The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-04-09
ART In FRANCE
VIEW PLAY M soIA-rIcrURss

--
Arn..srte.i Piece Made Ont ef . Newell
PANS, March 26.-The odeon 10 now Rivins
plscs In Ave acts By Messrs. lola and eam'
,on from one Of the leading romanoes Of the
former. I'm Page d'Amour."
IN. plot Of the story IL known. A youns
xidow. Helene Grandjenn. recently Installed
in Paris in the QUARTER du Trocadero. lives in
yoluntary seclusion. Only two friends visit
bsr. tho Abbe Jouvs and . retired merchant,
NJ Rsmbsud. his brother.
In the retirement which she has made for
berselL and which suits her provincial tastes
and her complete ignorance OF Paris Nine.
Grandjean lives happily. completely occupied
Nth the cares which the delicate health OF
her little daughter. Jeanne. require. Long
scousintance, together with the esteem In
rhieh she holds NJ. Rambaud. inclinss her to
listen favorably to the proposal OF marriage
which the Able makes to her In the name OF
his brother.
But Jeanne becomes suddenly III. and the
Aistracted mother rushes out n rings the
door bell OF the FIRST doctors residence that
abe finds in her precipitate search. In this
way DR.. Deberle becomes acquainted with her
By treating and saving the child Pretty soon
relations became established between the
family OF the Doctor and the young widow.
Th6 DOCtOT CouColNuoA Atb
which finally becomes mutual. But little
Jeanne, the victim OF an unfortunate hyster-
Icsl and nervous inheritance. with the strange
jealousy OF q child and woman suspects tho
criminal taison OF her mother. and whom
abe becomes convinced that the latter
shares her affection between her and another.
abe dies. Tho plot Of the play follows step
BY step that Of the romance. and simply
puts 1t upon the stage: and this 10 the fault
Of the authors. Nothing could be more dina-
cult, and no task moro ungrateful than to
bring to the theatre . chef d'Guvro like tho
page d'Amour."
The romance was principally q psycholoei.
cal study OF q sickly child tho passion Of the
mother was introduced simply to put that
Study In relief. That 10 also tho characteristic
OF the play. as we'll "a its defect. Nothing
could be less scenic than this pioce OF NM.
lola and Samson. An unfortunate habit hos
come into vogue during the past few years OF
making plays out OF romnnces. and romances
out OF plays. The result is generally
poor. Does not this constitute an adj
mission that under one or the other OF these
forms the work is q failure3 I know that
in our day the peouniary profits Of tie ro-
mancer are generally rather small In France.
where ten or twelve editions pass for consid-
cradle success in bookselling. while q success
full play Is often the origin OF q fortune. But Is
that o motive which N. lola could invoke'
Hashc becn so badly treated By publishers and
the public that he 10 reduced to such an ex-
tremity2 And. nevertheless, tho "Curee." the
"ventrs de Paris" "L'Assomoir." and POT
Bouille' have In their turn been brought to
the theatre: but I don't think that the glory OF
tho master has gained anything from It
Now It 10 the turn Of the Page glamour"
Tho romance of NJ. lola Is interesting. on
account OF the extremely delicate study Of the
morbid jealousy Of . child. and on account Of
that power OF description which will make OF
Zola's works q precious source Of information
for archeologists Of the future. Lot Us quote
his description OF tho different aspects Of Paris
seen from the height Of the Troead6ro:
A endless variety Of buildings that ssem.
q The dseiivitiss masses Of roof appear. and
one might fancy that the food Of houses was
f IslIsnG X q Se IL f ne ai sIs Sjaos ssh ipSm De esa ,i. o.
It vas a flowing sea. with the infinite and the
unknown IN its waves. Paris appeared i'm.
The mario in this brilliant description Of
the decorator and the mounter Of the piece
havstranslatsd very feebly. They performed
their work we'll enough: but they were not
ths to give the impression that the master
u4ASo 10 l00ks SUvoKILlciOoos III tuO o6GOUO 8GG |
@esh view Of the city which Is we'll wor-
hIopraiss. representing . morning in spring. |
evidently Inspired by this passage OF the cole
brstsd chief Of tho naturalistio school:
,. aliSS That h ,S ssd .sD',e %Rer Iaas.t th f;t city; M TPssd I,
ripe corn: and the Immense picture appeared
In all rs simplicity. With two tones only. the
Of the rooia The flood OF those springtime
IaJs OF light Eave to everything . youthful
light Paris With the inextrieebio chaos Of
it, stones shone like crystal Now and then
. zephyr passed, and tho there appeared
some quarters whose lines waved and trem-
oeG = 4 one was looking at them through
WAT . marvellous painter OF crowds. Of
nesh. and OF stone! But how this description
is weakened when translated into an art
whose expression consists especially In aotionl
moreover. the importance given 70 . child.
clearly explained In the nan stands out
asa prominent defect In the play. To give
the principal role to an actress IA years OF
age must always appear barbarous to those
Wno bring to the theatre anything beyond Q
selfish desire for entertainment. To carefully
tram q little girl to feel and to think like an
seHess Of Is will always be . work of cor
.upuon' and the artistic reason cannot sufics
70 excuse 1t. Such hasty results can never be
ootalnsd except at tho expense Of tho nor
ma development Of the child. and In
inc presence Of such monstrosities We
must always be moved to pity or
70 anger. Tho exhibition OF the little
pnenomenon Of the shows produces similar in
eisaaton. and 1t will be admitted that IL 10
slmsal. even when We Judge as . conscisn-
nous critic the work OF An artist iko N. Zola.
70 pat aside all sentiment OF humanity. Hence
mere Is . certain uneasiness which becomes
uaoearable when one considers the impor-
lance OF the little actress. and all tho talent Of
's Young girl. who plays. alas. like an ex-
esioat pupil of the Conservatoire. only in
efeases that feeling.
~ general the Interpretation was excellent
Ame brindsau Helen Grandjsan) acts with !
,uouon. Her only fault consists in being too /,
but We osnnot reproach her for +,
san hsE role eracts In tho "Pecheur d'Isl.
aaas. adrama worked out by n. Tisrcelin from
se romance OF NJ. Lott. tho death of q sailor ia .
.aaoanced In each act. and every time II IA 1
Nine. Marie Laurens iaints with {
saaouoted talent We live In Q period that ia {