The sun., 1900-12-16
BERNHARDT AND COQUELIN.
Iys0. sARy sty,rR,,6 ~ soSS
VyV DRtutTU tsrEffs
IN. FRENCH Comedian WIN "'' Mere '''"''
u,ou. Companion -'r'i"b HIN Z"
srLotdins,. IN. American Affs's
l,Inmnhant In . rIa, That " WotthleN,

Tho snlIeut toirt ~ constant 'oGuelin
,.,,orr,r,o IN 'Ctrano Dc EofFstac- VA
III. service 10 the author IIc va' fathiu
ip,otpretcr NJ rogtnnd rather than mn cS
ri,i.e- ~ Cnlucl.n II had bcon said ol
g,rth Brruhlrd' that -he changed IN" hero
n, 81 Alrlon" from what his creator intended
him 20 be- and asserted some of her own
idea. instead ~ Rostand's. thus ignoring
what Naude Adams had made the most of
tho rtlfuI vcakIe,, 81 the youth and thu
,o,ho, Of his futile ambition No such
charge will hold against Mr. Co1uclin ilc
uo. seryile though elopucnt In his in,crpre-
,,,ion lie WAS more a reader Of tho poetry
TIN, an actor Of tho part This Is not TO
,av TINT hi, Cp,ano was not nncly dramatic
crsona,ion Il was delightful en-
bodlmett Of the droll brageart. and espe-
eislly Of his more subtle and clusory character
i.tIcs The accomplished actor, without
irwin, or needing to go beyond his limit
asa low comedian. with no endeavor to dis
tort tho role from the humor CAV or grim.
10 which IL obviously belongs, WAS simply
and only Rostand's Cvrano lie has no equal
on the contemporary stage as n delineator
of eccentric and seriocomlo characters This
ability was applied to the splendid illumina-
tion Of the whimsical ooncelt, OF the text
II was an Intellectual achievement and not
theatrical So much yas this true that
FIRE and force were missed by many auditors,
s,pecIally those not perfectly familiar with
the French language. and what was the merit
OF tho utterance was not com pretended
in the absence OF vehemence fMr CoQuelin
had appeared before New Workers two years
ago in -Cvrano dc Berserac." while the re-
nown OF that drama was yet young he would
have caused n Juror instead Of winning only
tand work undoubtedly i, II va. simply a
fad with larger part Of the public Richard
Mansfield found this 10 he true when he re-
turned last winter TO the Garden. which he
had left the season before amid storms Of
applause and audiences too numerous 10
comfortably get into the theatre When he
came back he had to enter into a noisy con-
troyersy with a steam pipe to be heard above
the voices Of tho new plays In any con-
alteration OF Mr.. Coouelin's acting OF the
lonQ-nosed Gascon a reference to Mr. Mans
feld is almost inevitable In the early scenes
OF comedy tho Frenchman is bouyantly
merry but suggesting an underlying sad
ness due TO his deformity Of visage Tho Amer
loans b inter- suggested a cynloally soured
man. whose unhappiness had made him an
enemy TO all men Why should not this be
the correct view OF the character7 The
othor Is more agreeable Where there can
be no dieagreement as to the better per-
formance 10 in the elocution, Mr. Mansfield
is usually found wanting In that respect.
and as Ctrano he was frequently indefinite
and almost always indis,inct 1t was hard
to understand tho words Speeches that
hll page or two Of verse need to be spoken
with tho utmost clearness 70 hold an audience
Mr. Coqueln 10 at his best when he almost
- sk~ q. H. a
clnimer. In these recitations he Is hardly
short Of marvellous. giving the proper value
to every word and making the longest pas
sages carry the listeners along regardless
OF Its length II Is at such times principally.
though more or less throughout the play.
that we feel how much better q speaker Air.
Coquen Is then Mr.. Mansfield
Great actress as Sarah Bernhardt Is. pre-
eminent perhaps. 1t Is not carping to say
that she could be no more satisfying as Ror-
dnc than Margaret Anglln or Katherine
Groy had been In no other role OF the Bern
hardt-CoQuelin repertory could either OF these
actresses bear comparison for q moment
with the French genius But Rordne Ia but
q small part. and II suffers II pushed forward
unduly. Cssy LOTUS rohearsed IL with
Mr. Mansfield. and IL Is not unlikely that,
crude as she often is, she might have been
the best OF the Rordrss II the Mansfield temper
Permitted her 20 try. The requisites for
this heroine are simply grace. modesty and
a fair knowledge OF acting Principally
the maiden must appeal to the eye She
has no intricate speech and no difficult scenes
She ls simply a foil to Cyrdno. like the helper
In a vaudeville sketch. TO ask the questions
for the others jokes II Ia not surprising
that In such little employment the great
Eernhardt was unsatisfying In tho acting
che was perfection She was artist enough
never to force herself. never TO overdo in
order TO enlarge the proper effect But
Rorcne should be pictorial. and with all her
exceptional art Miss Bernhardt could not look
the unsophlst Gated girl or In fact the girl
at all 1t was like Helena Mod jeska's Bca-
frice. MS seen last winter. enchanting TO the
ear, but the reverse to the eye However,
Miss Bernhardts wrinkles Of aga will be
overlooked this week in admiration OF her
great acting Of the lady OF the camelias
In Ror1us there was no opportunity for a
display Of art 10 counterbalanca deficiency
In personal appearance Tho reader recall.
that in tho first scene Rordne doe. not speak,
but sits silent In n box in a theatre suppos-
edly the admired OF oil observers Miss
Hernhardt wOTo on her head a large hood
lined with rose-Colored yeiys, TINT cast n