Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-11-24
Oar Foreign Correspondsuss.
letter from Zurich.
THE GERMAN THEATRE.


the superintendence of an officer appoint
q by the government 1t seems strance
hear of Colonel of the army. relieved fro
, military duty, and given the charge of
theatre or opera. Such a parsonage is no
the bfeiadonfiT of the Royal Opera
/ Berlin Another element of support is Il
reignlng families of Germany. ofwhich thel
, are to-day about twenty. who feel boun
IN honor to keep respectable company
actors. 1t Is well-known fact how muc
was done In the time of Goethe and Schilie
~ Weimar towards rescuing the theatre fror
'Ie influences OF corrupt social dogmatism
"hich' under the guise of princely patronage
ana with the doubtful coloring of Frenci
Ideas, would control it. The result was thai
lneSe Two poets, and especially Schiller
we're no longer laughed at, but began to be
read by the better classes of people. For.
tunately or unfortunately, they renresented
different schools of political thought Goethe
being Royalist, and court favorite Schiller
hepuoican. The stage began to be re-
| garded as the most direct and influential
agent to prevent the nation from being STAG
nant, TO raise and refine its taste. The peo-
pie would listen to - Wilhelm Meister" and
Don Carlos when acted on a prineelv
stage. However shrewd the device may now
appear. the success justified the means for
Germany, as national folk. will follow
where princes lead. Without doubt the at-
tempt at Weimar was q natural product of
Lessings earlier work at Hamburg. where
night after night he personally directed the
details OF the stage, and left his daily criti-
eisIns IN the shape of a little volume, enti-
tied I" Harnburgsche Dramaturcie." As
matter of curiosity, may state that found
copy of this theatrical diary of Lessipr,
this "Eudngelilim Drdm1ticitni." in its first
and now rare edition. under smut and dust in
an antiquarian book-stall in a Jewish QUAR-
ter OF Berlin, whose price OF five silbereros
chen, or fifteen cents, was to me quite "a
curious discovery as the book itself
The task of maintaining the average thea
tire at anything like what it should be. he
came more and more difficult. as Great ac-
tors demanded large pay. and went to the
larger towns. Naturally, the panic to become
- star prevailed equally natural was the
revolt, and but few stars really appeared, and
these became the early property Of the capi-
'als OF the duchles. Audiences began to ad-
nlre special actors, even with the disadvan-
taGe OF their Inadequate support Actors
on the other hand, regarded the theatre a.
Tor them, and not they for the theatre.
Classical drama gave way to sensational
pieces and spectacular performances French
plays with hcentious tendencies were put
on the stage, under the idea that passion and
sentiment could occupy the German mind.
as 1t satisfies the French but, OF course.
with n loss OF easy grace and refinement. in
herent IN the latter, and with the introduc-
ton OF repulsiveness, due to unskilled hands.
Government, TOO, failed to found a traininc
school, not only for actors, but for dramatic
writer's which was justly expected by those
nred TO the idea that government is the best
manager OF the stage. The guide to a theat-
Ilcal repertoire was a misjudged coneep-
'lon OF the popular thought and the re-
pertolre itself was a mixture of German and
French operettas-French plays of doubtful
Character, vulgar ballet, and now and then
an opera of Wagner. the last, apparently. to
'armonIze with supposed and tacitlv rec
ognized ideal Of what the stage should be.
There Is to-day stage in Berlin, whose
name " National Theatre" may convey an
dea OF ITS method of support, or OF the nn-
llonai character OF Its plays, or that it is a
otSSfhedtsr with beer and bretzels, play
ng cards by the men and knitting
of stockings by the women for German wo-
men do not play cards, and the men certain
y do not knit a name suggestive either
d daily repeated provincial afternoon in
summer or of show in the lorsiah of a
arSe city. Whatever 1t may suggest, the
purpose Of this stage is to furnish the classi-
al German tragedy and comedy-Shake-
'peare, after the Sehlegel-Tieck translation,
md occasional dTamatized stories of Grimm
md Hans Andersen for children's SC hools, at
prices ridiculously low. 1t is enough to say
hat, although the purpose is admirable, the
heatre Is always empty. as the actors are in
error.
MEINISGEN THEaTRE COMPANY.
There is, however, in Germany, one thea
re VIZ, That of the Duke of Saxe-Mein-
nSen, which is, on the whole, free from the
,harge of obeying public taste, and is,
i once successful The company is known
u the Meiningen Theatre Company. from
little town of the same name in middle South
Germany, about ha If way between Cassel and
Nuremberg. Its establishment and support
ire due to the dramatic taste OF the Duke
He is not SO very wealthy, except
n unsaleabie estates, property suggestive of
associations and assessments rather than of
ncome- Many thrifty American farmer
could balance his bank account and leave him
| handsome margin for royalty. The ap-
continents of this theatre are princely. I'm
lble to cope with the Inagniicence of Berlin
'r Vienna stages, or to produce opera, play.
md ballet with the same troupe. it has, by
he Dukes direction, limited itself to TRACE
If this stage is that it Is a school for prom
sing players. Its aim is, first, to produce
classical plays second. that there shall be
40 principal parts third. that the subordi-
nate parts shall be as nearly perfect as possi-
bic. The result is, there Is, II one may so
'.y i, a symphony of acting. On the other
hand, the properties OF this stage viz, the
scenery. toilet, and details, are studied points.
The Duke employed painters to go to the
owns and copy them accurately ON canvass.
Castles of mediaval and Roman arehitee-
.ure are reproduced as well In ruins as in
he renovated portions. So. too. styles of
toilet. and patterns of dresses. All this has
been the work of years. The Duke has HIM
self attended to all these details, and is his
1wn superintendent. His Macbeth is so ac-
,urate that no Scotch antiquary could find
Ault with it. 1t is said he once took part III
sixty rehearsals of julius Caesar before he
Tould allow it to appear publicly. Natural
Y, people began to regard Meiningen as the
stage where one could see classical plays in
,lassical style. and 1t became u common
practice for theatre-gOer5 to make the tip
rom Berlin, LelpsIc. and Dresden, dis
ances of about twelve hours, for week at
his little town, where was the apparent So
ution of the theatre problem. Naturally,
Ieiningen could not support such COM
1any of actors the Duke. instead of send
ng out one or two of the best, and thus en-
ohasizing certain members of the company,
ook the whole cast, with scenes and outfit,
rom town to town, making money enough
% support the home theatre, and thus pre-
serve the original design of the organization.
For three successive springs the company
las played in Berlin. where this wear saw
hem three times in :" Wilhelm Tell" and
once in Macbeth" They were in Dresden,
his summer, where twenty five nights were
gwen to large audiences, chiefly of English
md Americans
But even classical impersonators of
sin against their dramatic god
The MeiningeIs, with their studied classical
habits, are human, and, as such, 1t Is to be
that the desire to put on the
stage plays which viii show their scenery,
and toilets for the qualification OF common
POPULAR taste, is not always so easy to ignore.
In this way they have introduced into their
repertoir some eastern plays also such
As Kleist's q Katchen Won Hebron" and
schiller's "Fiesco," - Egmont," and " Die
Rauber" (The Robbers. These three Of
Schiller are in the severest sense republican
IN their character. even revolutionary while
The last-written when the poet was seven
teen, when his ideas of society were most
when. with uncombed hair.
lnwashed hands, and wide-open collar and
waistcoat, he was not only the object of iidi-
rule TO his contemporaries, but OF disgust on
the part Of the elder and more conservative
Goethe" Die Rauber" is. as its name I'M
plies, piraticai in its tendencies anu in its
second edition the poet modified its tone
Such are some of the occasional
made by the Meiningers, which
may be said to detract from their excellent
name though not from their popularity. 4
play of Moliere is spoiled to one who has
seen him in the Theatre Fidncqis in Paris.
The best success Of the Meinineers is
with Shakespeare. for here they devote their
best energies. They seem themselves to
enjoy the fun in " Twelfth Night" and to
enter into the real passion of 9 Macbeth"
In Shakespeare. more than in "Wilhelm Tell.
Or indeed anything else, they show what it
S to act together. Though some of the ac-
ors and actresses are exceptionally fine and
If the highest order in their role one
never thinks of them individually. us lie
L