The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-05-08

DRAMATIC AND MUSICAL.
METROPOLITAN.

METROPOLITAN.
Clara Thropp was fdaring In essaying
Ibsen, not that she has not shown her
talent and earneStnesS worthy of so am
bilious an undertaking, but daring in at
tempting to introduce to a public mono
too familiar with the writings of this late
and great dramatists works, that must
be seen, or heard, or read, more than
once. before their full power is appre-
eiated. Ibsen's characters are SO clearly
drawn, and SO well defined in their ele-
ments, whether of force or weakness, of
good or evil, that each individuality
stands alone. They must be artistically
| rendered, or fall. AMI faultlessly rem
deFed, an average audience will hardly
puzzle its brains ever the various cross
purposes that seem to- have impelled the
author in his drawing of such. figures.
Yet, in "a Dolls House." Miss Thropp
has selected from Ibsen's work a play,
in spite of it's frequent iconoelasttc pas
sages In reference to existing social GUS
toms, that must appeal with force to all.
The womans declaration of independence
compels sympathy and commands ad-
miratfon, whether or not the auditor Is
willing ito go as far with Nora in her re-
| nunciation of the past as Ibsen makes her
60 social scheme which would be
reached by every woman abandoning the
children @of husband she had not loved
or who had not loved her involves not
only serious problems, of responsibility,
hut a selfishness on the part of the
gentler sex which Is not endearing, and
detracts somewhat from the lovableness
of the role Miss Thropp has chosen for
her presentation of the Ibsen drama, even
II 1T does not detract from the force of
the dramatic climax
| AS the doll wife, Miss Threpp Is all that
could be asked. Vfvacious. ingenious,
frivolous. tender. amiable, all these are
| the sprtghly comedienne IN a measure
| that commands full admiration. But the
test of the younglwoman's histrionic abil-
! ny comes with the, transition from the
| child to the wonan3 when discovering
T that the husband She supposes loves her
| instead of extending sympathy on the
| revelation of herr;cFime, as she expected
! of her natural protector in her childhood
| dreams, berates her for perfidy, she as
| serts her mentalt and physical independ-
I enee. The scene lis a long one SO long,
indeed, that 1t seems as though some of
| the almost interminable dialogue that
| verges on the metaphys steal might well
| be cut out Miss Troops Nora is i'm
| perlous In her new-found dignity. quiet,
| put forceful In her almost revengeful in
/ diSnatfon- THERE'S abundant opportun-
| 1ty In the closing passages of this scene
| Tor the melodramattct Miss Thropp well
Restraints any temptation to take adyan-
| tage of this opportunity
Frederick Montague appears as Tor
| valid Ibsen did not draw Torvald with
pen, but with a. sealpel The human
male is dissected by the hand Of cyntc
| ism and the surgery is satire's Su-
| preme in his ineffable conceit, PROCESSING
love which ultimately seems to- be
but mixture Of pride and sensualfsm.
with the latter element fortunately un-
obtrusdve, the character is not ore to
q mt RI,r,1f,
as they say, recognize in it q type they
| nave to tolerate; men admit its fidelity
lowell, to- Torvald, the except on ana
change the subject. Ones first thouehtr
is. in the final scene with Nora, that Mr..
Montague is almost toe reserved IN his
expressionfg, Yet, considering Torvald's
ma ke-up and the possibility of coniectgrs
as to whether any possible .contfnEencv
could arouse violent emotions in such q
man, the intensity of feeling proper.seto
be shown in this scene, becomes a. mat
ter for the measure Of Tbsen, or the ac-
tor It may be said for Mr. Montague
that he consistently follows the authors
Ideal, in mafntaiptIlg the supremacy of
the bankers overpowering eomp1acency,
yet lends to the character q di entity
which commands respect for the actor
If not deep affection for his role Mr.
Montague has good stage presence and
voice, is graceful, and a careful artist.
very
place individual. aside from his dis
ttnctly marked indfvidualftfes, and yet
avoids exaggerating these to such an
extent as might be legitimatized by the
part as written. Mr.. Montagues Tor
valid, like Miss Thropp's Nora, is worth
more than one hearing.
Mr.. Folsom. as Nels Krogstad. is ao-
ceptable. Mr.. Folsom has tendency
to be almost too vehement at times, bu,
for the most part presents a Krogstad
In keeping with the merit Of his asso-
c1ates. His scene with Miss Allen, a
good Mrs Linden, was rather better
than his scene with Miss Thropp
Mr.. Ryan does some clever character
work as DR.. Rank.
1t cannot be gainsaid that the audi
enee liked Miss Fhropp much better,
though in the afterpiece, THE Tr,1ant
Spouse" the efferYeseence of which
seems ever 50 much more natural to the
dainty, graceful. little doll-like figure.
The dramatiSt of q fTruant Srous,' is
Miss Thropp. and she evidently wrote it
for purpose. That was to display her
various talents as an entertainer, brief
ly, and yet prettily AS 1t does this ex-
cellently, 1t may, therefore. claim the re-
ward due the highest dramatic art To
hear Miss Thropp Sing Kipling's "On the
Road to Mandalay''e is almost as coed
as a trip over the road itself, and sup
plemented with two other ballads ard
some breezy limitations of Bernhard and
others, it is especially delightful after
the serious work of "a Dolls House.
Mr.. Ryan's Reggie was in keeping with
his work as DR.. Rank. The roles of Mr.
and Mrs. Gerald Kensington (Mr. Folsom
and Miss Allen are not exacting
Miss Thropp and company will present
the same bill this evening.
The engagement of taThe Turtle" opens
tomorrow evening at the Metropolitan
opera house.. More than ordinary inter
est seems to be manifested In this pro-
duction, and it is a matter of specuIa-
ton as to how the public will take to
this rather risque style of entertainment
It succeeded in pleasing blase New York
for nearly a year, but theatricals are
patronized very largely by transients In
that city, and as to how regular theater-
goers of st. Paul will receive the piauant
farce Is a question that tomorrow must
decide. If half the reports are true '"rhe
Turtle" bellies its name and Is not a bit
slow. The company consists Of Isabelle
Evesson, Sgr@ Perugini. George HaIlam
Hudson Liston, Ada Deaves, Marion Bal
lou, Jennie ReiffaEth, Alice Collins and
others. IA
The famous pianfste, Nine. Teresa Car
reno, will give one grand recital at the
Metropolitan opera house next Friday
afternoon. the concert, commencing at
o'clock. IN
Olga NethersoIe,,, covered with glory
her world of American admirers, comes
to the Metropolitan theater for three
nights and one matinee commencing
Thursday evenings May II. 1t has been
triumphant season, for the celebrated
young artist. The public, the critics and