New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-06-16
FRENCH DRAMA IN LONDON.
A NIGHT WITH MoLIERE AND RACINE.

OPENING OF THE COMRDIE FRANCAisE SEASON
BERNHARDT AND cRoizErTE AS. THEY LOOKED
WHILE THE Address WAS RECITED-THE ACT
ING--THE AUDIENCE. AND now ENGLISH PRO
PIE RECEIVED THE GREAT FRENCH COMPANY.
.rRoM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF TrIL TmBUNEl
LONDON. June At was quarter past Monday
evening. the ID of June, 1879, when the curtain
rose on the full company of the ComedIo franeaise.
appearing for the first time before an English audi
enee On the left was bust Of Shakespeare, on the
right bust of Moliere. The actors and actresses
were grouped in a semi-circle. NJ. Got, senior asso-
cate, stood in tho middle, little IN front of the
Others with a roll of manuscript in one hand Next
to the bust of Moliere doomed Mile. Croizette In
her Louis XIVth costume of velvet and brocade IN
which she was presently to play C6lilaeRe, she was
certainly at the first moment, the most dazzling
figure of all that dazzling company. On her ample
alas! too ample-shonlders blazed two necklaces
of diamonds of great size and purity and lustre.
Diamond stars were in her auburn hair, diamond
bracelets on her arms. Nothing could be moro
splendid But at the opposite extremity OF the
crowded stage you presently remarked shght
figure almost lost in clouds of classical drapery, all
white and gold, leaning in an attitude of singular
grace against the pedestal which supported the bust
of Shakespeare. This lady wore not single Jewel
Her face was not less classical in it's kind than her
"a pure but thin oval her light brown hair almost
covering the forehead. but showing the perfect
shape of the temples. The features of a refined
but Enthusiastically Hebraic mould the red lips just
parted the eyes dark-b blue the long lids drooping
and fire burning beneath them that soon put out
the blaze OF Mile Crozette's priceless diamonds
That is Mile. Sarah Bemhardt-far aud away the
first of living actresses. whom FTenchInen now
compare with Rachel, and who has beyond DOUBT
much of the intellectual power of Rachel. and
much of the passion of Desclee. In the group
were a dozen other artists of great fame-Madeeine
Brohan the last of the Grandes danes of the inca
ire: Favart, one of the most perfectly trained
elocutionists ever heard on the French
stage; Delaunay. still at ffty-eight the
jeune premier Of the Franeais and youthful rs ever
Coouelin whose range extends from the broadest
farce to the most refined comedy; and many
another. But the curiosity of the house was for
| the moment concentrated on the three personages
first named, and on Mile. Bernhardt most of all.
This general muster of the whole company was
perhaps a surprise to the audience, who bad ex-
pected to see only NJ. Cot. A storm OF applause
| broke out, and some minutes passed before Got
could begin the recital of the opening address. The
author is NJ. Jean Aicard. young French poet of
promise. eulogy on Shakespeare, a eulogy on
Moliere. then a direct aDostrophe to the
audience on the part of the comedians
composed the address. 1t was delivered
by NJ. Got with that metallic clearness Of enuncia-
ton, that measured force and dignity which belong
to the school in which he is both pupil and master
French pOlteDess was ! suppose strained TO the
utmost in putting Shakespeare and MoGre so
nearly or q level. Between balanced paneGyrlcs on
Shakespeare, than whom the earth viii never sa-
lutte a greater poet, and on Moliere "a poet sans
pardlp II might be difficult to choose. Even more
remarkable were the lines in which homage is done
to Shakespeare by Molierc, and by France as well
All this. and the greeting which succeeded it, was
warmly responded to by the audience. of whom
considerable proportion appeared to follow pretty
closely what was said. The curtain went dcwn
and up twice before the acclamations died away.
Then came the Misanthrope. 1t was impossible
that the children of MOicre,-as the actors of the
Francois delight to style themselves,-shOuld open
| their London season with anything but MOere. II
| was, none the less, bold experiment. end the de-
| gree of success which attended IL was due largely
| to the foreign element i'm the house. The plays of
MOhere are, for all acting purposes very remote in
| deed from an English audience. They belong to q
distant period and to an alien race. Their popular
ity in France is maintained by continuity of ira
| 6Itions and influences which here are ALSO
lutely unknown. They are acted in Paris
night after night and in part to the sane
audiences the year through. The classical drama in
some form is given at the Francois at least Of
the two subscription nights-Tuesday and Thursday
| of each week. The standards by which the acting
Cf them is judged definite and memorable. Each
fresh actor of ambition has TO undergo this test to
stand or fall he succeeds fails III MOl6re and
IN Racine. The mere reading of French verse is an
art by itself. The limitations within which dra-
matte effects in the presentation of these pieces
be sought are as rigid the plastic art of Greece
Every tone, every gesture, every expression Of
the face, every movement, must conform
10 certain laws, or too customs which
have the force of law. Rachel with
all her genius, was no more permitted TO trans
gress them than Racine with bIs genius was per
united to violate the laws which govern the
structure Of French verse. In a word, what we
have III Paris is not only a trained company of
actors, but trained audience. You may transfer
the actors to London, but the audience you cannot
Transfers and that is why spoke of the beginning
with Mohere and Racine as a bold experiment
English critics or some of them write as if the art
of these players has TO be put to proof afresh
That is nonsense. The thing to be proved is the
capacity of an English audience to appreciate the
art which is set before them, with the stamp and
seal upon it of many generations of educated and
exactiug critics.
On the whole, the English audience got through
&c fairly we'll. They came with a submissive diSpo-
sition which is something. Some of them had
taken the trouble TO read over the plays in advance
and that helped. Curiosity was the alert during
the first two acts. The attention was respectful.
hushed, and strained almost to a painful degree
The applause came timidly, and invariably fol-
lowed the lead of the French section. Before it was
all over part of the audience were too plainly
bored. They understood even the words but imper-
fectly and only half perceived the AIMS of the
actors. They understood some, but not all, of the
macmillan methods by which the actors made their