Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1896-11-29

bershlp has Increased until it new num-
bers more than thousand of those who
are actively before the American public.
The restrictions upon membership in this
society, is that every one applying for
membership shall show upon the word OF
two sponsors that he or she has been in
the active practice of the dramatic pro-
fession, for three years or more, and has
been resident of the United States for
SIX months or more This society,
through the encouragement which it
shall receive, both from the people and
from managers and members, may es-
tabish' in this city, at no great distance
in the future, a theater which will be
what that great. gentle soul who passed
away from us not long ago, hoped, even
up to the last moment of his brilliant life,
to accompHsh-a theater for the purpose
of training the American actor to make
him skilled and qualified to play the part
that nature and his vocation made for.
him. .--..-s--.---------4.--s
BY and through this means, hope to
see in my time the dramatic art estab-
lished perm aile ntty. and unswervingly
upon the basis upon which 1t should stand
and upon which.it' YVES placed in history
from the very beginning of time, as
companion to ,Feligion, as an institution
whose purpose, II Is TO raise up the hui
man heart to better things, to raise the
human heart beyond the mere groveling
things of life beyond the mere animal
impulses, tosplacestha dramatic art where
it stood inthe early day, at the begin
ming of the Chris tia1 drama, when St.
Gregory, the Nazianzene, and Constan-
tine, the emperor, Set- the stage upon
earth still wet with the blood of the mar
| tyr, to carry on and assist the work of
| religion. and SO From that time to the
| present it has done; for 1t was the Ger
| man Nun Roswitha, who first introduced
! the modern Christian drama, when the
| ages of blood had passed. 1t was the
| great Cardinal Richeliet, who established
| the house of Molfere; it was the monk,
| Fray Guerra. who introduced the great
! Spanish author, Calderon de la Barca.
| and established a companion drama to
that of which we have the most reason of
| all people in the. Morld to be proud-thc
| drama of William Shakespeare.
The following from the Nashville Amer
| leans criticism of Madame Sans Gene"
| in which a Birmingham young lady Is
cast, is interestingsto~read;
The play deals With the human part
of Napoleon life. and shows him as a
man with the feelings and passions coma
mon to men. The construction is strong
and every scene well calculated to de-
velop the whole strength of the company
There are thirty-nine speaking parts and
an abundance of scenery. Indeed, the
stage was not large enough for half the
scenery, and much of it had to be left out
from the presentation, which was in Other
respects the same as in the great presen=
tatiOnS in New YORK, Paris and London.
The plot. of the piece is familiar TO the
readers of the American and, as is well
known, deals with the fortunes of the
old-time washerwoman of Napoleon, WHO
became the duchess of Dantzic under the
changes brought about by the stirring
events in France during the first years
of the century. AS the leading charaez
ter in the play, Kathryn %Kidder, was I'D
instant success, and grew upon the audf
ence as the SCENES progressed She has a
perfect form and incidentally to the play
without immodesty, she manages to give
a glimpse of the contour, AS an ac-
tress she is superb, and may rank as a
prime faveFite- from this time on in Nash
vile. The support, large as it is, is good,
and without. weak spots in any place
where strfngth is-zrequired. Augustus.
Cook SIS Napoleon, Harold. Russell as Ee-
Febvre, Wallace Shaw as .Fouclle, Willis
Granger as peNeipperg, Catherine Camp
bell as Princess Eliza. francesca Lincoln
as Queen Caroline and Judith Muse as
Madame De lBulo, are deserving of espe-
cial mention, in the large cast. vfer the
excellence of their work in the play. Noll
Christine sIIiH a pretty Birmingham
girls made q success in the part of Jennie.
The news comes from Italy that Mr..
Alexander Salvini is convalescins. His
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