The evening world., 1894-05-02
''HANNELE."

duCtiOn here was heralded. II was pro-
duced at the Firth Avenue Theatre last
night and gave unmistakable pleasure
TO a large audience. At the close Of the
first part OF the representation there was
some applause, but IL was scattered,
and II was plainly to be seen that the
audience was in II maze OF wonderment
about the purport and purpose OF all
they had been looking at and listening
to. But when the second curtain de-
seconded and the performance was
over, the theatre fairly rang with
enthusiastic approval of the
evenings work. The applause was sus.
tnined for Ave minutes. during which
time the whole house waited and
brought out Gerhardt Iiauptmann. the
futhor, twice, Hannele and the Hanne-
lean Christ a half dozen times, and one
OF the smile wreathed R%osenfelds once.
only n few in the audience, who pre-
tended to be greatly grieved by what
they vaguely described as the irrever-
ence OF the play. didn't like It. Nearly
everybody was delighted with 1t and
said so, In addition to Joining in the
noisy and hearty commentator at the
conclusion OF the play.
There is nothing irreverent in Han
nele." 1t Is strange weird and full OF
symbolism: It Is spiritualistic to n grue-
some degree. but It Is neither religious
nor irreligious per Sc. Greed has no
part whatever in Its motive. Belief In
n future state Is mads a vehicle for the
phenomena with which Mr.. Hauptmann
fills the dream-phases OF his story. but
| that 10 oil rrba faa ru md hnnea NJ ar
i%ll-treated young girl in extremis, fur
nlsh the dramatist his theme. and be-
cause Hannele Is Christian. Christian
ity gives its coloring to the striking
contrast between her condition and her
thought operations. Leaving Its hysteri-
cal possibilities out OF the question:
"HaEnele'' can do no harm.
A child is dying. She has been taught
that death Is the door to eternal punish
ment or eternal Joy. Naturally she pre-
fers the latter. She lisps her anxiety
that the loving Jesus" should stretch
out his arms and take her to heaven.
Her brutal, drunken. vagrant father
has beaten and abused her until
her body is full of bruises. He
turns her out In the cold. and. weak and
desperate. she seeks the river. Teacher
Gottwald rescues the child and carries
her to the a%lmshouse, which Is her
home, to die. with terrible liberalism
the AFFECT environment of this passing
young life Is made manifest. Wretched
beggars crowd around her rag fiecked
bed. The besotted father is brought in
and Is seen to be a worse type of tramp
han Walter tones or Walter Gale ever
offered us. The place reeks with
Indebtedness and poverty. An atoning
antithesis is presented in Teacher Gott-
wald. refined, cultured and superior to
all around him. In the early portion OF
her dream we are made acquainted with
the fact that poor little lame has
loved the Teacher, and there Is n suspi-
cion that she has once at least. in the
mute language Of a few violets given to
him. tried to tell her love.
BE hat as It may. she Is now on her
deathbed hoping and praying for heaven
and her loving Jesus" She has never
seen either of them. but h has no
doubt often painted mind-pictures of
them. And how has she painted them?
Surely. her heaven was a place directly
the opposite OF the almshouse and Its
iNos ~ 1923 thVhNb oit III
silks and brilliant tInsel. No filthy hard
bed, but a couch of down and gold and
crystal. No bare feet, but beautiful
white slippers. No quarrellng thieves
and beggars, but angels In white with
great white wings. No damp and dark
ness. but wonderfully radiant light. And
what would her glowing Jesus look like ?
Why, glorlfed Teacher Gottwald, of
course. The Teacher was her ideal here;
an apotheosis of him would suffice for
her ideal in the hereafter.
1t Is upon his mental process that Mr..
Hauptmann must have based and built
his play. II he had any serious purpose
in writing It. Otherwise It Is simply a
fairy tale in which angels and saints
take the place Of elves m fays. From
the dignity of the work, however, and
the correlation OF the physical and
phantasmal Incidents In Il. there Is every
reason to believe that Mr.. Hauptmann
aimed to be metaphysical and not mys-
teal, and that his vision play illustrates
a theory OF the genesis and evolution OF
the human Idea Of Immortality. That
theory Is forcibly' set forth on his stage.
There you have the real Hannele suffer.
Ing anu III rags, mere you nave the
dream Hannele in n robe OF silk and
white slippers, lying In a crystal coffin,
while the almshouse inmates look on In
awed amazement. or whisper about the
richness Of her apparel and the extraor
binary change that has taken place In
her garments. &c. There you have Gott-
wald. the man: here you have him trans
figured. none other than Hannele's Saw
iour, leading her by the hand through
vistas OF angels to the presence OF the
throne.
There Is nothing In this to shock any
religionist. 1t Is purely a psychological
explanation OF the supernatural az the
human mind shapes 1t and nothing else
1t Is IIannele's heaven, not the orthodox
Christian heaven OF which we are given
a view; II Is poor. delirious Hannele's
Christ w see, not the Christ who died
on Calvary. Mr.. Hauptmann acCentuates
these points by making the closing scene
OF his drama II return to the almshouse
where the Doctor and Sister Martha are
seen bending over the child. whom the
former then pr%onounces dead.
Oas charm OF the evening was the
correctness and ever strength OF the per,
Torrance. The company was excellent
throughout, Charles J.. Richman's
Gottwald was mastery and clothed
With becoming dignity. Miss Anna
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