The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-04
1.-THE DARLING OF THE GODS. "
BELASCO PRODUCES 4 STRONG
AND ORIGINAL PLAY.
It's Dream or Old japan. the Stage set.
tings OF Which Reveal the Dramatist.
Manager - . Poet and Painter, Too
Audience Brilliant and Enthusiastic.


II would seem that the crescendo in the
matter OF magnificent stage productions,
which began two weeks ago with MARY of
Magdala,' then modulated to Julius
Cesar,' surely eliminated last night at the
Belasco Theatre in the gorgeous, fragrant.
fantastic Japanese drama by David Belasco
and John Luther Long entitled The OAR
ling of the Gods As in Madame Butter
fly" Blanche Bates Is the heroine of this
new Offering Enacted before a representa-
tive audience. The Darling Of the Gods "
achieved a distinguished success. 1t de-
served IL, for the play is novel at all points
For the critic in whose veins blood, not
ink. flows. the new piece will prove drain
upon his vocabulary. After unleashing
all his adjectives at the Heyse and Shakes
peare productions his stock OF supcrlatives
are reduced to hunt in couples. We may
say magnificent gorgeous" superb"
and sublime yet there are shades within
shades Of qualification for these overworked
vocables. The musical and melancholy
prose Of Pierre Lott. or the delicately dis
criminative phrasing Of the expatrialed
Iafcadio Hearn must be borrowed TO
fully express the delights afforded eve and
ear last night. David Bella SEQ has played
the veritstle role Of poet and painter in
his stage management.
There are some scenes that htoxicate
the eye, drug the senses with their blend
ing Of hue and tone; even the nostrils are
assaied by drowsy odors. For sheer
unearthly beauty, nothing in Dofe's ver-
sion Of the Inferno" equals The River Of
Souls with its Elasticity of waye,i its haunt
4 l.. H.. LII. ~,
through this Oriental Syx. Between the
gloomy. inaccessible crags roars the fame
tipped smoke Of He'll. The Heaven that
follows is white binding radiance upon
floating hummocks Of cloud; and. like all
attempts IN verse. on canvas or in stage
craft, 1t leaves us with the serene chilliness
OF an apotheosis. Balzac' -Serpahita' never
speaks to the heart like the cordial hui
nanity Of his village cure.
And il IL precisely this human element
which prevails in The Darling of the
Gods" We began with the two last scenes,
after the two principal actors in this fiercely
passionate poem have departed from earth:
one to suffer a thousand years punishment
as expation for her sine ommitted through
excess Of loving other a tarrier on the
hither side of eternity that he might clasp
the cherished woman II Ia a complete
reversal Of the roles OF Sentd and the Flying
Dutehmdn.
The earth story is fascinating one and
in its o. iental frame Is quite novel though
the old tune Of young hearts is played
with delicious variations. To tell the tale
except in mere silhouette would he task
of superer oyation. IL IL clearly related
upon the stage: 1t cuts its way through
the diverting pictures like a strofc from
the terrible and DEATH Ia aling sdmUrdi.
Indeed, the play Ia song of the s.oru,
a miniature epic OF that two sword caste
ls7i
Yo-Sd,, princess Of a lordly house. il.
with her father, saved before the action
begins from bandits, and by an outlawed
nobleman. Kara Recognized, he is bidder
to The Feast of Thousand Welcomes"
at the palace Of the grateful elder man.
his head and the heads Of his gallant band
Of forty reduced to ten. he goes, aud here
the curtain rises upon fairyland.
To visualize a purely japanese interior
with a perspective Of plain, hill and soft
sky, Mr. Beiasco has had recourse TO plates
OF Hol,u-ai and other masters. The stage
Ia a picture Of inany-colored costumes,
tripping geishas, screen bearers. mousnes,
jugglers, acrobats, incense bearers, richly
and quantity armored warriors, while is
heard the odd and antic music, 50 Strange
to Occidental ears. Of the Riud. the fekkin,
the GenkUon, the hu. called co in honor
of the hideous god, the cluttering stringed
Shungd, the kokgu, the Sdmdsen and the
Ydmdto Fuge. Gongs reverberate and the
crisp roll Of drums with the sharp, short
cries Of welcome aid the illusion Of this
far-away world Of pigeon-toed maids and
slant eyed men, where the landscape
sounds music and a pretty philosophy is
the staff Of daily life.
element in the drama. Splendidly cruel
and subtly portrayed by the art of Mr..
George Arliss Il is he who pursues the lovers
until their death is comrassed. Despite the
law of sanctuary proclaimed by the host Of
Kara. the Minister determines on he capture
ofthe OUTLAW as he leaves the feast Fo-Scn
defeats this plan bv keeping Kara already
Rrievously wounded--in her apartments.
The close Of this act with the sinister CLEANS
Of the searcher'a lantern and the dull mono
tone of English horn and tiny tympanum il
very effective.
Both the exterior and interior Of Yo-
Sans Sho il ardshown Us a. the ", b is woven
by the suspicious official, Sanctuary is
violated, but the spies are driven of after
the love-smitt.n princess swears that
she harbors no one within. II il this pas
sion of hers that causes her TO detain for
forty days in her apartment Nara. APP
prisad by an arrow that his faithful band
await him, he seeks fight--for he has dis
covered the loving lie of 70 San Her
father intercepts him and death must wash
out fancied dishonor. duel il Interrupted
by the surrendering of Kdrd to the minions
Of Zdkkuri, And then we arrive at Act
", the most stirring of all.
II is in the torture chamber OF the Prince
OF He'll. Zrkkiri, who gives nothing
for nothing" The surroundings are pc
culiarly impressive. A huge idol, many
armed, triple headed, brandiShing swords.
dominates this gloomy cabinet. Below
are the comp ling fires Of the executioncr.
Now the aclD' has a familiar ring II is
Sardou wit It's duo of lust and torture,
and not without recollections of Al Ia"
and it's sonorous trumpets, To save Nara
from diabolical death 70 San betrays
tho whereabouts of his ten surviving COM
radee. and by doing 30 condemns her own
soul 10 wander through the mists and mis-
cries of thousand years.
Miss Bates, who previous to this de-
picted the virginia., coquettish, unSpoil-d
and blithe nature Of To-Sdn with m
tagging and gracious art, in this sombre
episod- strikes the dark che r H. of tragedy.
With Mr.. Arlss as the potent spur for her
distraught mind, she reached a telling
dramatic climax Of rcnunciation. dofance
and woe. 1t was triumph for these two
artists. The memory 4 the scene itself
il an abiding one, with its priests tor'uiers
and warriors. The entrance Of the Deishos
IL q note Of bright relief.
How the noble outlaws Of the Sem lnrdi
were trapped and how the lovers die in
the Red Bamboo Grove, with It's sulien
Il aAtN tDn mn - "a ~