The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-08
AT THE THEATRES.
The NntionaI-Muude Adams.

|
that by its very cordially must have eff
faced all remembrances of the early days
| of The Little Minister" when the first
efforts of the new star were in doubt
| However, such reception as was last
night given to Miss Adams is rarely
| vouchsafed to any player. and the fact
| that the applause and enthusiasm were
| all of the spontaneous and genuine kind
| must have more than recompensed the
| little woman for the chilliness with which
the theatre goers o: the Capital took TO
| her first efforts in the Barrie play. The
| audience was what might be truly termed
a representative one. Society, official and
| otherwise, was prominently in evidence
the boxes were occupied by well-known
! personages. the orchestra portion of the
| house held many people whose names are
| familiar to two continents, and it is
doubtful if again in her career Miss
Adams ever appears before a more dis
! tinguished assemblage
! To Louis n. Parker. a playwright who
! in years agone has turned out some eX-
: cellent dramatic compositions. was as
signed the task of making over into Eng
! lish the original Rostand drama. Coming
4 here from its recent uncommonly sue
cessful engagement in the metropolis.
| Washington expected much from Miss
| Adams and it is the sincerest compliment
| that can be paid TO the admirable actress
! to say that the fondest authorizations were
| fully realized. The management has sup
piled a beautiful production while the re-
adjustment of the original text to bring
! the play within reasonable limits seems
to have been accomplished with SPLEEN
did judgment, and the average auditor
viii find that much as is good for him
has been spared in the cutting of the
high-fiown and poetic apostrophes.
view of the Eaglet makes it easy to
understand why French critics have set
Il Aiglon" above "Cyrano de Bergerac.'
but it will be very strange and surprising
If the sober American judgment shall con-
cur in the opinion. In 'L'Aiglon'' there
is no grandly heroic sacrifice as the CEN
trail motive, offering instead of the sub
lime spectacle of a great souls self-ef-
facement merely a weakling's ambition to
emulate 4 sire of whom he had inherited
nothing save his name The result is pill
full at times. very frequently amusing and
ultimately tragic, but in his newest drama
Rostand never approaches the high PIN
nacle of art that he achieves in his story
of the soldier-poet. On the contrary,
'L'Aiglon" has an atmosphere which
readily appeals to the Gallo temperament
which easily finds expression in super
heated enthusiasm at the mere mention
OF one OF the most spectacular epochs IN
y
the action OF the play commences nine
years after the death Of Napoleon az st.
Helena. But the dramatist has adroi.ly
arrested every one of his scenes With
memories and traditions of the Grand
Army and its remarkable leader, and the
shadow of the conquering eagles arm is
seen resting upon Schoenbrunn before the
first act is fairly under way.
Restand finds in the brief and unevent-
full career of the Prince of Rome. who
died before he was twenty-one years of
age. doubtless from the effects of dissi
patton into which he was led by the
crafty Metternich. a theme whose very
mystery lends itself to poetic treatment.
He shows himself raised in the Austrian
court in ignorance of his great fathers
deeds, forced to depend for the truths of
history upon Fanny Essler, the dancer,
who. under the mantle of an alleged liai-
sen, repeats by rote each day long pas
sages of the first Napoleons career learn
ed from the works of French historians.
The boy, although tenderly loving his
silly mother, is yet heart and soul
Frenchman He dreams of his father and
his fathers achievements There is but
one emperor for him, and he adores the
memory OF his sire. DESTROYS of emulat-
ing his glory lending willing ear to
the ent-eaties OF the emlssaries Of the
Bonapartist section of the French race
lat he return and establish the Empire,
he yet realizes his youth. his inexperience,
and his poor health Mr. Parker in his
translation makes the Eaglet say:
yearn to broaden history-I
A palid vsage watching at a window.
II only l could rid myself Of doubt!
He is, however, a doubter. a dreamer,
an idealist; the colder German blood has
chilled the Corsican fervor, life or two
is given for the boy where million were
gladly thrown away for the sire, and he
dies leaving only shadow OF a name
behind.
There are two great passages in L'Aig-
lon," great in their intended effect upon
an audience. Both are. however remark
able specimens Of the Rostand art. The
first of these scenes is midnight inter
view between the icy. impenetrable Met
ternich and the Eaglet. The chancellor
scornfuIly ridicules the boys puny pas
sion and immature ambition and, taking
him before mirror, taunts him with his
Hapsburg features and his Hapsburg
mind. On a table near by rests the plain
little chapeau that Napoleon wore az
Austerltz. Pointing to it, Metternlch ex-
claims, You have your fathers hat, but
not his head" This savage truth is really
the keynote of the play. 1t is boyish am
bition unsupported by energy or enter
prise. The second scene takes place on
the battlefield of Wagram. where, after
the departure of the Austrian police, the
little Eaglet is left alone with the old
grenadier who had arranged his flight
from Schoenbrunn and had stabbed him
self TO escape capture Listening to the
means of his dying companions, the Eag
let hears the echoes OF the great fight
that opened his fathers way to Vienna.
He hears the gallop of the charging OF
the cavalry, the distant thunder of Mar
mont's guns. and the cheering of the army
of Italy as Macdonald led his veterans to
the attack, and. over and above all, he
hears the shrieks and groans of the
wounded and dying. The dead grenadier
at his feet becomes to him the revolving
embodiment of the awful price paid for
empire. and in his agony he offers him
self as an eXpiation for the blood shed in
his fathers cause.
When one comes to the task of classi-
flying "L'Aiglon," not little difficulty is
experienced No general head will cover
the Rcstand piece-it is so original and so
many sided. 1t is political, romantic. po-
etic. emotional and tragic. Looked at
from a literary point Of view, it Is I'M
doubtedly classic, it is academic in its
solloquies, its as.des, and its long
speeches and yet in form II is distinctly
modern 1t stands alone, a member of
no school, and far above the work of any
contemporary dramatist.
The Duke of Rechstadt is essentially
the best protrayal Maude Adams has ever
offered to local patrons Of the drama. 1t
is a distinct advance upon her art as
shown in earlier performances and stamps
her as perhaps, the most artistic OF the
dozen or so OF American actresses, who
are known as stars IN the theatrical world
Her Eaglet shows the former Lady Babbie |