The times., 1899-11-26
CHATS WITH THE PLAYERS

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There are some men whose minds ere so
great and so we'll trained that their ac-
quaintances feel most sure Of showing in
telligence by remaining dumb when in
their presence. At long intervals one
meets women who impress similarly.
Marie Wainwright is such woman The
reporter who called on her last Wednes-
day had interviewed her a dozen times
within the past three years-for the ORA
matte Mirror in New York and for papers
in Salt Lake. Omaha. and Washington He
had never found her barren of subjects
and wnen he himself had proposed topics
OF conversation had discovered that her
impromptU ideas were better than those
he had carefully nurtured for weeks. This
proved true again when the two shook
hands in the parlor at the Regent and the
visitor asked for an opinion of faTces in
general and Of French farces in particular
Well. said Miss Wainwright. ''pri-
marily, l believe that a great deal OF the
condemnation such plays receive springs
from what used to be called mock mod
esty.' L cannot do people the injustice to
think that they really fear TO hear lines
containing such repellant suggestion as is
NOANGSQ III oENCl al ttftuHtdtfA stage 5kettL-
es. To me, ii seems not improbable that
the larger portion Of this discussion fOUuI
its source in clever press agents who IN
derstood human nature sufficiently well 10
foresee that reports Of nastiness would
bring business. Mile Fiji is not an un-
pleasant comedy. In fact, we Of the cast
all feel sure that, bereft Of q single scene
and three or four phrases, it would be
beautiful little heart story I have never
heard Because She Loved Him So which
was called the most wholesome production
of it's season. but the two plots read much
alike. One does not seem more improper
than the other.
Il anu going TO the National this after
noon. While in Paris witnessed a per-
formance of La Dame de Chez Maxim and
found it altogether amusing. But then
the French and the French alone know
how to enact these farces. They seem un-
conscious alike Of their humoTs and OF their
double entendres. They do not make ex-
travaganzas Of them, as we do. On the
contrary, the best of the Partisan compa-
MES play frothy comedies as though they
were tragedies. extracting cOmicality from
very seriousness. This, some Of the Nile
Fiji troupe manage, also. / try 20 de-
liver my more piquant speeches with alb
sOlute naturaIness but, despite my efforts.
l catch myself thinking of their meanings
and l recoil mentally as you would physi-
cally were a stone thrown at you. .
ITO return to the popular opinion OF
these pieces, let me remark that IL is a
singular fact that no one ever notices the
real filth in plays of a more pretentiOus
order. There are Sardou and Ailine and
but why go to the French SCHOOL, Take
Shakespeare. Now, 'OthelIo' is what
would call dirty drama. It's lines are
simply full of expressions that are OBJ
scene. I was the Desdemona TO SaIyinTs
Othello for a couple of seasons. and I shall
never forget the experience. The star in
sisted that he would net alter the original
text in the slightest and he did not He
spoke in Italian, but l was obliged TO use
English. and several of the words that
came from my mouth almost nauseated me.
But the public never noticed them. They
had been penned by Shakespeare, and they
were proper. Why. upon my word. if the
Bible were not a holy book. it would be
barred from the mails.
Il am much afraid, bY the way, that the
Bard of Avon is dead temporarily in this
country. TheatregoeEs do not seem TO want
him under any circums jameson the stage.
They will read him carefully enough in
their libraries. And this is meet in the
case of most of his works. I can under
stand readily why a tired man should posi-
lively refuse TO cap his days labOrs with
a Shakespearian tragedy. l think Hamlet
a dreadful bore, and l have been the
Ophelia to almost every great Hamlet in a
number Of years But, to me. the Shakes
peaTian comedies are delightful-'As You
Like It. Twelfth Night and others of
that kind. But the public does not want
them and the public is sovereign. II is not
likely that l shall return TO the classics.
Probably, I shall stay out the season with
Mile. Fiji and then-well. then 1 don
know.