The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903, 1896-10-10
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q THEATRICAL NOTES 81
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The story OF MADAM Sens Gene" is
personal one. at the same time it is en-
tirely dependent upon her relation to ,
public character and events. Thus i,
presents picture Of the times. and q
series Of portraits OF the Emperor and hi,
encourage more vivid and life like, be
cause more human and personal thar
any dramatist has before achieved. The
play has two aspects: First, there is q
picture OF Paris in the heat Of the Rev
olutiouary times; Paris as it appeared
on August tenth 1892 when the las,
blow to the BourbOns was dealt. The
picture is strong and full of life; can
nonadiDg. love making. wine drinking
and death 60 hand in hand and make
up sort Of feverish chaos. With I'M
surpassed skill Sardou has shown US ali
the fact ors.in the-pirture from the cen.
tire OF Catherine Hubscher's laundry in
the Rue Sainte Anne. The second part
Of the play is less vivid and more de.
liberate. The court of Napoleon at the
zenith Of his power is, indeed. a sump-
tuous picture. A dynasty has been
evolved from anarchy. The Sans coul.
ottes and the and rank file Of 81 are the
dukes and duchesses. There is shin
mer Of artificiality over it all, the w.
men are in the gorgeous empire gowns,
the men are gorgeous in gold and lace.
they move about amid carefully elabo.
rated luxury; there is a beautiful sur
face to all things. with conspiracy lurk-
ing below. The beautiful and endear-
ing part OF Madame Sans Gene how
ever, is the story OF the woman who
gives the drama it's title. In the play,
pure and simple, she is not as potent a
figure as Fouche. the minister Of Police.
or the Emperor Napoleon. but she is a
lovable humorous delightful figure who
OyershadOws them as a character. As
Catherine Hubscher the laundress, she
is mirth loving. kind hearted, devil
may care girl. Later when she becomes
the duchess Of Dantzig she is still the
same beautiful and pure woman amid
all the immortality about her. Her
gaucheries, her slang and the audacious
contempt for the meanness about her so
arouses Napoleon that he commands
her husband to divorce her, but her
shrewd good sense finally wins the En-
peror to generous appreciation OF her
virtues. The performances will be with
practically the same cast, which has
mace it such success everywhere. Miss
Katherine Kidder as Madam Sans
Gene" and Augustus Cook as Napoleon
head phenomenally strong company of
Forty-two speaking parts.
seasons theatrical events will unques
tionably be the coming engagement of
Otis Skinner at the Lansing Theatre,
Wednesday. October, 18th for one night
only when he will present the greatest
Of the Shakespearean tragedies Ham,
let" Hamlet" is not strictly mysteri.
GUS character He is complex. incon.
sistent and human, and in that he diff
fers from the run Of dramatic charac-
ters. Even Shakespear has not created
another like him. Most dramatic char
acters are played on one string. How
different is the melancholy Dane. He
Is troubled. He is gloomy. He is de
pressed. He sometimes has hours OF
yaiety, sometimes moments OF sp'endor
10 action. In fact he is a real man.
Otis Skinner takes the view that Ham.
let" was perfectly sane and that he as