Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-08-30
DUSE COMING HERE
IrALy,s GREAT Artistic WILL AP-
PEAR IN RICHMOND THIS SEASON.
CONTRASTED WITH BERNHARDT.

pxrpc Brothcrs mt the Academy
Tbf. Wcek-Other Attractions BILL
ed for This City.
Elenora Duse, as well as Sarah Bern
hardt, are engaged TO visit this continent
during the season, and the former will be
seen I'm Richmond for one, and, possibly,
for two performances. Sarah saw the
Italian in London last year, and admired
her. She Is reported TO have said "She
has a talent for the little things" and
not in a dlsdainful way, as might have
been expected. For my part, 1 cannot
see where the methods Of the two wo-
men clash. one is SO great in romantic
roles. the other so marvellous in natural
istic ones. Duse can take UP old war
worn parts like Camille and Fedora and
make them almost new. In Fernando"
she aocomplishes great effects as a pas
slve spectator. Duse was first a panto-
mimlst. She mastered the framework OF
the art Of acting. so that her very pauses
are eloquent.
am crazy about Duse.
So / was three years ago, and then /
had but little company with me In my
lunacy. Now I am sure that there ex-
lists large Duse clientele, which in
creases with every performance given by
her in this country.
Duse is one OF Baudelaire's women:
one Of that sinister band whose grinding
sobs family echo I'm the half-forgotten
pages OF Les Fleurs de Nal" Her note
is the note Of pain OF living; yet in all
the swirling Aarmonies of her art she
stands effectively chilly and unmoved.
She plucks the heart from the burning
mystery OF things carnal, vet holds IL
for our inspection with averted head.
This sad apparition carries with her an
atmosphere of sorrows. decoy, and dis
illusionment. She IS beautiful. she is
fercey ugly, she is divine. she is a devil,
and she Is often not a woman but ever
an artist. She is an analyst, and probes
so deeply that wa vince. She is a syn
thesist, and builds up character with the
touch Of a master miniaturist She can
be poet and a prude and the perfume
that invests her Is of the decadence. She
is an enigma and Edgar Poe would have
called her "Ulslume. De Quincy Mater
Malorum," and gentle John Henry Cardi-
nal Newman would surely have said Of
her, Mater Doiorosa." The world knows
her as Eleanora Duse, the dramatic
artist, whose voice IS as exotic and
sonorous music. whose walk Is rhythmic.
whose pauses are poems. and 20 whom
this quotidian iife is vanity and vexation
Of spirit, tasting grabbed in the mouth
as does the fruit Of the Dead sea.
Some one who knows Duse intimately
says that she is oy no means the difficult.
capricious woman pictured by the papers,
She IS the most generous of artists, and
needy countryman has her ear and
her purse at the same time. And sne
loves money and is a shreWd business
woman and l suppose this will disap-
point some OF her admirers, who fancy
that genius never firts with the box
office. What about the scarlet skull Of
Paddy whskers and the coquettish
glances he exchanged with 5000 houses2
They are all alike, my dear friends,
these artists who visit US and rave about
the scenery and the delicate political
conscience Of the nation. They are all
alike, from Poland to Italy, from London
to Jerusalem. They are on what is
termed "the dead make" and you can't
blame them.
jim tLo lcLtUal, the greatest OF
the many successes which Mr.. a. NJ.
Palmer has presented to the theatre
going public. will be sent upon the road
again the present season, and viii be
seen at the Academy next Friday and
Saturday.
The scenes OF Sir Charles Youngs
highly interesting and sensational 60
ciety drama are laid in England. and the
play opens at the town residence OF
James Ralston, in Regents Park, Lon
don. on the ono hand he is a man Of
influence and respectability, but his
alter ego IS the master spirit OF as clever
4 band Of forgers as ever infested
respectable community. organized for
high-class predatory purposes, hence his
soubriquet, Jim. the Penman." His
daughter, Agnes, is soon TO wed. The
Penman has won his wife by forging
letters from her and her lover, and later.
by the same process, robs the lover OF
large sum OF money. and at the COM
mencement Of the play his partner I'm
crime. and the real power behind the
throne. Baron Hartfret, compels him 10
forge an order so that they can secure
the family Jewels from the safety vault
Of his prospective son-in-law.
Tho wifes former lover returns, and
ia comparing notes with her, they find
that they have been the victims Of a
cruel imposition, which they discover
through the fact that Ralston has I'M
consciously written his wife's maiden
name in a charitable subscription book
In tho same manner as he wrote It at
the foot Of the forged letters. When the
crime begins to recoil he fights with all
his wonderful resources Of brain and
nerve power against discovery. In the
closing act which IS the strongest Of
the play, "Jim the Penman," whose de-
lection and apprehension seem abso-
lutely certain, turns the tables on his
wife. the detectives, and his accompllces,
and when it appears that he had so dis
posed matters as 10 render his position
secure, in a moment Of extreme mental
and physical excitement he dies OF heart
disease. This scene, enacted on the stage
while the wedding breakfast is going on
In an adjoining apartment, furnishes a
strong dramatic contrast, which renders
the play absorbing 10 the very end.
London is Just now enjoying a dis
cussion about the awesome problem
Should dramatic critics write plays, and
should they have them produced?
This seems TO be the ne Plus ultra Of
idiocy. OF course. they should, IL they
can. But most of them can't Criticism
and creation are l need not remind you,
good bed-felows. To write play, you
must have something more in you than
ability TO pick another mans work TO
pieces. As TO the question whether a
dramatic critic uses or abuses his posi-
ton In order to foist his own work upon
the manager. l can only say the mana
ger or public do not care hang who
writes a pay II II is a good enc. The
wicked naughty critic would soon be
caught, II he resorted TO trickery, and