The times., 1897-12-26

g.
adapta tions OF German plays, IAN lie
Comforts of Home aud ''Mr. Wilkinson 5
WIDOWS" both OF which pTosrered abuhl
antly.
Early il 1890 Mr.. Gillette was at work
on another dra amatic spectacle called
Ninety Days. which was to be pro
duced at Niblt IS Garden. 1t was to dis
play things uninterrupted yet in prose or
rhyme" Hut i'll tie midst OF the prep
arations Mr.. Gillette was taken seriousi :
sick and the " hole project was given up.
For several da Us, almost weeks, his death
was expected TO occur at any time. Then
he got little better and went to the
South, where Ee gradually recovered his
health. But he disappeared from the
atrical circles for a lcDg time. When he
was a bic t. work again, he took up the
old scheme OF Ninety Days" 10 which
he had given great deal Of thought and
time and Ia bOr, and on the result Of which
he placed great dependence. II did not
please the New York public, however,
and it was toe cumbersome in the natter
or scenery to be carried a bout the country
with profit.
There was just a growing sign OF a
tendency to regard Mr.. Gillette's best work
as n thing OF the past, when two years ago,
he adapted Too Much johnson" from La
Pianta ton Thomassin,' and produced N
at the Standard Thater, New York after
some trials with it out of town. 1t gained
an instant Popularity, as everyone iii st.
Louis knew. This led the way easily and
naturally to the success which he has made
with Secret Service in which Washing
tonians are To see him this week.
'When first | rad Tess some va nirs
ago. said Mrs. Fiske, in recentinter ,iev,
Il was deeply impressed by its dra mi &c
possibilities, and secured eventually the
American stage rights to a drama tia .ion
made 10y Mr. Hardy himself, through Har
per Bros, bit y hich, upon consider alton,
| felt was nsLuited to command the SYM
pathies OF the American public. Per ms
sion To have made new version WIS
requested anu graciously given, and thus
the present adaptation, by young Amer
lean playwright, Lorimcr stoddard, was
brought about.
been to write with the requiren .nts of
the stage faithful reproduction of the
novels own characteristic atmosphere
a combination 50 often missing in drama
tizations by authors of their own y 1rk
1t has been the endeayor to preserve eaCh
impression that the story leaves distinct
upon the readers mind, those charm ng,
deft touches Of Wessex color, such as the
l,,rn nI.. IL,
always clibeing on to another, inscparabIe,
and many more similar bits that should not
fail to illustrate the true lighting ana
shading of Mr. lIardy's magnificent word
painting
Tess is character unique, in smuch
that, while really mere dairymaid ,hs
must reveal, despite her simplicity the
plain trace OF patrician ancestry, Differ
rnt she Is from all her comrades. he
travng the mark of sadly fallen fortunes
through an inmate refinement and gen le-
ness quite at variance with the rustic
crudity of her co-worlSers in the dairy. Tess
is girl strangely innocent, simple minded
without vanity ol coquetry. absolutely un-
selfish, perfectly pure. 1t seems TO me
IL has been a great mistake to i'm .,ine
otherwise. TC think aught else of her IS
utterly opposed to the conception 1f Mr.
Hardy. All Tess soul is bound up in .ove
for her little brother and sister-her mis-
fortunes are never of her own seeking.
The tenderness aud the infinite pity
OF her nature are Superbly rev eaIed IN the
book when Tess after that terrible night
in the woods, finds herself surrounded a
the dawn 10y so many tiny wounded birds
that have sought refuge from the crIel
huntsmen Their pain is more than she can
beaT-it is to her as real as though il
were part OF her own anguish
- aud. Summoning all her Courage
she Kills the little sufferers. one
after the other. to end their misery. And
then. when she has taken the life OF Alec
she sobs: How could DO it? |, who ney er
harmed a fly?'
II The charge of cynicism has been brought
against Hardy for the trea tment of Tess, her
character h1S been sadly misunderstood
KNOW cI no VI oman charaCterin the whole
range OF the drama, or of literature more
innocent, more pure than that o Tess Hero
Is a be1hE marked out Cor misery, tragic.
hopeless Every sorrow that could come
TO woman is Crowded into her short life
even before she has emerged from yirl.
hood. Her patience and her iong-sufferiuy
suggest 9 fineEess aud sweetness almost
divine But, pray do not fancy that me
play Is of necessity all shadow. There is
much In 1T of sunshine and rustic beautv
the brighter side being carefully Illustrated
TO avoid the gloom that might otherwise
overst ado". And Tess companionso An
are dr. WI and to be imperson ated with
especial regard to the authors conception
Of each individual character. combininp
admirably, I believe, to preserve the sp;rt
of the story"
FOR some time the question of the theat.
ricai coTnh'ne' which calls itself syndf-