The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-12-08
POET AND PRODUCER
MEET |NCONGRUOUSLY,

That heroic myth, whom bards since
Homer have not ceased to sing, Ulysses.
rose before us last night ito the swelling
of the voiceful sea" as If called forth by
Zeus himself for mortal view. And yet It
was Ulysses by Twentieth Century poet
and set forth in all tho Twentieth Century
splendor.
Ithacas King, hero OF Trojan wars. hus-
band of Penelope. he stood forth as Ulys-
ses-this salient impression Is complete
and forceful and lasting. The classic
figure rises above tinsel and tawdriness
and stage accessories and scraping fld-
dies; its poetic grandeur is proof against
the banalities, the prosiness Of 'spec-
tacular production" At the very outset,
though, it ought to be said that the stag
ing seemed as vel adapted as would be
any staging to the great poetic concep-
ton. 1t is spectacular. in all that that
implies, yet modulated and subdued,
shaded to the poem in as far as may be.
Nevertheless. one cannot but feel that
the poet and the producer are most in.
congruously apart. 1t was an ideal. not
an earthly. stage upon which Stephen
Phillips built his drama-upon Mount
Olympus: in the sea cave Of Calypso's
magic isle: in the forecourt Of the Ithacan
palace; in hell itself. And he peopled his
drama with gods. whereas Mr.. Frohman,
or some one for him, has animated It
with men.
Listening to the lines-when they are
well "read''-and closing ones eyes. the
poets ideal scenes and environs rise be-
fore one. as they did to
That blind bard who. on the Chan
BY those deep sounds possessed with inward
B.heid the Had and tho Odyssey.
Such is the descriptive quality Of. bet
ter still, the suggestive force OF Phiilips's
minds eye the ideal drama and simulta-
neously with the eye of the flesh, a staged
production: and must leave the beauties
Of the former to a quiet hour with the
book and take the latter as We find 1t at
the Olympic.
To be sure. /. requires a vast exertIon,
to reach the altitude Of Olympus by way
bered with dull gray scene, .leaden
curtain. harsh yet not overstrong human
voices and abominable "incidentar' or
chestration.
Thus. in the prologue. you come upon
Zeus and the other immortals discussing
the motives to be thrown about the course
of Ulysses. And the Imagination declines
upon the earth. in q theater, confronting
q row of hired actors Somehow. though,
something in the mouths OF the gods as
sists the mind to rise somewhat above the
mere visual Impression.
Next Caiypso's magic cave comes before
you, and the figure Of the hero. and later
the phantoms and dream-heures of Ca
lypso's maidens: here the physical access
sories do not weigh so heavily upon the
poet-spirit, as 1t were. but rather aid the
illusion at which he 10 striving
Such Is the emotional strength and
burning passion Of Ulysses's words, and
90 subtle and powerful the appeal Of the
goddess I'm this scene that you are trans
ported into the realm of the actual, the
realm Of everyday human feelings. There,
a. exploited by the, stage, seem to be the
strongest passages Of Mr.. Phillips poem.
But. sad to say. at the scenes close como
a jangle and tumble Of unprecedented
excellence Of art. the integrity Of the pas
sage. tho pleasures Of mind and Of heart
are hopeleSsly marred by q piece Of cheap
est clap trap. the bringing on Of a dis
mally unheroic boat, In which Ulysses Is
Obliged to depart.
Act II, in the forecourt of Ulysses's
Ithacan palace. calls to mind nothing so
well as Macaulay's Scenes From Athe-
MAN Revels." There feasting and wine
have done their work upon the suitors Of
fair Penelope. who wait without for her
delayed answer; delayed In the hope that
Fsts h.s pot widowed her and that some
hour win bring back tho beloved Ulysses.
Rsveaine AL night they. are rswardsd IA