The sun., 1903-03-08


n sweet little story about man who follows
his runaway wife to 4 seaside resort and
| becomes acquainted with the new husband
unknown to the lady, who is away for a
wsok. Here we catch q glimpse OF new
Inferno--the cruelty Of q powerful Intellect.
The weaker man In a painter. turned
sculptor, and-subtle irony-he models
only his wife's figure. (This was pubiished
in 1880; Ibsen certainly read it-witness
when We, Dead. Awaken.) The snaring
Of the poor emotional wretch's soul is mas
terly-you shudder. It is all over In an
hour. the entire play. and again you feel
as II you had mutely assisted at the oose-
quies Of three human beings.
The first husband-who Is discovered
az such at the end OF the play-meets his
former wife. and her Infamous II a.ure 10
exposed. The artist hears the conversa-
ton and his fate IL not TO he fp)ken OF
lightly. We pass on. .Paria' is after
tale of Ola Hanson. 1t need not detain
US. Poe or Robert Louis Stevenson 10
a child compared TO Strindberg In the
analysis OF morbid states OF soul. -Samum
is an ode TO revenge. Finally we arrive
at Die Starkere," which met with such
SUCCESS on the Continent. Its chief device
OF having one figure silent and making
the other do the talking is sufficiently novel.
But II Ia again the drama, always the drama
with StrindberR His picture, executed by
a kindred and sympathetic interpreter,
Edward Munoh, shows the face OF one. who,
like Dante. has seen hell.
Played by Mary Shaw and another
artistic actress for the pantomims part,
this sardonic little sketch, replete with
irony, malice, hatred-withal humanity
would prove most attractive. 1t has many
sly spokes Of humor. In 'Das Band we
reach play revealing the best charac-
t,ristics Of the poet. It only consists OF
a courtroom scene with jurymen, Judge
and officers before whom a husband and
wife make their petition for divorce-ac-
cording to Scandinavian procedure. They
are resolved to separate; hut there ia a
child, a son beloved by both. With this
elemental stun as a subject Strn iberg
wrings the heart Of you. In the conclusion
the parents damn themselves by their
own admission, the child is taken from
their custody, and as they confront each
other in the deserted. dim court room, their
hearts bursting, their future like foggy.
dirty, abandoned field, they recall 7. B.
Aldrich's picture OF No-man's land. where
the soul sees it's double. a doppeli ger.
And who are your" cried one agape.
Shuddering In the cleaning light;
-Iknow not" said the second shape.
i only died last night
Theee two souls in the play. once hooked
by the ste, Ia Of marriage and parenthood,
realize as they fall loathingly asunder that
they are dead. that their life has passed on
n the soul of their miserable boy. II is
such a play as this that vindicates Strind-
bcrg's claim TO the mastery Of the drama.
Here he Is at his human best. freed from
the bizarre and his humor and wit illuminate
the ghastly darkness with friendly
flashes. The jurymen are excellent, and
more comical still are the court officers.
Many touches throughout would make
the TRANSLATION and performance Of -Das
Band profitable And not once In the
child on the stage. Possibly as America
is divoroe-loving nation. 1t would reject
with indignation the sight OF 30 many
bleaching family bonesl
NIT dam Feuer Spielen' Ia a comedy OF q
drastic kind. 1t shows Nietzscae's infiu-
ence-it Is related that Nietzsche enjoyed
reading some Of Stnndberg's novels.
In English the actors would expire Of heart
failure--every gesture. every phrase under
lines a mental process. Englisb-speaking
actors. nowadays, only give . somewhat
heightened portrait Of themselves. Rarely
are they the character tho dramatist In
dicates. Therefore Ibsen and Strindberg
are not for them-theee poets are essen
TALLY character creators. not arrangers
II pretty situations, or contrivers Of
climax,s.
Debit and Credit also proves that.
or unconsciously, Strindberg
Is a Nietzsche-ist. IL IL q rogue's comedy
with original variations. The chief charac-
ter played by William H. Thompson would
be bound to evoke laughter. for through
the grim and sordid riffs in the plot-it
pictures a tawdry great man-we hear
bursts of natural fun. There is humor.
kindly and mocking. George Bernard
Shaw must have read Strindberg some
time or other though the sardonic spirit
Of the clever Irishman s congenital.
What would G. b. s. be II he fed upon
meat instead Of vegetables? perhaps .
mild-mannered eupeptic demon.) Very
Shaw-like, except that II was written In
1892, Is "Mutterliebe.' In Mrs. Warren's
Profession Mr.. Shaw expanded TO didsctic
lengths the same grewsome idea. Strind-
berg in his fifteen pages traverses . life
time and his ending IL logical, Beyond Q
certain ironically humorous manner Of
viewing the universe there is little In COM
mon between ths Scandinavian and the
Kelt The former In ever emotional. the
laiter's temperament Is as chilly a. q dogs
noe.
All big men have their apes. Ibsen has
his German and English apes. % strind-
bers has his. In the p-rson Of stsnislA~
Prsybyzswski, which sounds more like
. sneeze than an animal Vet he eKisss.
he writes fontAne of Berlin has the courage
To PRINT hs various delir ,ous esssys on
Chopin. Met ssohe, the 'symphony of sesh;'
on Ola Hanson and tho 'Horia' ths, Stayed
Poe. De MaupAssant. James Thomson
cThe city ~ Dreadful Might aud Other
m.n Of genius who wore thslr lsarsatsd
nerves on their sleeves for ths World 10
Jsnsle. snd-to pa, u blua,iy drank DO
water in ,hsu ~hlsksy,
Non ssIpla~ u. l~e I.fuss 90 drive
Ll.sauS hard. = ofklnH oofpDoSltors And