The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-10-28

first performances was looked forward to; and what
grumbAng there was when the actors saw the misera
Do arrangements for dressing rooms at the dalety
Theatre and the nameless and abominable starcases
that led to them! Then there were no properties.
no accessories. and the managers would not spend
penny During the few days that Mr. Perrin was
over ne ooieed them to spend with reluctant heart
few shillings but soon as he left it the
as before. And Mr.. Got often complained that he
souiu NOT get them to spend SOU The lecturer re,
ierrea 10 that unfortunate easy chair in lie sphinx
which was not of Mile Crozette s capacity. and to
passage where croizette says. 'Ouor.s la tenet,e,
J'etorye." but there was window to be
opened. Well. in spite of all that, the lecturer
pronounced the audience the first night TO have
been one or the nnest that he had seen He
took exception to the little caps that the English
ladies wore; they became them well enough. but he
had been accustomed to see that headdress exclu-
sively worn by chambermaids. STILL no had never
seen such an expansion of enthusiasm and never
Of his views about the Ensiish. Tney were be-
said. the most tenacious people in the world; they
had capacity for being bored which was altogether
unparalleled In going to SEQ the Coincide Franchise
they felt that they We're accomplishing .sacerdoce
They said to themselves 1--WE must go every night
stand them or not. that does not matter We must
go because it is our duty to co. And so they went
they listened and looked and looked and listened
but there were few that had any reward for their
patience.
Plenty OF people in the audience, said Mr.. Sarcey,
knew how TO talk French slowly, but to talk and
to understand We're two different things. Still we
must not imagine that all the audience attach
the same sense to the same phrase the
value to the TRADES. At the theatre
there always people who do not UNDER
stand what is said. not because they do not un-
derstand the language. but because they ara carried
away by tho movement Of the piece and by the play
OF the actors. They do not know what Is said and
they do not care. There are anecdotes by tho dozen
of actors having substituted phrase for another
aud TRADE for another and the fact having passed
unobserved. very material instance occurred III
..Lolotte In that piece Mile. Chaumo ont is explain
ing the sort OF verses that authors write for her.
For instance. lately this coupiet was given her in
Mon pero joue du trombone
o SUn frsr Sa 5Gl e d ae piston ss;s hon
Qu' manager du mroton
Nine. Chaumont asked the authors what such stuff
meant. They admitted that it did not much
but said that they expected her to give it meaning
comps. ou ron acoSpris. ct M rie.r dc ma da .cet
tres b.ea ga. tres bieaan pen vn.ais tres ben" SO
there were actresses who would sing the simplest
lullaby with emphasis and "intentions' that would
make regiment OF grenadiers blush. In an audi
ence tho lecturer argued, there are many inteili-
gcnces and people Go not listen to each phrase they
are carried away by the movement and the general
sense 1t was thus that the English listened for six
I aaa next TO the Of
ject. provided it treated pretty. agreea-
bly,. and in witty and becoming language.
the French. The English were shocked by
things more than by words. Every IDEA which was
manners could not be represented the stage.
Now all passion was outside the rules; 1t scoffed at
rules What. then, was to be done? The speaker
quoted an amusing instance. 1t must be remem-
bered that most of the audience were provided with
English TRANSACTIONS OF the pieces in which they fol.
lowed the actors. In the "Precieuses Ridicules'
Mile. Samary said the verses in which the word
"concubinage" occurs without it being remarked.
but when she explained to her father that she could
not understand how women could endure ''coucher
cOntre an hOmne tout nu," there q shudder and
murmur in the house. These harmless words had
been in the English translation all eyes
looking for them in vain. Probably most of the
audience thought that it was bit Of 'gag on Mlle
oOk~o ina otafA
the incident explained to her. "Mais queie
idee lis cont Sc Jaire dc mes m0usa" she exclaimed
Mr.. Sarcey then described the aspect Of the house
when the pieces Of Dumas fs were being played
He did not know what the audience thought about
them: By the way. Mr. sarcey declared 1t to be i'm
in the bottom of his heart. However. the audience
sat still as death. and said not word. Dumas had
written letter in which, after expressing his salts
faction the fact that his pieces had at length been
sanctioned by the Lord Chamberlain. he had
Ss wort to the 3udgmeDs Of postssisy
was Judged b! sSs English: ID rg,s''sss s
Bernhardt he continued, was always success
zaire.' for instance. bored the English immensely
it; but as soon as Mile. Bernhardt appeared she
back the audience. and. thanks to her and to her
Sarcey took this occasion to say few words about
French tragic 1t at London. he said, that
ho first comprehended how much education was
needed in order to enable man to appreciate
French tragedy. The and the singing manner
in which it is delivered was. he said. compromise
between truth and convention. Mr. Sarcey, IN refer
ring to the articles Of Mr.. Tom Taylor in the Times
took occasion to remark that dramatic criticism did
not exist in England that the roports-the ''c0mpes
rendus sommdires" he called them-that pub
lished In the Times and other journals were gener
ally furnished by the theatres themselves and that
the articles that appeared during the visit Of the
Coincide FRANCHISE were written by men engaged
specially for that occasion. els ont fat Ga pour
NOUS said the lecturer. In conclusion the lecturer
summed up Che result Of the visit Of tho Coincide
FRANCHISE to London. 1t had shown tho English
what company of actors should be; it had shown
them the advantages Of the teachings of conserve
tore and they were now agitating to raise funds to
establish conservatoire and national theatre; 1t
had brought Moliere. Racine and Corneille into
fashion in England and 1t had once moro affirmed
tho superiority of French dramatic art. This result
he pronounced to be atisfactory.