New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-03-02
THE DRAMA.
A NEW PLAY AT THE FIFTH AVENUE
MoDJEsKA AS MARIE ANTo1NETTE.

/ e
| MODJEsKA AS MARIE ANToINETTE
| In the Fifth Avenue Theatre last night Mr. Cl,n
| ton Stuart's drama of Marie Antoinette'' was
| represented for the first time in New-York and
Nine. Modjeska impersonated the beautiful in
domitable. unfortunate and unhappy Queen of
| France in the terror-stricken days of the great
| French Revolution Mr. Stuart's play is a series
of episodes in the latter part of the life OF Marie
Antoinette. beginning with picture Of her sportiye
| conduct at Little Trianon. in 1882 when she was
thirty-three. and ending with picture of her exit
| from the Prison of the Conciergerie on her way
to the guillotine in 1885, when was thrty-seven
| The intermediate pictures show interview be-
tween the Queen and Mrabeau In 1871 (the year in
whlch that eloquent orator. willy politician and
| gross hbertine suddenly died); the confrontmenc
OF the revolutionary mob. with Louis XVI and the
Queen at the Tuileres. the terrible tenth of Au-
gust 1882 when the King and his consort were COM
PEELED TO take refuge in the hall Of the General
| Assembly; the parting of the King from his wife
| and family the fatal 21st OF January 1893
when he was beheaded; the climax OF the discovery
| OF a plot mot shown, but merely mentioned1 to
effect the escape of the royal children, Louis and
Maria Louisa Charlotte afterward Duchess NJ
! Angouleme, from the Temple; and the violent and
| brutal separation OF the deDosed and widowed
Queen from her young and idolzed son. These cpl.
sodes are not connected by any thread of story or
by any enforced sequence of continuous and curu.
lative dramatic action. is any OF them es-
pecially felicitous in characterization. animated
with incident or irradated with eloquence The
intrepid spirit and imperial demeanor Of Marie
Antoinette when assailed by the angry populacs
are, however well denoted and the frenzy OF the
afflicted queen. when her husband has been slaugh-
tered and her son torn away from her arms is ef-
fectively expressed. in brief speech Of passionate
invective, closing with appeal for Divine ven-
geance.
As prelude to the final picture-the execution.
with its incidental indgnities and horrors-the
Queen IS displayed asleep in prison and nurnaur-
Is he draa
rtes Of her strange and darky troubled career The
best passage N the drama alike for character.
Vention. and style, is n collOquy between Marie
Antoinette and Mirabeau after the model of Ga-
CONFETTI but less diTuse All the plays on this sub
ject fOlOw,-at long Observation-Disclosures plan
as to Queen Conscience and Prince Arthur. in King
John" and Queen Elizabeth and her boy Princes.
in king Richard the Third: Mr.. Stuarts play Is
not exception. The appeal is to sympathy with
monarchs unJustly degraded parents despoiled. and
mother cruelty and terribly afflicted; but. this
appeal In Mr.. Stuart's drama IN that OF Ga
CONFETTI GS60. is made by Of tableaus. and
not by propusive action in the development OF an
interesting plot the effect necessarily pictorial
rather than dramatic; and this pictorial effect IS
monotonous and sorn6re An abstract OF history
may be measuraby authentic but. intrinsically. It
attractive Nine ModJeska. with her rare fac
uty Of imagination form ideal OF character.
her extensive learning TO inform and guide her
judgment. and her ample and exquisitely trained
power. TO create and sustain an iusive impersona-
tlOn OF course aDie NlJA'lLe THESE I4StOAAO9
tabIeaus with the diversified charm Of her sweet
womanhood. her dignity, her passionate intensity
Of feeling. and her deep and touching pathos- Her
portrayal of the character OF Marie Antoinette Is
potential with knowledge OF human suffering and
valuable for truth. In the long and sad story OF
afflicted kings and queens no figure Is more for
lorn. wretched and laTnentable than that OF Marie
Antoinette. Unhappy in her irnpulsive teInpera-
men;. lacl, of adequate education her juvenile
marriage with a commonplace youth. who might
better have been a blacksmith than Prince. her
helpless innocence amid The intrigues OF corrupt
court her complete. misrepresentation OF the social
and political movements of time. and. above
all the fete that transferred her, while yet 4
budding girl, from a happy home in Austria to the
vortex OF all that -ile dangerous. ominous
and terrible France, she had a brief time OF
frivolous pleasure. but comfort no domestic
peace 10 comparative tranquility OF royal emf
hence: and she passed. within few years from
gittering girEood TO ravaged gray haired age. and
So shattered IN nerves. partly blind, pre-naturely
decreptt and wholly heart broken. she led our
and butchered please the foul and hideous Paris
ian mob Nine. Modieska's embodiment OF this
throned monarch and most miserable woman
should at least suggest solemn thought upon the
guidance that the Present may learn from the Past
In an essentially dramati, setting II would
doubt. uvelier interest and prove mora
potent in its influential effect In its present
pictorial environment il is fraUCht with mOurnful
beauty and IT irnparts a certain sad philosophy.
tending TO tighten those burdens OF anguish that
the human spirit Is ordained 70 bear by showing
with what grandeur o. fOTttude and what celestial
patience they have been borne
On Saturday afternoon Nine Modjeska will pre-
sent The Ladies' Battle t'Bataille des Dames')
and will mqerSOuate the Co:rtesse d'AUtreval. a
part 70 which she IS especially we'll suited This
good old comedy. by Scribe and LeSouvs. current
on stage for about half century. has seldom
been seen here. but II well deserves revival and
prominent presentment. Its three acts tell
citing story. display fine contrasts OF character.
rapidly. and. while they touch the heart with
sympathetic feeling, they please the mind with
playful humor. This piece first acted in New
York in 1852 at BrOughGm's Iyceurn, with julia
Bennett (afterward Mrs. Barrow. the COIntesse,
George Jordan Henri de Flavigreul. John
Brougham Ciustave de GrignOn. and Julia Gould
1eonIe. Nine. MOdjeSka has engaged Miss
Loftus-hitherto chiefly known irlitator OF
stage celebrities-for Leonie. Ions famous ons
OF the most representative inEenue parts ever
written: and il is intimated that this young lady
will likewise presently favor with a perform
OF Viola, IN Twelfth Night Next week
Nine. Modteska Will present Macbeth" The
dramatic season begins grow interesting Thus
blessings frghten they take their flight
W. ".
CAST OF MARIE ANTOINETTE"
IsuIs Jah,