The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-05-11
A GREAT ACTOR
Who Will. Treat Salt Lake to
Legitimate Drama.
A Dramatic Lesson.

yery elaborate criticism of the ira
eedian Daniel Bandmann, written
by Amelia Lewie. one of the most
discriminating and talented dra-
matte critics in the United States.
as nothing that can be said here
will give q better idea OF the play OF
Narciss, and the actor who has Gre
ated that grand role, the readers OF
HE HERALD shall have the benefit
o.: at least q portion Of Amelia
| Lewis able article:
A very full and very fine audi
ence assembled at the Tbalia The
atre, to witness one of those per-
formances that always draw, not
from their exuberant action OF noisy
eff CT, but from their artistic worth.
The house was bright, the applause
sincere, sustained and not unre-
strained, and the flower tributes Of
fered were in good taste. The
theatre celebrated. as it were, the
home coming of an eminent
German actor, who had done honor
to the German name in other coun>
tries and far-oH lands, and had even
so much identified himself with the
English language that he had effec'
lively and triumphantly 1epresen-
Ted its greatest dramatic char acters
all over the world.
Daniel Bandmann, this German
actor, appeared as Narciss, char
acter with which he specially idenA
titled himself when he vas last in
New York. Brschvogers play of
Narclss is not a severe tragedy in
the Greek sense, where the action
from the very first scene begins to
weave the thread of the Parz en-, the
d sponsors Of fate, and where step by
s % We are led on to the one tragic
end that is alone possible. NarclSs
is rather a dignif1ed drama with q
tragic end. 1t is neither perfect In
the construction Of the plot nor suffi
GENTLY refined as to dialogue nor
equally developed as to the charac-
tiers it employs; but it is so interest,"
ing, so fascinating, so representa-
tive of human failings and human
troubles, and so wildly brought be-
fore us by its historical connection,
that it will always remain para
mount dramatic attraction. 1t is
scarcely necessary to allude to the
plot. NGrcjSs RanleGu, poor
French musician, has a beautiful
young wife whom he passionately
loves. She leaves him because she
cannot bear poverty. Her ca g in
the arts Of vice leads her to become
the mistress of the King If France,
the celebrated Pom9GdouT. AT the
end of this career she carries her
ambition so far as to desire legal
wedding with the King and his
divorce from the Queen. The Pope
actually sends dispensation for it;
but her health fails, and her very
friends-psrticularly the man whom
she has herself raised to power, tie
Due de ChOiSeul-plot against her.
She dies suddenly from q nervous
attack, brought about by meeting
with her first husband, Narciss,
who bad wandered about, ever since
she left him, to find her, and who
dies himself of heart desease after
he has denounced and cursed her.
Narciss Remeau is the character
around whom the others move, the
principal one being the so-called
Marquise de POmpadour, his former
wife. Next to her come the Prime
Minister Due de Choiseul;i "a demoi-
selle, Doris Quinault, an enthusiasts
tic actress; Marquise d'Epinay,
Pompadour's confidant; Du Barry,
Chamberlain Of the King, and
several additional interesting per-
sonages.
The author has lavished his most
intense imagination on Narciss,
making him one of those peculiar
characters whom it is exceedingly
difficult to represent, and in whom,
as King Lear has it.
Nature stands on the very verge of Ter
confne.
In Narciss sorrow has, as in Ham,
let, sharpened wit, has annihilated
respect for the world or even interest
in it and has intensified a peculiar
tendency to half>mad-
ness. In him, as Byron says.
The flowers and fruits of love are
gone;
The worm, the cancer snd the grief
Are his alone!
Long and suppressed suffering has
originated heart disease in Narciss |
and has laid, besides. the germs of a |
bitter hatred which, whenever it |
will break out will kill the victim |
and himself.
Torender such a character well 1t |
has to be studied till no outward |
sign is left that it has been studied |
at all and till it becomes one with
the actor. From the very first mos
ment Of his appearance Narciss is
Bandmann and Bsndmann Mar
ciss. We feel that we are in the
hands Of an Artist, an educated man,
and one to whom stage machinery
Is no longer an obstacle, but who is
above If, or rather outside it. Band
mann possesses the true artistic
thought so years
ago when 1 saw bis Othello-I think
10 now that l have seen his Nsrciss.
He knows how to restrain his act.
ng; he knows how to avoid acting
It all, merely letting ssaction" take
rs course. Oh, what an amount of