New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-02-15
THE PRINCESS GEORGE.
MRS. LANGTRY'S REAPPEARANCE IN LON
DON-HER SEVERlNE.

| fFRou THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT or TaE TRIBUNE.
| LONDON, January u.
Mrs Iaurtry is a woman of whom II Is to he SAID
that she has the courage of her opinions They
sometimes carry her far; not often further than
when she elected to make her Tcappcarance In Lon
| don in an EngshSversIOn of VI. Alexandra Dumas :
ala Prncesse Georges Mrs Langtry knew very
well that the play is one which the genius OF Descee
| failed to make popular in Paris. She knew that
| Nine Sarah Bcrnhardt had esSayed the character OF
| Sfreriac cDuld not satisfy herself with her own
| rendering of it, and abandoned it. She knew that
| the license of the Lord Chamberlain for the pro-
ducton OF the play in London. even in French, had
| been pe.sstently refused and had been granted
| now with reluctance. She knew the all but III
supcrable difficulties which stand in the way Of an
| English translator who attempts to deal with the
! prose of Dumas-a dction rapid so polished so
subtle so sparkling and sharply cut that any literal
| rendering of il is impossible. She knew how repu
sye to an English audience the motive and many OF
the situations of this play must be. If she relied on
the atractivcnesso of Serenes character toovercomc
all this. she knew that &Trae is part requiring
for its adequate representation very rare qualities
OF temperament. and consummate knowledge Of
dramatic methods. In the entire range of the
modern French rcpertory there is hardly character
more emotional. more passionate. more intense.
There is none the development of which proceeds
bY Sucl series OF OF startling
of varied and utterly contradictory phases of feeling
following one upon another like flashes of lightning.
each one of which has TO be made Ineligible TO an
audience
Yet this is the play and this the part in which
Mrs Langtry, AGAINST believe, the advice OF her
friends resolved on reutroducing herself to Lon
don. The occasion one of the most momeutouS
of her career. II at least an occasion on which
she might naturally have sought 10 make every
thing tell in her favor. She ought to have had all
the help that could be given her by circumstances.
She chose instead TO handicap herself Ia the way
have indicated. She invited catastrophe which
she has escaped. but fancy she felt more than once
last night that she escaped by hairs breadth
Nor has she in fact altogether avoided the penalty OF
her rashness Some OF the condemnation which fell
Justly Oh this. amcn tably weak version of strong
play has fallen unjusty on her Ii sure
to sbe SO. Audiences, and sometimes even
critics. judge roughly. If the play dlSpleases.
the actors come in for share OF the blame. 80
it WAS last night; so ii is, IN one conspicuous
case this morning. The house was puzzled by the
piece aud still more by the inexp.icable deaoacmcR
and the curtain went down amid cries OF wonder
of anger and of ridicuc from pit and gallery which
mingled with tho applause that the rest of the
house wished 10 bestOw on the actress The Itm,s
critic has been so confused by this uproar to say
that the performance failure. complete and
disastrous; which is nonsense. The other critics
are more discriminating They find much TO admire
in the actress, while one and all pronOuncing SEN
tence on the piece as unfit for the display of her best
qualities.
ala Princesse Georges" cannot be said 10 have
kept the stage in Paris and is not. should think
likely to gam foothold in England or America.
Yet It Is in many respects an admirable piece OF
dramatic work. In tho original the story Is told
clearly though TOO swiftly to suit any but Partisan
audience.
1t opens with a scene which at once. by
the most simple and natural means, puts the
audience IN possession of the situation. SfrTiHe
the curtain rises is discovered standing by the WIN
dow. Her maid. Rosalie. for whose return she has
been waiting all night and TIL past noon enter and
tells her story She has followed S@ceTtnfs husband,
the Prince de Brac, who OIL pretext OF his brothers
illness, had said lie was gong TO Versailles. and
who ia fact went TO Roucn with SyrdHe, t0mtcsse tie
TerTemoRde Sreines intimate friend. The Princess
called aiiectionatey by her friends Princes GCOrge
from her husbands first name-warned by an
anonymous letter had summoned her mother, to
whom she pours ont her love for her husband and
her despair at his treachery and 80 quits the room.
The Prime arrives and his lawyer Gdidnson, whom
he has instructed To sell out securities TO the amount
of two millions Of francs half his wifcs fortune,
with which sum he proposes TO- elope for good and
all with SyIrane next day. The suspicious of the
notary aroused. PicLor, the Princcs valet.
reveals to his master that he has been foil oSed by
R0sdIte, who being summoned denies ii. eSfrerine
enters at her last words, confronts her husband.
tells him her maid has deceived him and that she
knows all. and asks him what he proposes to do.
Oas males pas nous gdrfT t0ates les dur. NEST &c
past" He answers that it rests with her. TO which.
with one of the many surprises of the piece, she
rcoins: 1 forgive You" She fOrgives him from
pure love- from real nobility of character. The
Prime persuades her he has seen SFUdRr for the last
time, aud she believes him for the moment. The
second act is n complication Of ntrigues too long To
detail. Sylrane appears in the drawing oil the
Princess after dinner, TO which she had been asked
before all this happened Learning that the Prince
means after all, to elOpe with her mex morning,
knowledge OF her other guests AS she goes, she
arranges a rendezvous for the night at her own
house with DE FOurdette. another lover whom she
secretly prefers TO the Prince. Sglcdnics husband
Secerine that she may prevent the planned eOpe-
nent with the Prince 10y preventing the departure
OF the Count De 1erremonde which had been fixed for
next day. she tells him she has ordered his wife
out of her house because she came there TO meet her
lover, but withholds the lovers name In the third
and last act SfDerine coDfronts the Prince taxes him
with his perhdy which he admits, avowing his
passion for Sgtrdnie, and the Princess Is at one
moment disposed to let him rush oil to his fate at
the hands OF >gIrdRiGS jealous and furious husband
whom she knows to be lying In wait ready to kill
the unknown lover. But good impulses get the
upper hand, she stops him as he goes. warns him of
what awaits him, confcssing she has denounced
SyraRie to heI husband, and telling the Prince 1t il
only hls money this woman wants, ana That she has
other lovers. The Prince refuses to believe. throws
OFT his wife, and is rushing from the room when "a
shot is heard and the next instant the Count de
Ierremonde enters announcing that lie has killed DE
IOadtB which IL suppo sed TO convince ana convert
the Prince who falls into his wifes arms, penitent
and grateful. The play winds up SO suddenly that
stood that the piece at an end. Hence IN part.
the resentment of the nosier portions OF the house.
This outne'gves but the slightest indications OF
the trying nature of the scenes which Mrs. Langtry