New-York tribune., 1900-12-11
THE DRAMA.
"CYRANo DE BERGERAC'' IN FRENCH.
coouELIN AND BERNHARDT.


cooUELIN AND BERNHARDT-
The English Eaglet continues to twitter. but the
French Eaglet has flown 70 its nest Rostands
earlier and more vital and various but less magma
\ tive drama. "Cyrano de Bergerac." was presented
in the Garden Theatre last night Coqueiin acting
! Cyrano. and Bernhardt acting Roxane. and the
numerous admirers OF this romantic fabric can now
behold IT, and rejoice over H. in its original FORM
1t is not. dramatically. better In that form than
II is in the English translation. with which the
local stage has been for some time familiar ouf
the literary quality Of 1.-THE occasional felicity OF
the French verse-is more obvious. and this grace
will doubtless be appreciated. The play Is fam
| boyant meodrama. ingeniously contrived 70 Nus
trate. under exceptional circumstances. an eccen-
trio mans infatuation for pretty and silly woman
and to provide for the prominent display-almost
in monology-of a remarkable character. Ample
description and analysis Of this structure have been
given in this place: 'fyrano de Bergerac was nrst
made known stage October 3. 1888; and IL
is not needful to traverse that old ground
Few plays in time have been greatly over
rated this was when first acted In France
and heralded for America. II Is nearly so IN
terestng as THE Count Of Monte Cristo. and
dramatically, II Is not comparable with Tne
Dukes Motto" II seems probable however. that
the public has by this time ascertained It's true
vaiue.-that Of a theatrical bore. which has few
equals and no superior. among works OF equal
pretension.
Coquen's excellence as an actor was long ago
|
nized His professional reputation rests upon
forty years OF labor and achievement and at three
score his fame is established. With him. as with
other actors however. the limitations are as oovi-
Gus the merits. He has never conquered In the
highest realm OF the dramatic art. and he never
can conquer there. Technically speaking, Coqueln
is low comedian. and In this field he Is pre-
eminent. His presentations OF eccentric and sero-
comic character perfect and admirable. His
Mascarille. for example. Is a gem But his acting
has ina tfc
and. in characters and situations that involve the
elements OF romance pathos. noble passion, tragic
power, weird haunted atmosphere, his person
ality becomes inappropriate. and his proceedings
tiresome. AS Don Cesar de Bazan he was
commonplace. and as Matthias in '"The Bells" he
wooden and dull These facts, and others
like them. possess a far-reaching significance.
Bottom is exactly the man for Pyramus. but he
must not also play Thisbe. and he must not play
the lion. Mature Is above art. in that"
The French. as actors. achieve their best success
in the Photographic part OF acting. Their tran
script OF the surface Of things is. generally, ac-
curate. and sometimes it IL wonderfully effective.
They do not touch the deep% Their peculiar field
is that OF manners and intrigue De Quincy
somewhere maintains. and with truth, that the
French drama is essentially inferior to the English
because 1t has grown out Of a radically lower
nature and he declares that In all the dramatic
literature Of France there is not one case OF the
antinomies OF passion. where the mind says one
thing and the impassioned soul says another. Del
sarte long since declared that England. cold.
formal and undemonstrative though its people
ordinarily are. has produced the greatest actors
that the world SAVIOR the racial reason that
the English natune careless Of the surface OF
things. rises. under strong impulse to a tre-
mendous altitude OF emotional excitement and ex-
preston. In other words. French acting is superb
when dealing with triies. but II becomes practi-
cally powerless when confronted with situations OF
spiritual conflict. tempestuous passion. subiuity,
and grandeur: and that is why. with every dispo-
sition to admire II. the OBSERVE remains cold in
its presence. A French Joseph Surface is con-
ceivable: a French Othello a French Macbeth
is radical impossibility. No better illustration of
these truths could readily be found than is afforded
in the acting of Constant Coquelin. alongside OF
whom such an actor as the late Charles Coghlan
would tower into positive greatness.
The best Interpretation that can be placed upon
Rostand's ideal Of his long nosed oascon hero
Is that he was intended to be the incarnation or
tenderness romantic idolatry, passionate fidelity
and eternay patient sorrow. hidden and controlled
beneath an assumed demeanor Of blatant pug
nacitv focose humor and nonchalant indiffer-
ence. In that way II was portrayed by Richard
Mansheld.-an actor more remarkable for intellect.
irony wild force and mordant humor than for
either patnos or sweetness.-and Mansfeld's per-
formance OF II was far more brilliant and inter
esting and far nobIer than that given by Coquelin
Mansfield put his heart into the character. while
Coquelin with almost unmatchable loquactty and
a great show OF being in earnest, though not above
dexterity of old staser. and something very
much like the ardor of clam. Nothing could be
more elaborate and correct than his makeup;
stimulation OF the aggressive. insolent, combative
bully could be true. In the opening he
was thoroughly competent; but a lover and
vicarious wooer he like Fourthly in a Scotch
sermon. The pftiable incongruity between a repuI-
sive physical aspect and beatihc grand passion
was indeed made clearly manifest; but surely there
should be a richer result than this; surely. when a
transparency Is to be employed in acting there
should be something visible through 1.-THE warmth
Of deep heart, the splendor OF a great mind. the
wealth OF a noble soul. the nameless. triumphant
quality of charm and not simply the proficiency OF
trained talent. In his with Guiche under the
balcony. his identity would have been detected in
instant. In this. too. the absurdity OF making a
woman captulate because Of a long speech OF
tumld rhetoric became more than ever conspicuous
Sarah Bernhardt gave thoroughly intelligent
and conscientious performance Of Roxane and
that is all that could be nationally expected OF a
strong woman constructing herself within the lin
its OF a pygmy doll There is nothing in Roxane
She even lacks the attribute OF perception that
no woman was ever known to Iack-the instinct to
know when a Is in love with her. She Is a
shallow, capricious. lovely Ounce as bright as an
icicle-and as brittle. So Bernhardt presented her
and with much ssecharine sizzIe Of middle-aged
sentiment. Both these eminent actors were greeted
with a tumuIt Of popular Joy and rewarded with an
abundant manifestation Of public homage. W. W.
MARY MANNERING AT wALLACK'S.
Miss MannerIng made her re-entrance on the