New-York tribune., 1902-02-16

MaCmial Company.
The scene set for the prologue to Mr Phil
Upss new drama is of a nature to excite in /
trest at once. The curtain rising discloses /
the summit of Olympus, an amphitheatre of .
marble hills in a glimmering light of dawn; /
where the hills fall away, a distant view Of the /
world, with countries and rivers is seen far /
below" Given a clever scene painter and a |
tkIful stage manager, and the audience should |
be sure Of an impressive picture at least The |
gods are presently revealed as the light grows |
clearer. Zeus listens patiently to a dispute .
between Athene and Posedon. The former .
pleads that Ulysses may be released from the |
spell under which he rests in Calypsos island, /
and permitted TO regain his home in Ithaca, .
there to rescue Penelope and their Tele- /
machus from the suitors who have battened |
Ike vultures upon his domain. The ruler of the /
waves protests demanding vengeance upon the /
man who smote his son Polyphemus with blind .
ness. But the goddess is persistent, dilates
upon the virtues of Ulysses deftly alludes to .
TIE sacrifice he has often made to Zeus-who .
mods beneyolently, saying. Il mind me Of the /
sy0ry snell"-and at last secures something .
Of What she wants. The god dispatches Hermes .
70 unweave' Calypso's magic art. but insists
that Ulysses must be left to choose whether to .
lnger or TO depart from the enchantress.
Furthermore, he must come back TO Ithaca
through hell
The shadowy region must he tread.
And breathing pace, amid the breathless dead,
The track Of terror and the slope Of gloom,
To learn from ghosts the udlngs of his doom
He must 20 /
From daTiance to the dolorous realm below
The frst scene of the first act discloses the !
anarchy in the home Of Ulysses; the suitors |
waiting for Penelope's decision and Willing /
away the time with drink and song; the son Of /
4. Iaf- of
him. but falling ANONYMOUSLY when he tries to
turn them out. In the second scene Ulysses is /
discovered with Calypso and We witness his .
liberation from her wles, the curtain falling On /
the departure Of his ship. while she stands .
picturesque figure against the sunset, watching |
il recede into the distance The second act is .
given 10 The journey through the internal /
regions weird show, which, We may note in |
passing. carries 10 conviction whatever The /
third act opens on the Ithacan shore, and eX-
hlits Ulysses much worn by his trials, parley-
ing first with beneficent Athene, then making
friends with ms own swineheTd; protecting his
son, who is dying from of the suitors; dis
covering himself to TeIemachus, and approach
ing the palace. The next scene, laid in the
tanqueting hall brings the play to a close, with .
the bending Of the bow and the Staying Of the .
suitors, after considerable talk. Obviously some
q the scenes cut out for extremely spec
iacular representation That the whole fabric
Of the play is built with insight into the re-
ouirements of the acting drama is not 50 OBJ
Nous. That however is a point 10 be left to
dramatic criticism when Ulysses is presented
IN this country. At present We are concerned
with the drama only in so far as il may be re-
garded as literature.
i reads WeII-in patches. If Mr Phillips has
one merit, il is that of being clear. The flowers
q his dlgtou. though sometimes rather too
ho|ery, never get seriously in the way Of is
main purIoea. on the other hand. there is too .
much descriptive narrative here and too litue Of
living dialogue. In the prologue this was per
haps 10 be expected. though it is hard to con
ceive Of the dispute between Athene and Posei-
con as preceding along lines quite 50 Ieisurely
Is those adopted by Nj Phillips II" pauses.
as be paused iu .Paolo and Francesca" and IN
Herod, 10 make decorative a line that should
come with naked force from lips too impassioned
10 frame merely pretty sentences. Says Athenc.
Yet ne
y hen all the other captains had won home,
1sas Wh.red about the wilderness Of foam
-4I The wind and the wave have driven him
, eVeTmoIe
-'9ehed by the green Of some receding shore
That last line is neatly turned. But il has,
IKE 50 many Of Nj Phnps's lines more in it
v nm than Of the parsonage 10 whom it is at
u'Duted. Again and again we stumble upon
"+ same obstacle to complete confidence in the
"1'hors power 10 make his characters live and
speak their own speech. Athene in a rage with
4oSeldon, addresses him as