The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-04
BOUVIEESTgR,
THE DUTCH PLAYER ABOVE ALL
A VERSATILE ARTIST. ..

beau's Cuisines 10 Business" At The
Hague-ROdenbach' Morbid. P0etlO
Experiment at Berlin suggests Poo.
After hearing Gutzkow's 'Uriel Acosta'
In tho Bohemian tongue at Marienbad'
Lessing's Nathan der Weise' In Hebrew,
an Irish play in the old Celtic, together
with comedies, dramas and buresques N
French, German, Hungarian, italian and
English, The Suns reporter OF things
dramatic felt it his duty not to miss the
great Dutch actor, Mynheer LOUIS
Bouwmeester, In the wet. picturesque city
Of Amsterdam. :,
ncuwmeester has achieved Continental
fame. He must be nearer 90 than 30, out
he Is vigorous man. 1.-the. handsome,
with classic features, we'll conserved ana
versatile to q degree One 10 tempted 10
describe him as even more versatile than
the Italian Ermets Novelli, whose forte
n the delineation Of modern character,
for tho Dutchman is first tragedian and
then anything else he pleasee. His bronze
bust In the National Museum at Amsterdam
b not there for patriotic motives--bouw-
sneester has been the greatest Hdm1ss SAv-
lock, Lsur and CoriolonHs Of his times;
such = Haxs!st, for example, % England
has not ssen sinco tho days when hean'
Ksmbls and Macready revealed themselves
and tho post In the easiest and most DIM
cult roleever planned ~ q pitfah for bunder-
Ing medioHity and Z short out to fame for
talsnt. Nor has the Dutch actors Lsor
been described 20 less moving and foroeful
His CorioIexvs b thing Of yesterday and
won him the rare laurels Of universal praise.
Such Q man 10, then, to b taken seriously.
Perhaps ~ the result Of tho mixed
Oriental and Dutch blood In his veins, he
has ssaayed with success the trying posi-
ton Of actor-manager. At present he d.
rects the sHarlemsch Tooneel' In the Crys-
tai Palace at Amsterdam. playing the prin
cipal roles In all tho new productions with
unique skill and overlooking energy. How
ever, it was not without misgivinge that
took my seat In the vast. gloomy and very
chilly auditorium Of this same 'Harlensch
Tooneel.' which title evoked memories OF
l3sth street, East. The play announced.
s2aken sijn Zaken,s was no less than
Dutch version OF Octave Mirbeau's LES
AYairss 6ont Les AfIairss,' already de-
soribed In these columns, and turned into
idiomatic Dutch by George verenet. This
Inst detail give on hearsay. a. the language
n an unfamiliar one. However, spoken ~
1t n by the Bouwmeester organization, 1t
IL not 30 difficult to understand. with its
continual suggestions Of German and
English. What surprised was the fluent,
rapid low OF this speech and its rich variety
Of intonation. The hard, cultural. gasp
ing Dutch one hears ON the highways and
waterways Of Holland is here transformed
Into something alike ductile and virile.
After witnessing tho exciting and life
Hike perform ance Of M. de FAraudy a.
Isidorc Lschat In the MirbeAu play. one
was naturally prepared for rigorous COM
parisons. There was the difference In the
tongue, something that counted heavily
IN favor Of the French, for the Dutch, be
II never 80 well spoken, has not the same
speed; and there was also the difficulty In
the assumption Of strange racial types.
Xxi VIA 11Fesabfy disspqointsd.
For man Of Bouwnneester's varied train
ing and supple skill the part OF Isidore
LecAat, banker, speculator brigand. par
venu. blackguard and good fellow. was we'll
within his grasp. Whether or no he had
seen the marvellous impersonation Of de
Feraudy cannot say, but do know that
all things being equal--race, temperament,
the stumbling block OF translation-the
performance Of the DutchmAn was very
effective. He Is primarily Q character
actor-that Is, when he Il not an interpreter
Of Shakespeare; and 20 he delivered him
self Of his budget Of lines and gestures
with an astounding huenoy. clearneaa and
power. Like de Feraudy, Bouwmeester is
Of the cholerio type, the type described as
sanguins by the physiognomists. He trans
lates the idea into speech and movement
with an Incredible rapidity, recalling the
methods Of tho Italian Novelli, rather
than those OF his own phlegmatio country
men. Nothing was left to chance; every
crookins Of a finger spelt some emotion,
Illuminated some thought. Naturally one
missed the finer Gallo nxdnces, and-be-
cause he is his own mana ger-a certain
subordination Of himself to the other issues
Of the play.
Business is Business" Is q long work.
md the role Of the hero-such hero-is
spun out to the point Of garrulity. II
the author, who lie an Anarchist as well as a
man Of letters, novelist as we'll a. a re-
former, had not seen ct to expose his social
theories 10 the last act the play would have
sained much on the dramatic side. After
Ill, the pulpit and the political rostrum
should not be erected within the walls
Of the playhouse. Hence, in this Dutch
vsrsion missed the snap and fire Of the
French actor, who delivered point blank
verbal volleys at his hearers without losing
their attention. You never knew who was
to be hit next. The Dutch translation
goss at a more lrnping gait. and this despite
the celebrity Of Bouwmeester. And he
had to carry his company with him, for.
hacking his temperament. his band of actors
and actresses Jagged in their speeches.
Where one looked for climax In the
scene with his sta ge daughter, Bou wmeester
graded the passion to the point where he
hears Of his sons death. The upsettng Of
the project to marry his daughter to the
son Of that aristocratic mummy, the Mar
quis dc Porcs'lat, evokes anger, brutal and
repulsive, though not 30 scorching as the
outbursts Of dc F6raudy at the Fran caise
But Bouwmeester preferred to steer his
passion to an apex, and there leave US gasp
ing as the curtain fell This he accom-
plished. The paroxysm Of sorrow, despair
wrath, revolt. was n,asteIfully managed
It smacked trihe Of an earlier style than
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