The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-11-27
AT THE THEATERS
METROPOLITAN Blanche Walsh, In Resur-
5t5 rectjorM ~

iS ~ rectIon.M 96
The theme of observation-disclosures rs old
as society itself. The reclamation of the
woman and the responsibility of the man
are twin problems that have beset and
baffled every earthly civilization. And
Tolstoy's treatment Ct the theme, en-
shrouded tho it Is in Russian gloom, is
universal in Its application. But the CHEZ
interest of the tale, quite aside from it's
Sociological appeal. lies In its revelations
or the slavic temperamentsa and character;
Tolstoy knows the Russ as thOrOly and
dissects him as renorselessly as Ibsen
does the Norwegian, or Sudermann the
German. "A strange mixture Of cruelty
and conscience is the sslav--now dreamer
and anon a sordid self-seeker. The last
Of the mother Aryan stock he Is the
product Of the attrition between Asiatic
barbarism and European civiliza ton. Bet
ter than any other-unless it be Sienckie-
WicZ. the PoleATostoy knows how to
lay bare the Slavic soul.
Unfortunately the great Russian writer
has not chosen the dramatic form for
his narrative, and to others has fallen the
| task of preparing it for the stage The
| inevitable incoherence that results from
lack Of unity, marks the work Of Henry
Bataille and Michael Morton. They have
been able merely to select five epochal
scenes from the life Of Katusha Maslova
and present them In succession. # Yet this
has been done artfully and with strong
color. One remarkable thurman interest,"
scene stands out from the gloom that
/ gathers more thickly as the play pro-
ceeds. This is the meeting of the jury
that condemns Maslova. The mastery
art with which the variant types Of men
on the jury are drawn and differentiated
is notable. 1t is the only approach to-
ward comedy in the whole sonnbre play.
Yet, even here, there is always the bowed
figure Of the juror who feels his respon
sibility for the DEGRADED prisoners plight;
even here there are his occasional pas
! sionate outbreaks in her defense to give a
tragic note to the scene. s
| Resurrection is not pleasant play
to see. It's rernorseless realism may be
| wholesome in that It stirs the emotions
powerfully, but the mental depression ii
engenders is not entirely removed by the
poetic and just denouement There is as
much truth as levity in the remark tina.
it IS a play in prologue and four racks
Blanche Walsh achieves ms Katusha
Maslova the best inpersonatien Of hei
career. 1t is the most truthful as we'll as
the best contained thing she has ever
! done In emotional roles heretofore she
has been prone to excuses that bordere6
on ranting and her work has lacked the
restraint and the careful shading of the
true artist. But in this artless peasant
girl, whose descent into the depths is fol
flowed by slow, laborious, painful climb
ing to the heights. Miss Walsh finds {
character entirely within her grasp: She
does not finch from the grossest realism
in the appalling Jail scene. 1T is a pictur,
OF fallen Womanhood frightful to con
template and difficult to justify, except b,
the familiar arguments ) of the realists
i When that lowest note ia the human ga
NUT has been struck, disgust is the onl,
feeling possible. In the next scene re
generation has been going on and the ac
is devoted to one illustration Of the diff
fculttes that beset Masova. The Slavi
patience with which it is borne is indees
pathetic. Miss Walsh succeeds wonder
fully in denotirlg the various steps in TIL
womans career. Each act shows new
aspect of her character and yet one tina
I grows naturally out of what has gone be
4foree The final remuneration forms
fitting climax to the representation.
THE companion character of the prime
} is played with admirable discretion b.
Alexander Won Mitzel. !. He. is equally, eff
fectiyet as the tender ffoNeh as. the con
SCIENCE smitten juror, and as the man O
I honor, striving, in spita,..of his repag
nance for the scrgatur 81 his own sin, t
make atonement. 1t is entirely to Mr.. .vo
Mitzel's credit that he permits himsel
no fheroics in presenting This picture q
this clean-cut Russian nobleman, who's
) conscience has put him IN the thrall 8
!, duty and whose sentiment, So tardil
awakened, throws a poetic light on hi
character.
Il OF the large company in support it i
/ perhaps unnecessary to speak in detail
There are no other finished characterize
sttlons than these two possible, but Their
l are numerous bits of character study tina
are we'll done-such for instance, as tn
members of the Jury. The forbidden
chill of the. Russian atmosphere is every
where manifest, which lis to say that tn
production is put on with every attentio
to detail and color. The audience las
: night seemed appreciative but not enthusi
:, astic. 1t enjoyed the few bits of coined
most part overdrawn by the lurid gloor
:. of the story w. B. Chamberlain.