New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-07-09
NINE. SARAH BERNHARDp
HER TEMPERANCE IN LONDON n.
THE NEW CHARACTER OF IZEyr
HER RECEPTION AND HER ACTING

| uBHteHeU lHc LOUuOU pldyROlnB pubic, tn
years are more than twenty-a long period In ths
life OF an actress, and still more to an ac,res.
who during that period has passed again ana
again from one continent to another, from on.
world to another from Paris to Petersburg, from
| London to Rio, from. New-York TO the Pac,A.
and so back to the Seine; and made all the..
| wearisome Journeys more than once. Again ana
again It was said that her prime had past. tina,
her genius was less brilliant, that her method haA
| grown coarse from contact with the barbarian
| To the Partisan. as to the Athenan Of old an
who are not Partisan barbarian. and II wa,
for long time his practice to allege that Nina
| Sarah Bernhardt, In the effort to win the atten.
| ton Of the Partisan world. had debased he,
| art and lost the incompatible decacy which haA
| charmed her compatriots while she was at the
| House Of Moere. Her voice, at any rate had
| gone long since. since II was still 10 be heard
had grown rough and strident. and voice
OF gold no more. In his more splenetc mood, the
Partisan seemed 10 rejoice in these imaginary
evidences Of an imaginary decadence.
The saying Of these things made much
| impression on the English admirers Of Fedoa
and Marguerite There was perhaps a time when
they were true In part or, when II not true, there
was enough foundation for them to relieve the
charge Of jealous malevoence. For years they
never forgave Nine. Sarah for what they called
her desertion She perhaps did not readily FOL.
give them either for the rather base revenge
they took But peace has since been made, and
the hiss Of hatred no longer makes itself heard
in Paris They welcome the wanderer as often
as It suits her 70 return 70 the centre OF dra.
matte civilization The welcome has as began
b,o uo in London. oftor
as she hast must be admitted-tried the pa
thence OF her public here. Last evening 1t was
really magnificent.
I have seen most OF her London first nightA
I can recoect none quite equal 70 this latest
I can recall several when her appearana
evoked at first but faint applause One such
evening / remember when the GOODNESS Of
the audience stung the actress. There had
been some provocaton-I forget what-some.
thing which the public resented. and so they
hardly greeted her entrance. she will walk
through her part after that" said my neIghbor.
She was capable Of expressing her anger-for she
was extremely angry-in that way, but she had
also another way. She told me afterward that
the hostility Of the house reused her and she
was resolved to conquer II. and she did conquer
H. She acted 50 superbly that the spectators
caught fire and the evening ended in a fame Of
fine enthusiasm. This time the same effect
sprang from a contrary cause. She visbly
touched by the affectonate cordially OF the peo-
pie IN front, and by the applause which rose and
fell and rose again and swelled through the house
for some minutes There but one feeling
and one opinion. She az her best from be.
ginning 10 end. Perhaps not more than half .
dozen times has her art been seen at suca
height OF sustained splendor.
II was not the play which gave rise 20 the
delight Of the audience. Izeyl did not greatly
please Paris and does not please London. 1t 10
not new. though the effort toward originality 10
very marked. There many suggestions OF
other plays-the piece Is full of "reminiscences IL
not OF borrowings Messrs. Silvestre and Morani
have chosen to date their story hundreds
OF years before the Christian era; thinking. per-
haps. that the remoteness OF the date might lend
credibility 10 their fable. But Il does not. No
human being listen to these stilted verses or
watch the progress OF events on the stage and
believe in his soul for ever SO small a fraction
OF a single minute that the phantoms which
pass before him are real. He cannot believe that
they real personages. or that. If they Were
they would talk in this way. or that things
would happen as they are represented in this
mimic or minetic world on which his eyes are
IL ~ iDu.bliiHisi va AiN DpuiC'
Yards OF Paris The leading personages are some.
thing more than plagarisms; they and their per-,
fOrmances are an appalling travesty Of people
and Of incidents regarded by small part Of the
Western world as sacred. Izeyl is Mary Magda-
len and Siddartha Is Christ; both with a veneer
OF French carcature and French scepticsm
Presently. Izeyl changes into the Dame aux
Cameias. and the ascetic founder Of new faith
is perceived to be only Armand; though since he
resists where Armand yielded, Prince Sinda
comes in 10 fill the gap and complete thea
comparison. But s!nda. in his turn. proves to
be but pale reflection of Scarpia in LA Tosca"
and meets the same fate. The piece. in short y
a pastlche. 1t belongs to the eclectic drama:-
shred from Sardou a purple patch from Dumas
an inspiration from the New Testament, and
bUrlesque OF noble Oriental legend.
II Messrs. Silvestre and Morand had before
their minds any distinct purpose, 1t must have
been to provide Nine. Sarah Bernhard with GER.
tain opportunities for the display Of certain we'll
known gifts and capacities which are best in
supreme degree This they have done. They
have begun with an idyll and ended with
tragedy Of unspeakable horror In between. there
are scenes Of love-making. scenes in which Izeyl
has to exert. and does exert, all her powers OF
fascination upon an obdurate subject II is her
fate not TO seduce the man on whom her heart
is set. but 10 be converted by him 10 a purity
OF faith and life. Once more the doctrine OK
the "virglnite de Tame" is laid before unwilling
hearers. Once more cOurtesan Is 10 ''refaire'
for herself that lost innocence OF body and SOUL
and this time to prove the sincerity Of her re-
generation by the murder OF a too enterprising
lover who is unaware that Izeyl has relinquished
her former profession And once more the actress
10 whom death has come in almost every
conceivable form and circumstance has 10 lay
down the burden Of life in surroundings
and by a method SO novel as TO appeal afresh to
the rather faded senslblties Of spectators who
have supped full OF horrors.
To have done all this passably well would have
been for anybody else a triumph There are