Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-04-24
ADJUSTMENTS.

ADJUSTMENTS.
Aibaugh's-The man who is seeking a
new sensation-he with the jaded intellectu-
al appetite that Graves some new and par
ticularly pungent condiment-found ample
pleasure in the performance of Mounet-
| Sully and Madame SECOND Weber at AL
baughs Grand Opera House last night. 1t
was an occasion which added to the reputa-
ton which that theater has been earning
for the presentation of artistic celebrities
to the Washington public. 1t is not SO long
since the boards there were trodden by
Henry Irving; but excepting as to the
eminence of the two men, there is nothing
that suggests comparison OF them. Irving
Is deeply English, and Mounet-Suliy is who'll
ly French. There was a strong interest as
to the manner in which this famous French
man would interpret one of the ideal char
acters of the English-speaking stage. The
Hamlet that is generally seen is the young
man with suppressed grief, which breaks
out only when the situation eXcites his
passions to volcanic herceneSS. Mounet-
Sully carries no concealed Volcano He is
in a state of unremitting emotional activity
The American public is used to Hamlet as
he would have been had he been an Eng
liShmdn. Mounet-Sully makes him thor
Oughly Frenchman-One who depends for
the expression of his feelings on physical
activity, on the extremes of explosive volu-
bility, or funereal elaboration of utter
ance; on surprises in gesture sometimes
even on artculate sounds more than he does
on the infections of his reading. This is
entirely natural. The play 1t is given
does not purpOrt to be a simple translation
of Shakespeare's work, it is an adaptation by
men of genius in France. and the result is a
purely Gallo tragedy, rhyming, couplets and
All. Hamlet is an ideal of youthful sensi-
billty. In English The sensitive nature with
draws into itself and broods in silence over
its melancholy; in French it unhesitatingly
cries when it is hurt. and without reserve
acquaints the public with its sufferings
When Mounet-Sully stepped upon the stage
1t was evident that his conception of the
character was one of almost violent en-
phasis. His inky cloak seemed deeper
black than the dyeStuffS are ordinarily
capable of producing; the big plume that
rested sable and somber over his hat sug-
gested a whole caravan of hearses He is a
man of fine figure, active in movement
athletic and graceful in his proportions
and with a voice that has the rich nro
fundity of the lower register of an organ
This Hamlet is young; but still old enough
to have the small beard which Mounet-SuiIv
wears. He neglected scarcely anything that
could suggest itself in the way of what the
stage technically designates as business {"
tie startled those who had worshiped
conventional Interpretation many times dur
ing the evening-not least when in the
soliloquy he rose to passionate outburst
of horror at the thoughts which unfolded
themselves to his mind. And yet, with all
his surprises the propriety. of what he does
cannot, from MOunet-Sullys point of view
be questioned. The nature of Hamlet as he
sees the character is as cleanly cut as is
cameo. He has fixed his ideas firmly and
has proceeded to interpret them with all the
Intensity of which his ardent personality is
capable. There is little of the metaphysicaI
mist which some of the most delightful of
Anglo-SaXon HamletS have allowed to en-
velOp them so thickly. Having decided
upon his opinion to the motives and
moods which animated the young prince he
gives them uncurbed expression, excepting
a limitations which n ri II
believes that Hamlet was not insane-that he
merely simulated madness at certain points
of his career where he suspected that the
conversation of those about him held snares
for him; and so believing, he is not content
with merely expressing his views through
the newspapers He makes them speak for
themselves-vigorously, too-in his perform
ance. His assumptions of madness are ex-
travagant, and he takes pains to make IL
clear to the audience by his contempt for
the objects of his deception that they are
assumptions purely. His scenes with Poloni-
us are marked by a disdainfu irreverence.
which is not usual, but which is, of course en-
tirely consistent. NJ. Prad's performance of
PoloniuSwas departure from the customary
representation. He made 1t what many peo-
pie consider it normally to be-a character
in which the element of comedy and not
that of patriarchal dignity predominates
Madame Segond-Weber was sweetly senti-
mental and the embodiment of fragile grace
in the role of Ophelia. 1t was a most i'm
pressive and admirable performance one
any of those who saw it last night Tonight
Mounet-Sully appears in what many con-
slider the greatest of all his characters.
"Oedipe Roi"
son Howard. chief of American playwrights
first saw itself materialiZed in this CITY one
night in 1892 1t began its third engage
ment last night. "Aristocracy'' Is really ,
great play; 1t contains a germ of interest
that lives always and grows always: II NAV
have its faults-all things human have-but
its merit atones for them, and when 1t is
given into the keeping of such PLAYERS as
Mr.. Charles Frohman puts into a cast. its
proper presentation is assured. There are
some new faces among the players notice.
ably Mr. Lipman, as the Prince, and Miss
Mary Hampton, whose Virginia is more
agreeable than that of Miss Viola Allen, be-
cause it lacks the weepful wall of Miss AL
lens tone. Mr.. Massen is a new Mr.. Stock
ton also; but Miss Blanche Walsh Miss
Josephine Hall and Mr.. Frederic Bond are
still with it, and they are ever a charm and
delight Mr.. Bond is a Washington favorite,
from last summers acquaintance and he
was given a mild boom every time he got
himself between the scenery and the audi
ence. Just how long "Aristocracy" will be
a drawing card there is no means of de-
termining, but it does not strain ones
guessery to venture the prediction that IL
Will stand permanently as an American
play.
Academy-It has not been a great while
since Mr.. Daniel Frohman's Lyceum Com
edy Company presented Sardou's clever
comedy, Americans Abroad" in Washing
ton, but to have seen the audience at the
Academy last night would have con-
cluded that 1t was first night. or a SOU
venir occasion, or something of that sort
1t was an agreeable audience, too, and one
to inspire the players to their best efforts
In the cast. as of yore are Mr.. Glmour
Mr.. Polk, Mr.. Owen Fawcett. Miss Maud
Harrison, Miss Rivers, Miss Kinnaird and
others, and the new ones Miss Jennie
kiSmark, as Nine. Pontcarre, and Miss
Mary Elliott-Page, as Nine. Olivares. With
such cast, and the practice which makes