The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-11-15


in Verona that as Dante passed before 2
doorway whore several women were sit
ting one of them said to tie offers jr a
low voice, bu- not SO low but that she
was plainly heard. by him and by thoss
with him:
do you see the man who goes down
to hell and returns at his pleasure and
brings back news Of those who are be-
low
ITO which one II the others answered:
| 'Indeeo. what you say must be true Don;
! you see how his card is crisped and his
color darkened by The heat and smoke
down below?'
Dante, it is said, hearing these words
1 behind him and perc Giving that they Were
spoken by the woI aen in perfect good
/ faith, was not 1.-THE pleased that they
! should have such an opinion OF him, and,
! smiling, passed on his. way
/ Was it from Bocca rcso's description of
/ Dante that you have gsade up the char
acter?"
ITO certain extent : have. But 1 have
also consulted all the obtainable authori-
ties on the subject, and, the Dante which
I endeavor to imperson. lte is more of an
idealistic character than. u replica of the
poet as put forth by ANY author or ar
list"
'Boccaccio, however, de ssribes Dante as
wearing a beard, but you do not
NO l can find no othe i authority for
Dantes beard than that contained in the
statement of Boccaccio. .tl,e popular and
general conception of the man is that he
was beardless. All the pa bEings. bronzes
and the death mask show him with a
smooth face. In selecting % facial make
up for the character l used the bronze
bust of Dante at Naples as probably the
most authentic. 1t shows. him with q
smooth face, and yet again that is 20
proof that he did not wear beard, as
more than likely the bust vas made II m
the death mask, and it is fair TO presume
that the poet was shaved after death,
before the mask was made.
There is. really very little known about
the personal app earance of the man. II
is the idea that nc. symbolizes rather than
his physical appe arance which the play
seeks to convey"
For a year Sir Il enTy has been appear
ing in London as Dante in the play OF
that name. by Sard ou and Moreau. LaSc
Monday night he produced it in America
for the first time at the Broadway thea
ter. where the stage is sufficiently large
to allow the elaborate scenic effects neces-
sarv. saws a writer in the New York Her
aid. In London "Da nte" had a great
vogue although as a play it received
many severe criticisms. The same thing
has happened here, but whether or not
the play itself is a masterpiece of Ira
matte art every one adm tits that the pro-
0e ny1nl m
What Sir Henry himself thinks about 1t
he does not say for the est reason IN
the world. 1t is his prov u.ce to act and
not to criticise.
THE character of Dante has always ap-
pealed to me as a central figure for
strong drama" he said, II have had the
idea for a number Of ye srs. but have
never been able to find playwright who
would undertake to dramltze the au-
thor of the Divine Comedy
Several years before his death Lord
Tennvson offered to write m,, play On
any su.,ect that 1 might FUR nish him. L
suggested King Arthur, but, he refused
on me ground that his poem fully CIV
cred the subject. and he did not feel
equal to putting it in drama tic form.
had Enoch Arden also III MI minds eye
but Tennyson refused again on the same
ground.
ssTben I suggested Robin aood. 1 pic
tured him in Sherwood fores t. surrounded
by his men, and / fancied that play
might be written round him rs sort or
pendant to As You Like It Tennyson
approved my idea, and I sp ent several
months in collecting material about Robin
Hood. which l sent to him.
THE result was not quite what 1 eX-
pected when Tennyson sent ne the play
which >Augustin DAILY produced in this
country. 1t was called The Foresters
and was modelled on the line That l had
sketched. but there was no adequate role
/ for me. and l was compelled to decline 1t.
/ IT was the nthat 1 suggested Dante to-
/ the poet. The idea seemed to appeal to
/ HIM Immediately. He pondeped over it a
few seconds. murmuring the title to him
/ self.
...Dante. Dante, said he. That is
/ fine theme
! .Then. with a natural shrewdness and
remarkable common sense he added:
| But where is the Dante to write ito
/ "Sardou. however, had no slch COM
Functions. 1 indirectly suggested the play
/ with Miss Elizabeth Maybury- 1t was
| through her that he undertook to write 1t
for me. All the negotiations were carried
| on between her and my son Laurence. 1t
was in This way also that Sardou wrote
| 'Robesplerre' for me.
/ Very few changes have been made III
! the orinigaI manuscript OF Sardou except
! in condensing some OF the minor roles.
! Sardou is a great stickler for detail, and
many of the things that he insisted upon
did not prove effective on the stage. TOr
example,. in the scene depicting the N
! feruo he devised a double panorama,
4 which | had built at n great expense. ~
/ rehearsals l found that il was absolutely
! impossible TO work it on the lines sug-
gested by the author. 1t hal way of
sticking always at a critical moment,
which would involve lowering Jhe curtain
before the end of the act. Any stage
manager will realize how Impossible such
a condition was
BY the way. although I an playing
Sardou's play. / never met Sard1u IN my
life At the time the arrangcm 2ats were
being made 1 was travelling about and
very busy. 1t was quite impossible for me
TO supervise the matter. as l should have
liked l suggested that certain scenes
should be constructed, and Sarlod super
yised them. he being thoroughly saturated
in The locale Of the play. And as models
were brought forth they were sometimes
altered j little 10 suit the requirements.
The designs for the scenes warc painted
by four distinguished Frenc hartists. who
went TO italy and made sketches Of tie