The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-12-21

Elenora Duse will make her first appear
ance in ST. Louis December %, at the Cen
fury. She will present but one play, Fran
cesca da Rimini." Gabrielle d'Annunzio's
version of the well-known tale was written
Especially for Nine. Duse.
In the story of Paola and Francesca,
Baolo was a husband and Francesca a
mother, when ten years after their mar
TiAge, Gianciotto slew them. Dante admits
al but the bare facts of love and death.
His SUCCESSORS, working from hints fur
ltshed by Boccaccio. have woven around
there facts the romance in which Paolo and
Francesca met as youth and maid. The
maid, through trickery, is betrayed into a
proxy marriage, unconscious that Paolo Is
not the real husband. DAnnunzio makes
an occasion casual reference to Paelo's wife.
Orabile. Mime. Duse will appear in .'Fran-
cesca da Rimini' on Monday evening, De-
cember q.
Tuesday evening. December 30; Thursday
evening. January 1. and Friday evening,
January 2 There will be no performance
on Wednesday and Saturday evenings, and
no matinee on Saturday afternoon.
ss
Joseph I. C. Clarke recently talked to
Richard Mansfield. and succeeded in MAX
Ing the actor say a number Of things worth
repeating.
"Mr. Mansfield" says Mr.. Clarke, rs now
wondering a little what will be his next
Shakespearean play. 'Coriolantls' and An
tony and Cleopatra are tempting. as a
rounding Of the Shakespeare plays of Ro-
man cast. Hamlet is inviting. and Mac
beth is-weil. is a fine play. Why not
'Othello2'
CT am not suited to Othello.' says Mr..
Mansfield Besides. I am not going to play
the part of a man who kills a woman on
evidence as slim as Iago gave him. 1 would
not like to play at killing a woman at
ALL
ssNauy %hf, \, on ,r;o;,,1 t----
of Venice. and it adds to the gayety of the
little audience.
You know says Mr.. Mansfield. resum-
ing his cherry-wood pipe and sending forth
pretty spirals. I like to vary. Nothing kills
noe like playing the same part Unfortunately.
and even playing the same kind of part. I
am thinking of a season of repertoire
why not make a combination, a great
and new production as the staple and your
repertoire as the trimmings, so to speak?
That appeals a little. People are always
saying 81 liked such and such a play so
much: a pity he does not play it!' Well, it
Is something to think over
Are you drawn at all toward the mod
ern' schools of plays Ibsen, Sudermann,
Hauptmann, and so on?"
(" Not much. The fault 1 find is the
Erossness, seaminess, pessimism that over
color them. 1 grant you what is called
Natural" acting must more and more pre-
vail. but there are SO many things in life
that are as unfit for the stage as they are
unfit for pictorial art. 1t is not. however,
for any one to sit down and rule out ut
terly any development of art.
Naturalism must have its limits. and,
indeed. no naturalism is possible on the
stage without some artifice to an audi
ence.'"
considering that I have been fatally
stabbed 600 times-in Garment am get
ting along pretty WELL" says Mile. Zelie de
Lussan. Il have been foully slain by
thirty-eight different Don Joses, every one
of them using a slightly different method.
/ nave been murdered by Spanish tenors,
by French tenors. by Italian tenori, by
German tenore, and by English and Ameri-
can tenors.
so / thought I'd like a change of diet.
times isn't all fun. And, aside from all
those Carmen deaths. l have sung Mignon
over a hundred times in the last ten years;
La File du Regiment 200 times; ] have
been slain in 'PagIiacci,' Romeo and Juliet
and 'Otello.' and l have coughed myself to
death many, many times in La Boheme.'
Go now I'm taking a rest In concert work"
This American singer is opposed TO the
marriage of women so long as they are on
the stage. "Matrimony ties a woman
down. she declares. "It causes petty, tire
come end dangerous jealousies- A woman,s
place is in the home. When she goes into
business. in competition with man, she
loses her domestic finish. as 1t were, and Is
apt to become shrewd, calculating, and de-
void of eminent.
blanche Walsh Is soon to be seen at the