The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-13
An ISTERvIEW WITH DUsE.



Opinions About the French. pernhardt, ara
the Theatre Connded TO n French Reporter.
Tho ~rcticent Duso has at last been interviewed.
1t was in Paris that she submitted to the opera
ton. IL took place while n journalist was cs-
corting tho actress to a five o'clock" ut the
office OF lie Figaro, and there seems TO DO in
terhal evidence that tho conversation was not i'm
tended for publication. At all events 1t com-
menced in a carriage. and whether or not she
know she was boing interviewed her chances Of
escape were probably very slight, She may have
made the best of tho situation, and the three
columns printed about hcr do not contain q
great deal that Duse herself said. Some OF her
Vows and experiences are very interestingly
reproduced, however.
Duse explained hor course In travelling over
the rest OF tho world before appearing in Paris
on the grounds that she was afraid to appear
there and had been told by Alexandra Dumas
that until she learned French 1t would be best
for her not to make tho experiment of playing in
Paris. Duse would not, according to her story,
learn French. because she thought 1t duo to her
country to play only in tho language of Italy.
When Sarah Bernhardt made 1t possible for her
to play there by Offering her own theatre, az
well as The use OF hor repertoire. the Italian 40
tress was Immediately seized, after accepting
the offer. with apprehensions and questioned
hSISol hb WnbUner or not Bnc Dnu uOn0 rtRnts
Her desire to please the French public was told
In tho interview, with the most fiatterine
speeches as to the value of Paris opinion and
tho character Of the French judgment in matters
OF art, and protestations of her especial desire to
lind success before French audiences. Her admi-
ration of Sarah Bernhardt she expressed in tho
most fatterlng terms. She praised her genius,
her intellect, her artistic nature, and described
with particular emphasis the first time she saw
the great French actress.
81 think 1t was during Bcrnhardts first tour
through Europe about fourteen years ago that I
saw her first" said Duse to the Paris reporter.
while 1 was playing with my husband in an
old theatre where everything was choked by
dust and tradition. The director regulated
everything according to rule, prevented any
innovation and shut off all initiative on the part
OF the actors. He treated the women especially
like inferior creatures. and you may imagine
that l suffered most from that. Ono day the ap.
preaching visit of Sarah Bernhard was an.
nounced. She arrived. with her great reputa-
ton already universal. AS II by magic the dead
old theatre awoke and began to glow again.
had tho sensation OF seeing disappear one by
one old clouds of tradition and artistic slavery.
It was like a deliverance. She played, she tri-
OF anything else In tho town. in the drawing
room. or in the theatre. A woman had done
was imposed on me. From that moment 1 was
and i we Went a every piI hight to h Jeanne her A9 and iS Weep.H'
,Duse told the interviewer that she could not
play the tragedies of Corneille and Racine be-
cause she could not speak verse except In very
dramatic situations, She said she could readily
understand the death Of Adrienne .Lecouvreur
blank verse. She thought R6jane clever but
ssmbI.n see hi none Of the points Of re.
her: sarah Bernhard said 'A! %hii e f fn this
and Duse very similar in their artistic methods.
Duse praised the actors Of the Coincide Francaiso
theatre she never anslyzei a pJayer's art - b ~
allowed herself to be carried away by the emo
tons that she might receive from the play and
Ca one really say" she said in answer to q
9 fress loves t sIcce onf erefs ai any ahs r T5Ies The The a 10.
carnates. It is only in that way that she can in
terSst herself in her art. and interest others"
incarnate the beings Of pure realism. the actress
"of reaiismi No. Life appears to me as in
tense, as true in q dream as in reality. And
where is the truth Are not the heroes Of
sen ! II is true that have a weakness for an
emotional reality and one surrounded with
Mateine Of Maeterfinck. l have a foolish adora-
ton for his last murionettes, Anglavaine and
women l would prefer to incarnate."
buses opinion Of her profession is not high.
least intellectual in the World. Once ssi the part ti Il
learned the brain need work no moro. The
nerves. the sensibilities. the struggles for emo
ton, they are what color and what occupy the
actor. 1t Is for this reason in general that there
are so many stupid actors and actresses; and
who says stupid often says gross and i'm
moral have never, up TO the present time.
found q true friend in the theatre. 1t would
be as well to put aside the narrow envies, the lit
tie rivalries-in a word, 10 become like other
people,
,Duso says that with her costume she takes OF
all remembrance. of her performance. and that
as soon as possible after a performance she gets
far away from the theatre. Her popular authors,
TO judge by the books seen in her room, were
Maeterlincs, Carlyle. -Eschyius, Sophocles. and
Petrarch.