, and
the scenes Ia which the stern magistrate has ia
, overcome the feelings Of the lOnd husband are
the most Impressive OF all don't think that a
drama can welt be analy Led, go viii nor cycn
give yll the names of the various pIdntttis mr.
/ sOuW. 1 simply wished to show that >Lrdtu Ia ls
understood tnat the play of contenuiug pa siILs
/ wa. a nee 'ssary element Of dramatic AIT. lie IS
awoudcrful master in the arrangement Of thc
D various cenes In the Development Of the plot
Tue greatest effect Is sometimes produced u\
| one single word, by the most natu al ald
| triuing incident.
SENSITIVE PARtsTANs.
"Feuiol" met with 0n enthusiast trecoutipn
l. Is very curious To sec now sensitive, after aiI
the most hlds(s Parislius stiil remain; how, once
| moved and thrown out Of themselves, they
seem TO enjoy the pleasure Of NV sensations
Tho enthusiasm OF the audience was DIVIDED
between Sardou and n Nuuug actor named
! Norms, who mad just arrived from It. Pe'ors-
i burg, where he had been living several wears.
u recognized at once In hun a tIa.eIiln, a man
r. who Is not horn u remain In the vulgar world
g OF the t0mtdi b0iTgc0tsc. lie Is calm and dig
u ni1cd; he ought 10 appear "a Young Roman OF
i as Achilles. lis place l. marked at the Theatre
y Francais next TO that young tragediennC
y called sarah liernhaTdt, who has Inherited somC