New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-01-16
IRVING'S PETER.
THE NEW PLAY AT THE LYCEUM
THEATRE. WITH AN ANTITHESIS
AND \ TOUR DE FORCE
London. January 3.

AND TOUR DE FORCE.
London. January 3.
Anthess Is the word which sums up the
production 4 Peter the Great" at the Lyceum
Theatre Saturday night. The central theme
OF the play is the failure OF father and son to
understand and symDathize with each other
Until their eyes are opened at the supreme mo-
NIT OF tragic doom. when Alexis dmy per-
Ceiyes the overshadOwing greatness of the
founder Of an empire. and Peter honors with
love the son whom he has condemned to death
and Graves forgiveness The antithess lies in
the relations OF the father and son who have
understood and sympathzed with each other
from beginning II end in the composition and
production Of this play. Mr.. Lawrence Irving
has created d part which in its rapid alterna-
tons OF motive and mood exhibits al! the re-
sources Of stagecraft of the greatest actor Of
the time and he has idealzed the coarse, brutal
and semi barbarous Peter. and adapted 1t in the
tragic passages TO the subtle processes of in
telectual Interpretation. Of which Sir Henry
Irving has complete mastery. The playwright
has known what his father could do in the
maturity Of his powers, and the actor-manager
has taken the ambitious work of young
thor ennobled it with dignity and crowned It
with honor
1t Characteristic Russian night. The
music was Slavonic. Tschaikowsky's songs and
interludes mingling with the blare of trumpets,
the stirring notes Of military marches and the
booming of distant guns. The costumes were
those Of old Moscow with Tartar blaze Of
color. and in every act tapers were cleaning in
front OF jeweed icons. The action began in
one Of the historic audience chambers of the
Terem and the windows looked out upon the
coronation cathedral. VANS Tower and the
sacred gate Of the Kremlin. The play itself was
Russian in spirit, with underplot OF ceaseless
intrigue and unrest, with exhibitions Of racy
savagery and stOlid insensibility TO suffering
with supreme embodiment Of idolatrous adora-
ton Of power and with a sombre environment
Of loneliness and gloom the setting for the
final passages Of awful pathos. 1t was a Rus
sian night. but the best two moments were Eng
lish in thought and feeling.
The first of these moments was when the
audience. midway in the first act caught
glimpse OF Peter the Great returning in
paroxysm Of fury from defeat and disgrace
among the Turks 10 find conspiracy rampant in
the Kremhn, and his son. the Regent, thwarting
his will. The situation was a stirring one,
curing rapid movement and intense energy and
passion. but the action halted until the audi
ence had exhausted Itself in of thu heartiest
ana most joyous welcomes ever extended 10 an
actor. Sir Henry Irving had returned 70 the
scene Of his trumphs, and with one consent
galleries stalls and boxes joined in a tumultu-
Gus. long-continued outburst of applause and
acclaim. Many times he raised his hand and
attempted to go on with his part. but it was not
until his face had relaxed from the hard-feat-
ured. enraged Peter into the smiling. genial Sir
Henry Irving that the audience exercised self
Il a CHI L~,,o Itch
come 10 an actor who personally loved as
well as honored for his illustrious services to
the highest interests Of the stage.
The second Of these fine moments came when
the curtain had fallen and the actor had made
his graceful speech Of thanks for the enthusi-
astic reception Of the play, nadvely confessing
that he had a prejudice in favor Of the author.
whom he led forward with an affectionate
glance OF paternal pride. The audience again
cheered with undated fervor. for it was deeply
moved by this spectacle OF tenderness in the
relations OF father and son. Each had done his
utmost for the Other and the force OF splendid
antithesis was felt after the prolonged exhibit
ton Of the tragic fate OF :he father and son OF
the stage born to the purple, but doomed to
be antpathetc, each loving what the other alb
horred and minisiering each 10 the others
misery
THEME or THE PLAY.
The theme Of the play the antaGonism be-
tween the founder Of an empire and son who
was Incapable OF sympathzing with him and
carrying on MS work. 1t worked out with
thoroughness OF detail and with clear cOmpre-
hension OF the essential motive Of an over
mastering ambition trampling ruthlessy upon
everything opposed 10 it-even upon the fathers
instructive love Of his son. The play was strong
in It's dramatic force and in its exposition of
meal skill and considerable literary finish. 1t
supplied a great actor with the opportunity for
an extraordinary impersonation which we'll
nigh exhausted the resources Of his stagecraft
1t closed with an impressive soloquy. in which
the issue Of the sons life or death was debated
by the father, and with situation Of supreme
pathos, when the ch.idless Emperor was left in
Solitude crouching beneath his Icon and muir
nUring: lie my son, my own, my very
SON.
The tragic death of Alexis by his fathers COM
mand is one II The most revolving incidents OF
human history. AS 1t stands In Russian annals
It is envelopcd in mystery 80 far as the details
are concerned but 81 IS ineligible In motive
with the sombre background Of blood stained
Moscow, revealing In atrocity, inhumanity and
barbarsm. Alexls was inveigled into returning
10 Moscow after his abd!cation, and was con-
demned 10 death after secret trial In 81
Petersburg. he died on the day when his father
signed the decree Of the council HIS END may
have been caused BY commissions from mental
excitement and fear of the rack, or he may
have been poisoned, as in the play; but ne was
prokablv knoufed and tortured 10 death. l1e