New-York tribune., 1902-11-13
LONDON NOTES
A STAGE TRIBUTE To AMERICAN WON
ANH0OD-MISS CORELII ON THE
RAMPAGE-ART SHOWS.
London Nnvemher L


ure for caricature in depicting a New-England
girl. Lucy Foster as revealed in the pages of
Eleanor" is not the American girl Of the Eng
Iish stage, talking through her nose with tune
ful catarrh advertising her fathers millions
with ostentatious vulgarity. and elbowing her
way into the company Of dukes and earls with
strenuous energy. She is quiet. reserved, for
nal self-restrained, with the freshness of free
springing youth and the dignity and seriousness
Of womanhood- II is q charming character
study which makes amends for many vulgar
csrcatures Of American women appearing in
English literature. Possibly It has been hard to
believe that Lucy Foster. even If she were a.
village girl did not know how TO arrange her
hair and 70 choose her frocks, and that ii was
necessary for an Englishwoman to instruct her
in the art Of dressing. but this lie hypercriti-
csm when the girl carries herself with such
self-possession and sweet reasonableness 10 the
end OF the story After the travesties and libeIs
On American womanhood which have been wit
messed on the English stage during recent years
the introduction OF Lucy Foster TO playgoers
vas q tardy act OF reparation. It has been
brought about at the Court Theatre where a
stage version Of Eleanor" has been produced
THIS week. An English actress Miss Lillian
BraithWaite. has taken the part with charming
dignity and grace, uniting happily with Mrs
Ward in this tribute 10 American womanhood
During four acts the American girl was ex-
hIbited a refined. sensitive. well bred Great
ure without trace Of vulgarity and without
a word OF slang AS playgoer who has had
much experience Of a different character I can
only exclaim with Mr.. Thomas Hardy's Joseph
Poorgrass. 4 feel my humble gratitudes"
The character Of the American girl who with
out generalization and against her VIII inter
vened in the literary companionship and ro-
nance Of the elegant English widow suffered
less than the other people Of the book from the
processes Of dramatization. II could not have
been Nr. Charles Quartermaines fault for he
acted earnestly and. .intelligently. but Mr.. Man
isty was less interesting on the stage than in
the book The whimsical Wit the wayward
wilfuness and the mercurial spirits were invisi-
bic, like the Olympian head the stunted fig
Ure A many sided character had resolved it
self into an ardent lover fascinated by the fresh
ness OF the new face and indifferent to the lit
erary companionship which had once been indis-
pensable. In the same way the enthusiasm OF
The dashing young dipIomatist Reggie Brooklyn,
lost its sparkle, and the diaectics Of Father
Benecke became dull and stale; and If Nine.
Variant received justice and something more
from the versatile talents Of Miss Rosina F1ippi
the title role OF Eleanor was sacrificed. and not
apparently from lack OF skill or study on the
part OF Miss Marion Terry. an actress Of many
accomplishments and much dis inction The brill
ant proud spirited intellectual woman. capable
~ commanding admin alton and love by her force
of character. her quiet eloquence and her tender
grace. was transformed into lovelorn and
.sckadaiscal widow. reproaching her younger
rival almost as wantonly and cruelty as the
frenzied maniac and conquering selhshnees and
jealousy only when Death. Hawthorne's unman-
Eh u-aa OH he
tain upon an embittered and baffied romance.
There were TOO many facets I'm this complex
character 10 catch the glare OF the footlights
The character Of Lucy Foster alone shone with
uudiminished radiance and serene and constant
glow.
Apart from "reminiscences Of the book the
play has literary rather than dramatic interest.
The first act introduces the characters in a con-
ventional way closing with the arrival OF the
demented Alice Manisty her mind clouded with
2renonitions Of evil. TO Eleanor from the pres
ence OF the American guest; the second act IN
"ludes painful scene in the garden. IN which
the mad woman holds the srtless girl with gilt
+ering eye. and terrifes her with reproaches
and menaces Of murder with flashing knife. the
third act rehearses the confession Of Eleanor
that she loves Manisty, and Lucy's proposal
that they should both take refuge in sudden
fight and hide themselves in Orvieto; and the
fourth act brings the curtain down upon the de-
serted convent. with Eleanor dying from disap-
pointment and i'll health. but not until she has
overcome jealousy. regained the nobility Of
-elfshness. and recouciled the lovers. The first
half Of the play is strongly colored by the halu-
oinarions and homicida frenzy Of the mad
woman. who sees beckoning spirits in the air
and joyfully accepts q mission Of intimidation
and vengeance; but with her removal TO an
asylum, the closing acts are resolved into drama
II temperament. with the pathos of refined
woman whose life fades away when the love
which she has hoped would be inspired by in
teectual companionship is taken away from
her by a simple. unaffected girl, passionately
attached TO her. There Is a lack Of balance
and unity IN the play q whole I'm consequence
- the undue enlargement Of what is in the
novel painful episode: but Miss Elizabeth
Robins is enabled 70 take full advantage Of her
Ibsenite talent for intensity and weirdness in
depicting madness with terrible realism II is
grim artistic impersonation instinct with
power especially in the passages denoting COM
munication with spirits in the air and the pre-
occupation Of an unbalanced mind with mis-
sion Of vengeance. Dramatic interest is centred
IN the second act with the blood curdling duel
between helpless innocence and uncanny frenzy.
After so intense a passage the byplay Of tenn
perameuts is, sluggish and spiritless. 1t is a
prolonged symphony IN minor key after tenn
pestuous fnterIude Of Wagner OF Berlioz With
out having any fault TO fnd with the quiet emo
uonal effects produced by Miss Marion Terry.
would like to see Mrs. Kendall Eleanor. and
am convinced that the pathos would be deepened
into something almost tragic: and Mr.. Kendall
certainly would develop the latent resources OF
50 varied a character as that of Manisty. AS