Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-11-26
AT THE THEATERs.
snlvini In samson-Emmst's New Play
Other Plays.

about a swarthy bearded face-a very blact
giant loosely swarthed in sort of runic of Ius
terless crimson, such was SalTini as he came
upon the Grand Opera House stage last night
in the character Of Samson No gigantic
feature was lacking to complete the physical
| idea oil the man of strength, whose deeds
make such stirring reading the Bible A
deep voice. such as few save Italians and other
denizens of Southern countries have; voice
not of many modulations but immense volume;
| a very battle trumpet of a voice is Salyini's.
Samson may not have had such q mighty organ
| of sound, but his characteristics make such a
voice fit endowment for him. The man who
killed 'heaps upon heaps with the jawbone VI
| an ass" might be expected to be able to tell the
| tale in clarion tones.
So, in some respects the eye and ear demand
no more fitting embodiment OF Samson than
| Salvini gave to us last night But we have not
in this Samson any tremendous range Of acting.
There is the lusty, leonine Judean and the
| drunken, dissipated brawler-and both of these
| Salvini presents to us with great power. es-
| pecialy the former. As q volcanic tragedian
of the most terrific school, Salvfni twice OF
thrice struck the highest note such artists can
reach. There was the wild bestial note of
wrath and desire for blood, and the confound-
ing righteous anger when he found he had
been betrayed. No other emotions did
general sense did he display. AS far as pam
tomime and tone went in these felocious trans
ports Salvini was great, there is no doubt of
that. Just by way of comparison however, let
us revert to the picture Of righteous wrath of
Richelieu as pictured by Mr.. Booth. Which
was the finest art3 Which the more impress
sive? The nicely shaded tones of the American
actor, swelling from easy satire to fiery, over
whelming wrath in twice ten seconds, OF the huge
reverberating roar, the bull-of- Bashan passion
of the Italianf We do not presume to say.
When Detildh plies Samson with drink, and
wheedles the secret of his strength from him
e'er he falls into drunken stupor. the view of
Samson is made unnecessarily repulsive by Sal
vini. Not only repulsiVe, but silly. There is
no need for so mean and grotesque picture.
1t is very hard to say. without knowledge of
italian, whether Salvini took advantage or not
of his opportunity in the last act. His delivery
OF long soliloquy seemed to us monotonous.
The Jump from such whining to the burst of
strength has returned was startling of course
and, as usual, the superb voice came into splen-
did use before the climactic collapse of the
temple.
In criticising Salvini it is not possible to do
him full justice SO long as he speaks in Italian
while the rest of the actors speak English.
There NAV be all sorts OF nfcetieS of art in ex-
preston, in emphasis and phrasing IN SaIvini's
work that we know not of. As he appears to
us under these disadvantageous circumstances,
Salyini is an actor of great power in certain
neld. That field is narrow-it may be termed
that of eruptive, sonorous tragedy. There
is no pathos in him, and his knowledge of
the whole stage art does not seem to
aid him as much as 1t should do.
But TO an English-speaking audience it is not
wise to present such patchwork, as Salvini and
his coadjutors naturally make. rhe simile is
not wholly true, but it is near enough truth for
the occasion, to say that Samson" half in
English half in Italian, is like a picture half
done in oil half in water colors The result is
not artistic.
George Fawcett is excellent-the adjective
is deserved-as MdnoGh, Sdn1soTl's father The
Detttoh of Miss May Brooklyn Is very graceful
and not deficient in pathos, but her limitations
in the matter of voice cheat her of praise for
her power in several dramatic situations. The
rest of the company is not worth talking about.
The costumes are rich, and they may be true
to the time and country they belong to, al
though the high-heeled shoes worn by MeLcdh |
in the third and fourth acts strike us as in
congruous; they SAVIOR Of Paris rather than |
Phllist1a. Some of the scenes are Of the |
exquisite landscape scene through an arched |
colonnade, Is particularly worthy Of mention. |
The final scene. involving the destruction of |
the temple of Dagon is far from awe-inspir- |
ing. It would have been better to leave Sam
sons last act Of vengeance to the Imagination /
than to present such paltry bit of harlequin
ade trickery. A few words about the play
itself may not be out Of place.
Samson is tragedy in five acts, written BY
Ippolto D'Aste. The play is a Dramatic YER.
sion of the story of Samson. told in the Book
Of Judges. The principal incidents Of the
play ere the familiar ones OF the BiblicaI story.
the only notable change Eeing in the Character
Of DettLdh. The woman who worked SdmsOn's
destruction is drawn with greater dehniteness
in the play than she is in the Bible, and the
explanation of her betrayal of her
lover. Samson, is made fairly reasonable
In the play. DeIstah here is made to
undert AXE to persuade Samson to give up the
secret of his strength on the understanding
that she is to be allowed 70 own her lover
when his strength is gone, and that no harm
break faith with Deliah of course, and the
picture of her remorseful grief is really the
most pathetic portion of the play. Still 1t is
hardly to be expected that common courte-
thin pretense Of patriotism-can
make an edifying or enchanting heroine. The
Biblical story of Samson is not ft for the stage
the whole strength OF it islts barbarous show
Of justice, and this play Of D'Aste's is not
likely to cucumber our dramatic literature
n its translated form. By this we do not mean
william Dean Howells, D'Aste's translator.
Mr.. Howells' lines are far above what we are
to get in translations to order for
The stage. The body of the play is done in
for certain Biblical simplicity OF
fiction, and at times possessed of real IRE
The poetic version Of Samson's combat with
he lion seems MS the best OF Mr.. Howells
work land accordingly tits quoted below buth
reed not be ashamed of a single line. If Sam
oni' were as satisfactory in other regards as in
Mr. Howells' part of the work. 1t would com
nand much higher praise than we can give IL.
Here is the sample of Mr.. Howells work we
poke Oft is not the only gem;
Hardly had sat foot among
rimnath's thick vineyard when heard stir
Upon sudden in the vines. and then
growl, and then roar so terrible.
10 loud and deep that all the wales and caverns
)f Timnath beloved back. and as in fear.
ne echoes hed-the spirit Of the Lord
Jane nightly upon me. Firm and bold
searched the vines, when, swifter than my
,eaped forth lion with distended jaws, :
\ I'D tossing name, and ranks Of teeth agrin,
Ind mad with famine, Full In front Of me
Te crouched and bounded at my breast but
ragged, !
hen lightning-llke he spra1g upon my side,
,ut ], more supple than a serpent. twisted
md turned myself. and seized him by the name
md clutched his throat, and with mighty shock
hurled him down and held him with my foot
Jailed to the earth. In vain his flaming eyes Z
hot fire me. in vain he wrlthed and showed !
lis ravening teeth. for more fierce than he
nto the hollow of his reeking throat
lunged deep my hst and then with both hands
nd rent him as would kid. and sat me down
ictor upon the dead king OF the desert. Z
The audience was select and rather small '
Bljou TheaEer. q
The smiling, dancing, singing ]. K. Emmett :
with ms apain This time he calls his ulaf I