The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-19
NOTES ON STAGE AFFAIRS.
rIEoyoRA DUSE'S INFLUENCE ON
OTHER ACTRESSES.
The unrectlve Genius or tho Great italian
Pinyer-Whnt some or Our Performers VIII
DO Next s~enson-ForoiEu Dramatic News.

The vnIfrttNe Nutus W. ~ NsFNN ~
PinJer-whnt some OF Our Performers VIII
DO Next ~senson-ForeiEu Dramatic News.
1t ia frequently argued In proof OF Elconora
Dusc's originality and naturalncss that her
uethods have never been initiated by mimics.
Her acting Is said to DO so free from eXnggora-
lion that IL offers no pcculiarities striking
enough Cor imitators to seize on. This may DO
true enough, and there arc no persons In mind
who have ever made her performance tho
,ubjcct OF intentional imitation as II mere
reproduction Of Dusc's style OF acting.
hut II she has not been initiated rs
sarah Rernha.dt has, Duso has certainly in
nuenced her contemporaries on the stage, and
there Is scarcely q conspicuous actress among
the younger women on the stage to-day who has
NOT begun 10 follow Duse In the phases OF her act
ing that II is possible to reproduce. The influ.
encc OF her acting is seen most In the increase of
what is known in tho phraseology Of the theatre
as business" Our younger actresses-as many
of them at least as have seen Duso and are
acting in plays In which It is possible-have be-
gun TO exaggerate their business with an en-
thusiasm so unboundod that there is good roa-
,on to believe 1t cannot last. Olga Nethersolc,
whose abundant, unrestraincd genius is the
last in the world adapted to such a method as
puse employs, showed during her recent visits
here that she is badly affected with the mi
crobe. Sho was seen In THE Wife of
scarli' filling her performance OF the heroine
In that play with u hopeless accumu-
lation Of INSIGNIFICANT detail. She read books.
pressed her hand over her brow Oiled a stove
With wood until there was scarcely a second in
the play that was not occupied with. some such
detail, so obviously thought out and 30 %univer.
ed than, advanced by these digressiohs.
the Duse formula, for, she has steadily
grown more and more intellectual in her acting,
and thus has. year by year, driven out, more and
more. the sympathetic element of her art. The
composition of her characters Is always a per.
fectly apparent Intellectual achievement, and
qualities OF her acting several years ago have
pretty nearly disappeared as the purely mental
side OF her work has grown to predominant. So the
Duse methods. with their quietness and natu-
ralness, were more easily within hGE power than
the Italian actress's art on talents so widely
different as Mrs. Fiske's and Olga MEMBERSHIPS
has been about the same in both cases. Miss Meth
ersole has grown minute and elaborate TO tho
loss OF spontaneity and her peculiar fervor, and
passion. Mrs, FIsko has grown methodicai and
the naturalness for which she aims. Duse Is a
rare genius who developed her own art. 1t is
1t Is SO purely subjective that it cannot, be
reproduced by other, women. Not one has
her own individuality. Agnes sorma has
succeeded among foreigners in showing, us d
actresses have set to initiating. But the depth
Of the genius that makes Duse what she Is Frau
SOrma lacks Nobody ever admired DuSe merely
for her art. 1t was her emotional power over
audiences not understanding a word she said
that made her so widely popular. 1t was not
business and detail that made her great. On
the contrary 1t was the heart in her acting that
made its appeal so universal. But the women
who initiate Duse have seemingly lost sight of
that and attempted to acquire only the intel
lectual side OF what she did.
Henrik Ibsen Is going to have a better oppor-
tunity in London than he ever had before when
his latest play. John Gabriel Bcrkman,' Is
acted there by Elizabeth Robins. Mrs. Beerbohm
Tree, Genevieve Ward. W. II. Vernon, and other
popular actors. Five matinee performances will
be given This play has met with a very varied
reception in the Continental cities.
"On Leave" which in its original French form
was one Of the great successes Of the Paris sea-
Dor. has entirely failed in London. 1t was adapted
BY Frederick Horner. who made Fortune"
which was acted here at the Lyceum Theatre,
out of an old French farce. and apparently took
all OF the humor out of it.
pins play The Wayfarer. which has been ap-
proved al the Odeon and seems 9 highly poetic
f fsn inse 6f she sh ass@e; and Is Sir VII Henry nsy' irving th is
to appear as Richard II. NEXT fall. Another
Il the World" in which George Alexander and
Julia Nelson will appear. The Little Minister"
IN Ei ! Sc Stage ss' ssr. iP h made By eS s. II. Barrie J. Il sf Sim ssEs
received at Sarah Bernhardts theatre in Paris,
but the American girl in her company. Mile.
ance as the American wife OF an English duke.
light 81 her Ss'n Biblical 'f PIay. The W We&nsaae q
samaEia" and was evidently triumphant, She
ttanity by Jesus Christ, who figures as one Of
the characters in the play.
been IH playing hsef in ib SEN : tt "Gho ses'F; w ass ETteat
success at Vienna, the first European city out
Vas %in FAY s to praise etS ,l EleSnoFS sor D rs a.. 81 ip
anew version, and will be acted by a London
player who believes that he will be able TO equal
Joseph Jefferson in the role.
Next season Fanny Davenport will produce a
new American drama, as to which the particu-
lars are mysteriously withheld. Helena Modjeska
will act again II her improved health continues.
Edward J. Morgan and William II. Thompson
will be members Of CharlesF rohman'ss stock COM
pany. George Backus will head a {" Secret Ser
vice cast. Marion Abbott will take the title role
In Mime. Sans Gene" Thomas w. Keene and
Charles B. Hanford will remain together in
tragedies. William Seymour, long stage man
ager OF the Boston Museum, will return to act
ing in Sol Smith Russell's company. Sam Ed.
wards and James T; Powers will DO in the DAILY
Forces; Camille D,Aryii!e will DO in the klsw X
f nNI,S 50 vii Walter Zones. Daniel DAILY, and
Ms. Leslie Garter. vii vii c] ieflti EpsfS With EETHRSe;
Heart OF Maryland" Olga Sethersole will not
come back TO America. Nathaniel Hartwig may
60 starring. Edward S. Willard will use the
new London piece. THE Physician" Anna
Held will return for a second tour. Fritz VIII.
hams and Katherine Florence will return to the
Lyceum company. Charles Coghlan will 20 TO
london next summer to play Mark Antony in
Beerbohm Trees revival OF julius Cesar. but
MI be here with, Mrs. Fiske in Tess OF the
DHr6ervilles" In the autumn. DE Wolf Hopper
Will have a comic opera by Klein and Sousa
called The Charlatan."
Al MdcnTy Irving has written a complimentary
protection in business and artistic affairs.
Inc amateurs of the Seventh Regiments Com
pany l are to repeat "The Envoy" at Newark
ReSt Wednesday night, as guests OF the Essex
Troop OF that city.
new play entitled Uncle Toms Cabin" 10
q astonishing thing. James w. Harkins and
nI"ih Barbour have written 1t and II Ia to be
Stoves novel.
a prize Of q hundred dollars has been offered
" weber q Fields for the best half hour play to
A. %WEltten TX a Sing Sing convict, in case War
yeh sage viii permit the competition. Perhaps
u Idea Ia the nhtIn n hnnntn - A 90 nart,. tGa