The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1880-06-27
BERNHAkDT's SUCCESSES.
Mile. Hcrnhnrdt Appears iu "rrou
Ernu"-ytcr Success CouCcdcd-Thc
Audience Profoundly Moved i a
Nrnth srcMr of MELANCHOLY HcnmtN

London correspondent thus describes
Sarah Ecnhmds assumption of the character of en-
hertc In ''rtou Frou;"
''F From Frod" was produced last hight ut the
Galcy Theatre, with Milc. SARAH Ucrnh nit Gii-
hrrc II was lust week since the sam, actress ap-
prarcd as Adticuc Iccouvfcur Each pat she PLAYED
Tor the first time, So that LunGon has Witnessed With
famous roles 10y the first OF living ACTRESSES CrcI-
lions In sense they were NOT, siucc both pats
have been played before Rachel was the FIRST Ndtl-
euuc. pcsclvc was the first From trnu. tiit they
are creations In this scnsc, that Mile. Sarah Ecin-
hardt not only has played neither before, hut az.
proachcs each from point VI view distinctly original
u Is the fashion-to my mind rather too much the
flshionn set UP elaborate comparisons between the
actress Of to-day aud her predecessors. work at
art VI Cauno he too often repeated, vs. tn I've Judged
10y the principles ni art aud moi y the conception Of
this or that artist. Nmi Nile. Sarah ncrnlaidt has
uo cause to complain o the novel tests applied to her
representations. That she should lie contiastcd now
with Dorval on pochc now with Rachel, aud now
again with Dasctc Is striking tribute tn the versa
tiity, the compass. the range at her gcnius. Mr.
Clement scott, cummentng her assumption
of character unidentified In the minds of SO many
plnygocrs with pcscre, remarks aptv thu, the puhc
seldom reflects what an ordeal this Is OF how tcmcu-
dous the responsibility. "Who ever dreamed of COM
pairing pesclce with Rachel and vet SARAH Rernhardt
IS compared WIN hnih, w some points she Is III
erior To cach Tut 1t Is simply astonishing TO consider
that IN essaying parts 5" widely disslmiiar as
90 phcdre, 80 - Adfiennc, So aud " FIou Frou, ~
Mile. Sarah Ternhardi comes Vctoriously out what
Mr.. Clement scott well olls the ordeal which she vol
| unfairly undcrgces. To have come oil respectfully
would have been failure. IN such contrast there
Is no middle term between disaster and triumph. For
an artist In the position at Mile. Sarah Rernhnrlt
there is no such thing as epec6s d'csime. II she
does not carry her public with her II Is against her
pilcssly against her. At every fresh experiment she
must enter the stage with thc song al saul upon lcI
| lps'
| fright Is the dla'lem, houndlcss the sway,
| or kngly the death which awaits ,ls to-day.
Frou Frou Is role In which every note is mo,lcrn,
| aud moi only modern hut rmisan-ralisian OF the
Third Empire. Every trait Ia her character, every
line In the piece, bears the stamp OF that frivolous,
elegant, worldly brilliant, aud finally, tragica life
which made Paris from the end OF the Crinean To the
beginning NJ the Franco-German war, the AImla'.
| Garden or the world 1t Is play In which III,
heroine Is not an Individual hut typea type which
| Is, however anything hut an abstraction Gilbert,
| is living creature, hgh-hrcd girl overlooking
| with animal spirits, wife who has married without
love, whose passion is for dress, for amusement fol
| admlration fatally welded To man whose serious
theories OF life have never taught him Ia impar
similar conception 10 the butterfly whose fate mingc'
| with his.
| Mile. sarah Bcrnhardts representation of Fro,
Frou, Is, II comparison must once more he drawn,
less profoundly pathetic than pcsclecs, but mon,
imaginative more intellectual, and more passionate
use the latter word, although 1t is certainly tine that
pesclec's acting was commonly much more full o
| passion In the common sense; that is, 1t NOR,
| emotional. The test scene In the play comes At tn,
end of the third act, In the first two, Gilberc is
| sarah Bernharil could wen depict. There were IL
both of them exquisite touches OF glrs vyaciiy: II
both the same hazardous playlnmess in their r,illcr,
Of the rouo father: in both, the rehearsal of the anna
cnr thearicals revealed the clcvcruess which enable
an accomplished actress to assume complete igno
| quite other heights.
During all this act the tide has been rising Il
every scene, IN every word, In every gesture yo,
see Mile. Sarah liernhaid siung with humiliation
her position, scorned, She thinks, turning hithc
and ihither for relief and finding none hut ihiougou
restrained, resisting brycly every impulse of ange
and jealousy. The art with which each successive
mood Is rendered Is conslinmatc. Her face grow
white with pain: her body uuiNcrs with the piolngu,
torture; her fingers clutch neIvously ut the lac
handkerchief, which is presently torn 10 shrc,ls he
voice Is nj one moment y moan of agony, at lnnfhe
rings sharp and clear AMI hard ms the duel of word
goes ON with husband AMI sister. with the relic
promised by the hope of Louise marriage, Gilbcr
ruses with n cry of chilllikc Joy into her father
arms, only Ia relapse into desperate distress
the hope fades away. step by step the intoerabl
misery Of her position makes itself visible, until n
last she turns saragely, yet sin with the spendor
womnny dignity In her manner, ayows To Louise he
love for Nalreas, and cries To her, in of ire
pressbe, defiant, hopeless agony, % Husband
child, You have taken ali: You may keep ALL ~ and
lost from the stage, and lost forever from her home
| The audience which witnessed this Performance
was one of The most fashionable and least impressibl
| You can Imagine. l!ut IL profoundly moved
When the curtain Went down the Silcnrc for mone
was almost solemn, then the house rang with pauits
repeated TIL Mile. Sarah Bernhardt had thrice AZ
| pcared Ia acknow ledge the homage offered her.
have only space TO add that though this Is really tn
climax of the piece the remaining two acts held til
audience sti under The spell Of the enchanIeSs, an
| that the death sccne-the fourth scene of the kin
since she has appeared In Lunduil-was unlike any
the others, and full of melancholy beauty,