The San Francisco call., 1898-12-04
 DiSaQr2QmeDt of tbe Critics 0ver tbe 6ivoli "@yra3o" steveps


READ my Tuesday morning news
 papers to discover that the dra-
 matic critics were not agreed as to l the goods and bads of the Tivoli's
 production of "Cyrano de Berge- rae" According to the Examiner the performance was a joke that was hard ly appreciated by the Tivoh audience; according to the Chronicle it had no particular artistic value and did not call for serious consideration; accord ing to The Call it gave very good idea of the piece in English and was spe- cial triumph for Edwin Stevens, whose success in the title part was large and bar false voicing in the balcony scene qualified only by the temperamental limitations of the player. Three more dissimilar notices of one performance I never read. And three more, equally Xnaiike, came out with the evening pa Pers. I could understand the feelings of the New Yorker who bought twelve newspapers the day after Mansfeld's first "Cyrano" performance. After reading the dozen assorted opinions he sat down in disgust and wrote an in- dignant letter to the Herald all about the futilfty of criticism; then he went out into the night and paid $z to ticket scalper for two Mansfield seats. And judging by the numerous audi ences that have peopled the Tivoli. these nights since the opening, should say that a great many San Franciscans - had followed the New Workers ex- ample.
 Dramatic criticism is as any critic will tell you, noble and uplifting pro- fessiop, without which the theaters would be closed and civilization retard- ed; but it has not yet been reduced to a science. As old almost as the oldest play and destined, perhaps, to outlive the newest by one day, it still stands for nothing more definite than the in- dividual impressions of individual writers who are inevitably different in temperament, education and taste. Definite, final criticism never has ex- isted and never will exist in the judg- mentship of any one man or any one body of men. The only definite, final critic is the public, the general throng of appFeciators who in punches make what We call popularity and who, link ed out consistently into the years, make what is called posterity The profes- sional critic is at best a taster whose business it is to try to keep ahead of the public appetite. It is a difficult matter to keep ahead of the public in anything, and so you usually find the critic following the crowd at a friendly :. distance. His only independent power Alies in suggestion: sometimes he can 'point the way. His best office is that of celebrator; he records disaster and achievement, but he does not make them.
 Now nothing could have led up, to a sounder verdict on the TivoIi's ''Cy- rano" than this variety of comment by the press. The people are interested in the play and in the fate of the pro- ductton, and they go to the Tivoli to do their own thinking and their own applauding. ''Cyrano'' Is most un- derstandable play. It is picturesque and Enthusiastically heroic, but it is very simple-as simple as Shakespeare, or Neven more so since we get it Eng lished into fairly modern idiom. Of course the poetry loses a lot in the translation; it is bound to do that un- til some English writing Rostand takes
  Thomas and Mary F. Guillemard edi- tion is reasonably poetic throughout, and Edwin Stevens and the Tivoli com pany bring out a great deal of that po- etry, besides giving the play with clean address and plenty of action. And it is a notable fact that the poetry the | leisurely metaphor and classic allusion | 'the beautiful phrase" are as enthu- siastically appreciated by the Tivoli | audience as are the lively incident and 1 picture. It is all bosh to say that the | Tivon crowd sits yawning during the | longer speeches, wondering when the | song and dance will commence. The | Tivoli crowd is an elusive quality: dur ing the holiday pieces it is one thing, | during the comic opera season another, | and during the grand opera season yet | ----~-----------