The age-herald., 1899-08-15
,... WOMEN AND SOCIETY. Y...

is drama in five acts by Victorien Sar7 dou, the great French playwright, which ! has been rendered into English by Law renee Irving. The part of Rohespierrel is taken by Sir Henry Irving; that of Clarisse de Malucon, by Miss Ellen Terry, and olivir, the son of Robespierre, by Kyrle Bellew, and Tallien, member of the convention by Lawrence Irving. There are no less than sixty-odd personages on the programme, and with numerous at tendants, gendarmes, townspeople, etc, the scenes are quite imposing. At the open ing of the play Danton has been accused and condemned and Robespierre is still all- powerful, but the atrocities perpetrated under his dictatorship have started a re- action, which grows apace, and the infec- tion, as you remember, gradually reaches some of Robespierre's colleagues, who, per celvlng the altered current of public opin- ion and feeling that their own situation was hazardous under his leadership, de- termine to abandon their chief and compass his destruction. The action of the drama is finely conceived and executed. The scenes include the eventful days of July, 1794, and give to the audience more accurate con- ception of the swift events of these
 troublous days in the history of France
 than any amount of historical research
 could ever give. The all-powerful, pompous
 Robespierre is first seen at the very height of his power; then quickly come the days
 of doubt and anxiety, and when the fate
 full shawods of uncertainty and suspicion
 encompass him, swiftly followed by har-
 assing fears, which alarm the very soul of igna h 1,v dax
 and by night, then comes the gloomy
 end. with its realistic scenes of the na- l tonal convention and the committee of 1 public safety. Sardou has given his yer | sion of this dramatic bit of French history l With unusual fidelity to actual scenes and | events; however, there is a fine flavor of | romance, which is the central theme of | the drama, around which all the great | historical events move It is this that
 gives the play its great human interest | and appealing quality that makes it a play | for all time and for all people. How much of truth and verisimiltude there is to this romance part, I am not informed. The
 historic events and personages of this eventful time of French history are per fectly familiar to most of us, but the pri- vate personal history of Robespierrei is another aspect of the man, and confess | less familiar to me. In the opening of the play Clarisse de Malucon (Ellen Terry1 is discovered in hiding in the forest of Mont- morency with her niece and her young son. | Near her retreat she meets an old and | valued friend in an ambassador from the | English court who by appointment shortly
 afterwards has the famous interview with | I)o11o r-e a1yl f..a Cx1a | luctantly confesses the sorrows of her | youth and her intimacy with Robespierre,
 who deserts her before the birth of her son
 Olivier. She retires and the interview be-
 tween Robespierre and the English envoy is
 valuable scene. It gives a fine, concise l and incisive conception of Robespierre at | the topmost pinnacle of his ambitious and
 audacious career, emphasizing the keynote
 of the tyrant'ss character. With his citizen
 companions as body guards-who look like
 veritable villains-he replies with utmost l disdain to all of England's offers that-tall l this can l accomplish without England l help" Robespierre appears inflated, dis | dainful, pompous with his own importance | and perfectly confident. Then when the | Englishman asks for passports for three 1 woman her niece and son, the willy,
 crafty, suspicious inner man appears and
 though smiling gratmtous assent imme- 1 diately afterwards orders the villianous "cftizens" to arrest the Englishmen and
 those to whom he had been conversing just | before his arrival. The scene now shifts to | the courtyard of the prison of Port-libre
 and the horrible scenes that disgrace the | fair pages of French history are again en- | acted. To the right sit the Englishman, | Clarisse and her neice. In horror they | witness the terrible scenes of the morning | roll call, when the doomed ones for that
 day answer and take their place in the
 carts which lead towards the axe. The
 scenes is ony too faithful and realistic and
 makes heavy draughts on the nerves and | endurance of the audience. The young and
 the old, the timid maid and stern old sol
 dier alike respond, and human nature is
 seen in its verying aspects as one answers
 the fateful name with shriek, another
 bepowdered, in velvet and faces, with
 swoon, while another shouts in heroic
 tones, "I cannot die but once-Vive le Roi."
 But descriptions are totally inadequate
 The great mass of humanity in the enor-
 nous theatre sat perfectly breathless and
 motionless. utterly convuled by the con- fct of exciting and sympathetic emotions | Again the scene shifts to the Place de la
 Revolution-now in Paris the Place de la
 Concorde and the fairest and most ideally
 beautiful place of the entire city.
 | Here stand the Parisian crowds of men
 and women to witness the fearful scenes
 of the execution which fortunately play no
 part in the drama. Amid garlands of
 flowers and chants of praise of the excita-
 ble populace, Robespierre makes his famous
 speech in which he proclaims himself the
 High Priest of the Supreme Being. Olivier
 distressed beyond endurance at the impris-
 sonment of his mother. shouts, Murderer,
 assassin" and is promptly removed to | prison for his vehemence.
 Of course Clarisse writes an imploring |Qhnllnntien1