The times., 1899-03-14

cony. assumes the voice of his rival in or
der to heal the wounds of both. Twice he
forgets himself in the fervency of his ap-
peal, but Roxane suspects nothing and is
completely won. Then. while Cyrano holds
the lawless De Guiche outside, the girl is
married to Christian within. For revenge
the nobleman orders his Gascony Cadets
to the wars. o..
In act four the company is in woeful
plight before the town of Arras. Cyrano
has written Roxane every day and carried
the letters to post at the risk OF his life.
Urged on by them the girl visits camp
Just a. the time in which a final and
hopeless battle is to be fought. In con-
versation with her Christian learns that
she has come to love Cyrano's mentality
in him, and. heartbroken, goes to his pro-
tector to beg that everything be told her.
After much urging, Cyrano is about to do
this when his comrade is brought in dying.
Cyrano bends over him and whispers, She
knows all and still loves you" Roxane
faints at the side of her dead hero as the
enemy surges over the walls. De Bergerac
is severely wounded but places himself be-
fore his fellows and recltes the boastful
lines he had used before in introducing
the men to De Guiche. Upon this moving
tableau the curtain falls.
The last scene is unqualifiedly beautiful
neric effect Roxane has spent fourteen
years in nunnery where Cyrano-poor to
the point of beggarliness-has come to see
her every Saturday for the purpose of de-
livering the news. He has never told ,isi'
of his passion and she still worshirs the
memory of Christian. The hour for the
cadets advent approaches and his chair
is placed under the trees but the intended
occupant does not arrive. Word reaches
l..
with block of wood and is dying. The
old fellow leaves to look for him Then
Cyrano staggers in. pale and weak. to keep
his self-appointed rendeZvous-poor Cy-
ranO. whose whole heart has been given
first to winning and then to cherishing
for one more fortunate the affection of her
whom he loved-poor Cyrano, with his
faithful soul and his torturing apprecia-
tion of his own ugliness-poor Cyrano!
Roxane does not notice the condition of
her visitor He speaks his time-wo
jests and laughs in his accustomed way
with an appropriate note of sadness Tor a
courageous soldier who is expiring. Be
ginning the usual gazette he reaches the
present Saturday and then faints. RoX-
ane is reused but De Bergerac soon forces
himself to sit up again. Then he begs tie
privilege of reading the last letter his
cousin received from Christian, and which
~
delivers it aloud. the growing darkness
having no effect upon his knowledge of
the contents, until Roxane perceives first
that he has forgotten himself and next
the sacrifice he has made for her.
But the discovery comes TOO late. Cyra-
no de Bergerac with his foliies and his
failures, his hates and his hopes, his
friendships and his fears. his ugliness of
body and his beauty of soul, is dying at
Oft tiN-A
Cyrano Still disclaiming regard for his
cousin; now scolding lie Bret. who has
arrived, and then laughing at Ragueneau:
first jesting and then sorrowing at the
emptiness of his existence; finally stand
ing up to combat his ancient enemies,
lies, compromises. preiudices, base
eypedients-he reaches the end. II
had not finished telling you the
news. And on Saturday the 26th, an hour
after sundown. Monsieur De Bergerac died
of murder done upon him. Fate will have
lackey with log. Nothing could have
been compieter. In my whole life l shall
not have had anything wanted not even a
decent death. To the end shall have been
the one who prompted and was forgotten
Roxane. do you remember that evening on
which Christian spoke 10 you from beneath
the balcony? There was the epitome OF
my existence: while / have stood below in
darkness others have climbed to claim the
kiss and glory''--"What are you saying
That ii is no use? i know it, But one does
not fight because there is hope of winning;
it is much finer to fight when it is no
use" Indeed poor De Bergerac.
Mr.. Mansfeld's Cyrano is something of
disappointment. With such a play one
could not help fulfilling high standards and
artistic principles, and the actor does lit
tie more than this. No one has ever failed
in the part OF Cyrano, and Mr.. Mansfield
is not incomparably greater than his
rivals. Perhaps the best portion of his
creation is the infinltude OF suggestion he
throws into it. As with DIR Jekyll and
Mr.. Hyde" he forbears 10 realize and is
content to prompt. There is something
fine and scholarly. too, in the manner in
which he makes himself subseryient to his
surroundings. Rarely has he the centre
OF the stage, excepting once he does no.
use calcium. and nothing makes him for
get the Importance of others in the piece.
There is no star with the production until
the last act. when Mr.. Mansfield takes
wonderful advantage of a death scene,
which touches upon a wide gamut from
feebleness and exhaustion to great heights
OF artificial energy and tempestuous CO...
lapse.
Unfortunately Mr.. Mansfield seems to
lack sentiment and the role of Cyrano is
emphatiCally a sentimental one. In his
portrayal OF Shylock the actor proved his
deficiency in this regard. and now he
proves it again. He fails to bring out the
extraordinary pathos of the man whose
ugliness makes his love impossible largely
because he fails to bring out that love.
Such lines as those delivered under the
balcony and that in which Cyrano tells
Christian he is glad that Royane would
admire him deformed lose much in Mr
Mansfields rendering. Invariably the alert
Imagination Of the auditor fills in the gap
but the bridging is sometimes shaky, and
it does not reflect credit on the creator
The empty chair of the last act suggests
more tragedy than ever the star implies.
Mr.. Mansfield's forte appears to be satire
and biting irony-he has no idea of senti
ment.
For the rest an excellent quality OF the
impersonation is its quiet naturalness; its
unprctentiousness and reserve. Mr.. Mans
fields Cyrano is not the SwaShbuCkler
whom Z. II. Sothern might paint, but a
boaster of subtler hue The star is graphic
without ranting and impressive without be
ing bolsterous. Still. afflicted with many
unfortunate mannerisms. notably the habit
OF slurring his RS so that the line "a
hundred registering rutfians. as spoken by
him sounded like drum roll. he sinks his
more prominent individualities far into
the character assumed. Perhaps. the chief
fault OF his portrayal is that it takes only
one tone neither expressing eXultation nor
detection. Thus the speeches in the gar
den of the third act fall far below their
worth. as do those i'll the previous scene
His greatest variance is shown in pro-
nouncing the word "ah, - while being told
of Roxanes love for Christian. Less nota-
BILE in the things he does than in those
he does not do, Mr.. Mansfeld's Cyrano is
yet, all told, remarkable creatiOn-a be-
ing with the wit of Bluntschli. the deli
rain flavor of RrifmInel the Tenderness of