Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-02-19
ADJUSTMENTS.
THE WONDERFUL BERNHARDT IN
"FRou.FRou.n

tne large auuleuve " INC tuohtoR iAe'
night would have sold out cheap ten
minutes after the curtain went up on
Bernhard in "Frou-F rou." That
they we're disappointed was evident
from the start, and that they waited
and waded through the intricate
mazes Of the silly play spoken in a
language not thirty people in the
house could understand, is also very
certain. The play was not a popular
success as far as satisfying the audi
ence went, and when a prominent
merchant said at the end Of the first
act that he would be glad to close out
the rest Of his 6ve-dollar ticket for
four-bits, he expressed an idea run
ming in the heads Of several hundred
Others at the same moment. That
Bernhardt is great was, however, ad-
mitted by all, though not one could
say where the greatness lies, and
how the lady has managed to rise
from obscurity to the eminence she
occupies in her profession is some
thing wonderful to all who saw her
last night. The part of Gilberte, In
"Frov- Frou,' carried by Miss Bern
hardt at this initial performance offers
a wide field to the emotional actress.
She is a virtuous and pctted young
wife, actuated by awoman's most dan
gerous attributes, love of iattcry and
jealousy, and who, through these in
fuences, falls from her high estate to
become tainted with sin; then repentS
and is absolved. She has a husband
and a sister who plan for her every
happiness, and a lover to lead heI
astray. Deceiving herself by her hus-
bands affection, in a jealous fit she
takes a fatal step and deserts her hus.
band, is tortured with remorse, and
her lover finally falls by her husbands
hand, and she yearns for her child and
her old home, becomes sick, and in a
dying condition returns to her hus-
band, repents and dies happy in his
arms. There is little in the frivolous
"Frou Frou," a woman of presumable
moral strength and surroundings, to
dictate charity, admiration or respect
except the somewhat tardy apology Of
a death-bed repentance. She is a
weak type of womanhood, who, in her
social relations is rather an objection
able character. The portrayal Of Gil
berte, the principal role, by Miss
Bernhardt was marvelously fine, ac-
cording to a Frenchman's statement,
particularly in the earlier scenes, when
she acted with a rare childishness that
does credit to her art. 1t was not
until the third act, however, when the
struggle of temptation with her own
heart, and when she began to suspect
her husbands fidelity, that any en-.
thusiasm was manifested. The rapid
u~tterance Of foreign phrases by the
volatile French woman, aided by emo
tional action and her apparently per-
feet methods in the school of art,
rendered her conspicuous to the care
full observer. She received her first
call before the curtain at the close of
the second act,when she had persuaded
her sister to become a member Of the
household, with the object of relieving
her Of any duty therein, and to. en-
able her to have a jolly time in
the %gayeties of the fashionable
world. The next scene wherein she
won applause was when %phrenzied
in the third act, and when afraid
to trust herself longer she sent fol
Valreas, appealing to him with emo.
ton to depart from her forever
and again, at the close of tho act
when she left her home, her husband
and child to elope with her lover sh'
was called before the curtain. A
double recall rewarded her dramati,
effort at the end of the fourth act, ant
throughout the fifth and last she wa.
the object of close attention. 1t was
however, very apparent that man!
of the audience anticipated more thar
they witnessed, and from scene Il
scene the feeling of expectancy wa.
constantly manifested. The next OBJ
ject of attention to the stellar attrac
ton Mile. Jennie Bernhard, as tn,
Baroness de Cambri. The lad.
has a younger, fresher, and rattle.
handsomer appearance than Sarah i
loss 1.-THE in figure, though neithe
are gifted with much plumpness. Il
fact many pronounced Sarah the lean
est and bouiest feminine in the histri
onic profession. The sisters are no
beautiful. nor are they very homely
Their costumes were peculiarly French
and we're as closely scanned and com
mented on as the ladies themselve
The support is pronounced excellen
by those competent to pass judgment
but to these uneducated in the Frenc
dialect it appeared wholly unintelligi
Bile. Mr.. Gally, in the part Of d
Valreas, was credited with giving tn
best mimic picture. 1t has bee
I 4Lot tb;s oort1o-ou eroobo In