Evening journal., 1892-10-12

II
story Of Thought and not of action. The
reader who will shut himself out from the
influences Of the present and permit him
self to be transported through the medium
Of "The Scarlet Letter" to that quaint old
Puritan settlement where the master of
romantic American fiction has laid the
scene of his touching study Of erring hui
man nature as IL existed 200 years ago
still exists today and always will exist
cannot fail to be impressed with the meta
physical strength Of HawthOrne's work.
lie will perceive, if he be a student or close
observer Of the drama, its woeful lack OF in
cident andjts dependence for strength up
on the artful, albeit masterful, manner in
which the author compels the readers inn
agination to aid him in supplying the pro
nounced cOlOrs in his pictures, most Of
which he has painted in neutral tints. In
book the mind OF the person TO be pleased
must be catered TO-; in play the eye and
ear are practically the only agents for in
terpreting the writer's meaning.
For this reason, if for no other, "The
Scarlet Letter" will never be satisfactorily
dramatized A play is not a literary condi-
ment, as many seem to imagine Neither
is IL a series of descriptive tableauX, strung
together by jerky, analytical speeches, i'm
troduced for the purpose of leading up to
the opportunity which the star must have
TO bring the curtain down upon a fine eX-
hibition of his declamatory ability, The
subject matter of the reflections of a man
as he sits mute and motionless in a chair,
might make very interesting reading, if
well described, but it would scarcely be
considered exciting and entertaining, or
even instructive, il attempted ON the
stage. The character which thinks has
no place in theatricals; it is the figure
! which acts that is necessary. The drama
/ Is essentially the realm of action, for liv-
] ing, moving figures are furnished as sub
stitutes for the novelists descriptions, and
/ II these embodiments fail to sustain the
/ lines marked out for them they fall short
Of their mission and belong not upon the
stage.
Mr. Joseph Hatton is the last person to
attempt a dramatization of THE Scarlet
Letter." and It would be misleading to say
that he had accomplished his task either
well or Al, for he has simply reversed some
Incidents, much to their detriment, and
clipped the authors dialogue almost YER
batim. It is true that Mr.. Hatton has
also written in' mountebankish sort of
fellow who is the master of the smuggling
vessel on which Hester prynne and Arthur
Dimmesdale have planned to escape, but
boy might have done the same thing
equally well. The elevation Of Mary Viii
lis into n robust, approximations soubrettG
role also tends to mar the delicacy and re
tiicment of treatment, which are conspicu
ous features of 1.-THE Scarlet Letter u
Should this dramatization. as recently
presented by Richard Mansfield at Days
theatre, New York city, prove successful
il will not be ON account of Mr.. Hatton's
work, but in spite of it.
Richard Mansfield is frequently spoken
of by those critics who are never willing tC
admit that any one is wholly artistic, as
zone Of the best of the younger actors OF
the American stage" Mr.. Mansfield is il
my opinion the very best general perfor