The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-12-01
ON THE GUILLOTISE.


win the Robespierres and st. Justs, but his
heart is dead, and he lives only for revenge
For the able lives, too Catherine Duval is
now the widowed Countess of ST. Valerie,
with gay and handsome young son, who is
being led 10 perdition by the able, his
guardian.
1t is Landry's turn now The able and the
young count are condemned TO death. A
noisy scene in the prison corridor, in which
Jailer Toupet strives to drown the ribald
songs of the men vino are to die in the morn
ing, is interrupted by the message of Landry
summoning the able to his presence. Now
comes one of the most effective scenes in the
play. The moonlight is streaming through
the windows of Landry's room. He sits
yzrsling at a table as Latour, mocking and
testing, is led in The door Is locked, and
Landry offers him passport and disguise
If he will fight The duel IS followed with
intense interest and the death agony Of La
tour is magnificent. The clashing Of the
swords seemed TO put spirit into him, and
when with violent effort he pulled the
blood-stained handkerchief from his bosom
the action sent shudder through the house
Then comes the heroic sacrifice Of Landry.
I He meets the Countess Valerie at the foot
OF tho scaffold on which the guillotine is
erected, by the side of the skeleton limbs Of
the tree of liberty-a horribly weird and
suggestive scene. The dawn is close at hand,
and streak of light breaks the sky. Envel-
oped in black the countess lies crouched up
on the steps Of the scaffold, awaiting the
fatal Apur when her sons neck shall be en-
circled Iby the ignoninioua collar. Then
Landry learns for the first time that Gather
Inc Duval married st. Valerie only when the
Abba Latour had produced evidence that
Landry had died in the Bastile. 1t is then
he resolves to take her sons place under the
knife. The final leave taking in Landry's
chamber is played with affecting pathos
Without, they are crying out the death roll;
4 full of intention, tears himself away to
take his place in the tumbril; she, mad with
fear for her son, not understanding Landrys
action until her son rushes to her arms, and
then through the window she sees Landry ON
the scaffold, when the curtain drops
The plot is divided into three distinctive
and clear cut periods, which 1t is the purpose
of the acts TO emphasize-the Old Regime
a77p, the Revolution Q7S9, and the Reign
i of Terror 1T9A-all of them marked by an
absolute difference of costume and manners;
in,aad. the history Of nations presents no
+ narailel of such complete changes in the
course of so brief period. Almost unparal-
Isled care was exercised in the preparation
of the costumes, two famous designers being
employed for weeks in making drawings
In all nearly a thousand dresses have been
made for the crowds alone. In other words,
there are about 200 supers who foment the
& mimic revolution at TIE Lyceum, and there
are, va2ously, four or five "changes" apiece
i Then there are the seventy or eighty soldiers,
whose presence is an important factor in the
fspectacle OF the Swiss guards there arc
9 two or three varieties, and there is the French
guard. But most interest centers about the
& grenadiers, who are royal guards first, then
the ''grenadiers of the center" and finally,
after they have gone over to the people, the
national guards"
The crowd of 1889 is, for stage purposes. a
magnificent. one. for it consists of the savage.