New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-01
IRvING's ROBEsPIERRE.
vIcroRIEN sARDoUs NEW PLAY At
THE LYCEUM THEATRE. WITH
IT'S LITERARY AND ORA
MATIC MOTIVES.

/
| NJ sardcus play. in which Sir Henry Irvins
returned in triumph to the Lyceum Theatre on
Saturday evening. is as complex in compost
| ton as an old time masterpiece Of painting.
Every accessory and detail Is clear and def
mite in meaning and helps TO explain the sig
nfcance of the work a whole. The main
motive is a literary one-expostion OF the CHAR
acter OF Robespierre-and 1t Is worked out
| through the dramatic relations Of father,
son and mother. upon whom the light Is CEN
tired in the foreground. Indeed, they symbolic
the energies, retaliatory vengeance and suffer-
rgs of that period The French Revolution In
the crisis OF Terrorism IL a deeply toned back
ground. and at the end all the figures over
whelmed with its overshadowng gloom. Every
detail IL carefully elaborated; values are scien-
! tiHcalIy balanced and there is true sense OF
proportion AMI perspective Dramatic action
hats. but the art Of composition remains.
The play opens with an idyc picture Of q
nook In the forest OF Montmorency, where
Clarisse de Malucon, a Hoyast widow miss
Ellen Terry is living with her niece In a peas
ants cottage. while her son Olivier (Mr kyrle
BELIEVE Is tolling humbly for their support
There are ftful CLEANS Of sunlight as this happy
little family Is revealed at peace In this nest
among the oaks. The clouds gather and the
gloom deepens when Benjamin Vaughan IN
English dIpIomatist (Mr. Cooper Cfe) appears
upon the scene to keep secret appointment
with Robes, ierre He meets unexpectedly
C1arisse the wife Of his old-time friend. and as
they exchange condolences the horrors OF the
Reign OF Terror are recited. Outside that pace
fuI glade is revolutionary. blood-stained France
at the mercy Of a fanaticai omnipotent dictator.
who is hunting down Royalists and butchering
rivals in order to fertiIize the ground for the
growth of free institutions. That dictator.
whose coming is momentary expected. Is the
seducer Of Clarisse and the father OF her boy.
although he has cast them off and Is paying at
tentions to the daughter OF a carpenter at MS
lodgings The distracted woman hides herself In
the woods while Robesperre meets the Engnsn
enissary rejects his overtures and suspects
treachery Hearing that Vaughan mas oeen
| talking with two women, he orders their arrest
without seeing them. and their screams ring
through the forest the curtain fails
MISERY AND GAYETY CONTRAsTED
| This act Is highly artistic in composition ana
in shading Its dramatic interest lies in the I'M
| conscious persecution Of the woman "horh
Robesperre once loved and whose misery con-
trasts strongly with the thoughtess gayety OF
the carpenters family coming TO the woods for
nicnic in front of her cottage. The secluded
rustic home which Is invaded and broken up
| svmboIizes the peace Of France harried and de-
| stroyed by the whirlwind Of revolution. INCL
| dentalIy. the playwright Is enabled TO reveal oy
| the mouth OF Vaughan his own IDEAS OF the
| character Of Robespierre, and Immediately OF
Henry Irving completes the disclosure by an I'M
| nersoration OF remarkable subtlety ana forcc'
| The ruthless dictator. who revels In massacre
| trembles at every woodland sound and suspects
| that enemies are lurking around him. lnsen-
sible to all the horrors of the Revolution. he ten
| ld-Hn innocent
merrymaking and signs over sentimental verse;
D,sclaiming ambition and preaching with fervor
Rousseau's gospel Of perfect equality. he aspires
| 20 found a new religion without churches or
| nriasts OF which he himself shall be Supreme
| Pontif The great actor plays the part Win
fine variety illustrating the foioles by many
little touches and denoting with mastery force
Robespierre's arrogance. heartlessness and SIN
| lister lust OF power
The second act contains two strongly coh'
| trasted pictures. The first represents the COURT
ward OF the prison OF Port Libre, where Ciarisse
| and her niece are immured with a great throns
| of Royasts and suspects. men. women anu
children To this prison comes Olivier 10 mo
bis mother and cousin and to witness the grew
| sora recreations of the inmates. Young girls
| are rehearsing mock executions and learning 10
nose gracefully while awaiting the stroke OF the
euillotine, and old aristocrats are awaiting WIN
| cynical amusement the summons TO death. Inc
roll is called with brutal ferocity. and husbands
| are torn from the arms OF their wives ana
women and children flung into the tum-
brils The horrors of this dungeon inspire
Olivier with courage TO denounce Robespierre
in the succeeding scene, which Is a spienoio
snectacle In the Place de la Revolution. organ
,zed az a fate In honor Of the Supreme Being.
with bare Of trumpet, with classical process
s,ons Of white-robed women crowned with roses.
with soldiers marching behind cannon and
great throng of garish holiday spectators AROUND
| the triumphal of the Goddess or PLENTY
there is a brilliant stage picture Inc dramauo
touch comes when Robespierre. gorgeously at
tired burns incense on a golden tripod betore
the Statue of Liberty to the music OF ha1ps.
His grandiose, rhetorical speech is interrupted
by Olivier who inveghs against him as o'c-
tator and headsman until silenced by cap'ors'
Father and son confront and defy each o'hei'
although neither knows the other
THE MOST DRAMATIC PASSAGE.
The third act reveals the interior of Duplay's
house. where Robesperre Is enjoying the cum
genial society OF the carpenters daughters. ana
internationally attending to public business -
letter from Clarisse is read by soldier ana
burned in lighting his pipe. olivier Is brought
into the room as a prisoner. and is closely ques-
toned respecting his accompces. When he de-
family refuses to ins ysr the papers found upon
him are read an6 nj Their learns from one OIL
them that the pr:s il q his SON. Then follows
the most dramatic assage Of the play ihe
father after imprisonng the mother. has en-
trapped the SON Without disclosing their rea-
tionship, he alternately coaxes and impiores 'he
boy TO tell him where Clarisse is to be touhu'
and when Olivier turns from him In ioa'h'hs
and disgust, Robespierre. as the only means Vi
averting suspicion. orders him with simuia.ea
| ferocity TO be removed to prison. Sir Henry IT.
wing Is at his best in this emotional scene anu
is strongly supported by Mr.. kyrle bene"'