The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-03-28
Tragedy NOT COMEDY.
This is the Interpretation OF Faust" by
Griffith.

This ts tha Interpretation OF 'Faust" by
Grinith.
When Goethe wrote the immortal lines
that tell the story of the misshapeR love
of "Faust and Marguerite" he had in
mind grand idea of impressing upon
his readers the folly of crime, deceit,
guilty passion and hypocrisy. It was
his idea to make the harvest of the
wrongdoer SO bitter that he might be
glad of the chance for reformation and
atonement which he shows in the closing
lines of his great poem may be secured
In short, Goethe meant to write q
tragedy and it was tragedy he wrote.
That FAUST is a tragedy aud not q
comedy is Griffith's one great hobby and
he kept well astride of it in his presenta-
ton of Mephisto at the Grand last night.
The version he presents is truer to the
poem Goethe wrote than is the one that
Morrison makes almost 6 comedy of.
Morrison's presentation, with its laugh
ter-making lines, might please the
amusement seekers in the theater, but
upon those who have read the poem and
understand its import Griffith's must GER
tainIy leave its impress.
Griffith is very young man. If he
were not nearly SO good a Mephisto as
Morrison he should still be praised, for
Morrison is more than twice his age, and
has grown old in the part
The audience was a small one and the
first act was lacking in enthusiasm.
Grif1th's face is well worthy to be call
ed Mephisto's when he gets his makeup
on, and people who have been used to
seeing the handsome features that Nor
rison and his followers put upon the
| devil much against his nature did not
bend easily to the change
Grifith's acting was good, but the au*
6iarna dr15f Il Iii Co.
something that it was used to, and that
wasn't there. In the second act the au-
dience became interested and Grifith's
| stock went up His work seemed better.
! The audience was getting used to it.
! The one scene that might be called COM
edy, in which Martha and Mephisto ap-
pear, put them in better humor, though
it was plainly not Griffith's desire to
| make il comedy.
In the third act Griffith became to the
mind of the audience a thorough actor.
He gave the satanic nature of the part
his utmost aid and made Mephisto as
| Mephisto was He has the voice for it,
and has learned the manner, and when
! he spoke the lines that end "bocy, soul
and ALL" he did it with a power that
made the audience shudder and applaud
After that Griffith had an easy task to
| win applause, and there were people in
| TIC du0lOHC0 LndL say tOQdy LAG ID &E0dbOE
in the part than Morrison.
While Gritfiths support is not parti-
cularly bad it is not particularly good.
1t was all well balanced. Miss Daun-
| court as Marguerite, is not as good as
Miss Morrison. Mr.. Baker is good
| Faust and Mr.. Cunningham was good
enough as Valentine.
Mrs. Nandenhoff as Martha could do
better with the part She does not make
it quite the village gossip the part per-
haps intends. but she is better in it than
| Miss Miller who played it in Topeka
last. Isabel Seaton as Elsie was hand
some and said her lines we'll
1t was necessary of course to have the
usual Topeka accident with the scenery.
In the second act the flower garden
lights up with colored electric lights and
makes a very pretty scene, but Mr..
Grifith's electrician forgot himself and
turned on so many volts in the trial that
| every light on the flower bed was burn
ed out and the scene had to be dispensed
with. 1t will be all right tonight though.
Some of the ssenic effects were much
better last night than Morrison's and
some of them did not seem so good. The
Broken scene was one of these. The
sunlight effects in the second act were
very pretty.
Mr.. Griffith and his company will re
peat "Faust" at the Grand this evening