The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-06-23

Theater. 1t must not be supposed from what follows that the Theater de POeu- vre is Q more or less fantastic institu- ton without claim to be taken serious ly. On the contrary, 1t has played an important history An account of the pieces it has produced and of the au- thors 1t has brought into notice would be most interesting and instructive, but is beyond our purpose, which is to deal with certain side characteristics of the performances M. Lugne-Poe has now been giving for several years.
 At the Theater de POeuVre 1t is to some extent a matter of indifference whether the piece be good or bad whether it interests or bores you. h. deed it is some of the worst plays that have procured the spectators the most amusement. The reason is that, what ever is passing on the stage, there is al- ways an immense amount of entertain ment to be got out of the audience. In no other theater in existence is any thing to be found at all equivalent to the gatherings formed by M. Lugne- Poe's subscribers and guests. Of the subscribers there is little to be said. They are people of means, and in many respects are much as other theater-go- CTS No doubt, whether from conYic- ton or from what the French call snop- isme, they are curious about many things in connection with the dramatic art that are beyond the ken of the av- craze Philistine who revels in a Palais | Royal farce. They have been educated up to Ibsen to the extent, at any rate, | of sitting out his plays, and they are alive to the portentious necessity of re- | generating the drama. Still, if left to | themselves the appearance they would present would merely be that of an or | dinary well-dressed crowd and they would keep within bounds their demon | strations of satisfaction or discontent with the fare set before them
 | It is the guests of M. Lugne-Poe that l make an audience at the Theater de | POeuvre one of the most picturesque and liveliest gatherings imaginable. | Admission is accorded in the most gen. erous manner If seats are not forth coming standing room is seldom re-
 fused, provided the applicant can make out even a shadowy claim to be inter-
 ested in advanced" drama. In conse- quence the young writers and fiedgling artists of Paris are present by the score. And they are good to look at and good | to listen to. Genius in France, when very young, would consider itself want ing in self-respect if it did not cultivate a distinctive "get-up." The results of this striving after outward individuali- ty are fearful and wonderful The hair, the hat and the tie are the matters that receive most attention, but frock coats reaching down to the ankles are in high favor with the privileged few who can afford them, corduroy trousers of the pegtop order of design are greatly af- l fected by the artists, and there is all ways an Anarchist present-very often M. Jean Grave in person-in flaming red jersey. The Anarchists too-anar- chism is the fashionable opinion of the moment-have recently adopted a new model of hat. In shape it resembles the ordinary straw hat, but it is made of moderately hard felt and it's color is black The slouch brigand" hat has ceased to be esteemed. It's place has been taken by another "soft hat'' as nearly round as possible and not unlike a barber's bowl completed by a turned- up rim. This description of calotte is worn without the usual adornment of a ribbon, and to be a success it should he as old and weatherworn as possible and dented in artisticary haphazard fashion. Top-hats are admissible if they are in antediluvian shape. and are considered particularly satisfactory When. they are abnormally high in the crown and are finished off by a very broad flat brim. But the greater glory of these intellectual young men is their hair. Words fail to do justice to the manifold arrangement of their locks. Length, or course, is primary consid- erauon, put while some of the hirsute sport carefully tended curls others go dlshevelled and yet others seem to nave taken refuge in wig. The advis- apllity of having a beard is responsible Tor strange sights in the shape of curi- ous developments of fluff and thin
 stragglng growths on chins scarcely
 old enough for the razor
 These quaint persons rejoice in ex- ceedingly sturdy convictions. They are
 tremendously in earnest. At the slight
 est pretext afforded by what is said on
 the stage they break out into a storm
 of applause or howls of indignation, as
 the case may be. As their opinions are almost as varied as the cut of their gar
 ments, applause and cat-calling are al-
 ways going on at the same time. The
 different schools group themselves SC
 as to give greater force to their demon-
 strations. By sort of unwritten con-
 vention the Anarchists have acquired a
 right to the gallery. In the orchestra
 there is no band-foregather as a rule
 the friends of the author. In one cor
 ner are to be found nothing but Sym
 bolist" poets, in another the "Natur-
 ists' stand elbow to elbow These an
 tagonist groups have only one feeling ir common-their contempt for the Philis-
 tine. If the more bourgeoise section oi
 the audience shows the least disposi-
 ton to find a scene a trifie too auda-
 cious or really too incomprehensible-
 and such scenes crop up at the Theatel
 de POeuvre-all Bohemia is in fer
 ment and screeches of execration bring
 the offenders to their senses or at least
 reduce them to silence. The one unpar.
 dvnable crime is to laugh at what VOL
 listen to. Everything must be taker seriously.-Pall Mall Gazette.
 A MODEST OFFICE-SEEKER Speaking of the important matter ot !. congressional alimentation, famou, 1 congressman the other day invited ont