The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-04

"a N' Nd w E 9H Ngsg'
critical attention wore those Of the girl
and her lover. both played with moro IN.
certify than at the ComSdie FRANCHISE, Tor
there the roles were miscast.- Herr Erfmann
and Mevrouw Erfmann-Sasbuch are the
names Of the Dutch actor and actress
Tho performance az q whols-the third
was smooth and realistic. The modern
Dutch stage, like modern Dutch literature,
is robustly realistic. though not without
. tinge OF the melancholy mysticism seem
ingly engendcred In this country OF slow
fiat landscapes and canals hemned by
languid trees. Nor Is the modern mnlady
OF morbid introspection absent. Holland
has her Won Vondel $50 satisfyingly done
into English by l.. l.. Van Eoppen) and her
glorious painters; it would be surprising
indeed II she could parallel another such
mighty brood.
Pierre VOLTS lie Secret de Polichinelle'
met with success in Dresden, where, trans
lated by Max Schonau, it was played at
Crosse Geheimniss." Several Of the critics
found its mode rather old fashioned and
it's sentiment sentimental. But old fash
toned things are sometimes the best.
In Vienna q piece by Maurice Baucaire
called Petit Chagrin' has been put on at
the Josephtaed er Theatre and called 'Fes-
uoln 10. inb> 4. loaorsh~d 0raNiolla
and piquant.
In tho antique theatre at Orange, In tho
south Of France, an interesting experiment
was essayed the latter part Of August-ths
74th, to be precise. It was tho presen-
tation Of 'IIphigenie' by Jean Moreas.s
poet who calls himself the leader Of the Neo-
Hellenists. and member Of the old Sym
bolist movement. This IphioSnie ID some
thing more than mere copy Of Euriptdes.
She IL Greek, with modern blood flowing
In her veins, an antique marble warmed to
life by tho harmonious and vital art OF
M. Moreas. Tho performance was curl
ously interesting with an added touch
Of the remote because Of the large audi
torium, the blue sky for . canopy and tho
vague resonance Of the actors voices. Tho
cast was admirable. Silvain, A0dmensnon:
Albert Lambert, Achills: Caspelli. Menelous:
Nine. Tisssnder. Clytem~sstyo; Hartmann
Silvain. Iphigsnie. The work Is sown with
verbal felicities.
Saturday evening. Sept. -, saw the
premiAr 70 In Berlin at the Deutschee Theater
Of Georges Rodenbach's four-act drama.
'Trugbild" 1t did not achieve success.
After witnessing the third representation
did not WONDER the piece b poetic In part,
morbid a. a whole, and contains several
stirring dramatic moments. Rodenbach
with verhaeren, Maeterlinck and EkhoUd
was in the van Of the Neo-Belgian literary
movement. A mystic, his verso and prose
is tinged at times with frankness that
borders on the brutal. Originally this play
was . novel-and ono il tempted to add
that It Is novel yet; a play it Is not. 'Dss
Tote Bruegge' b the German title Of his
story. 1t deals with the city Of Bruges
and its medievel atmosphere Of deathly
stiffness. This story have never read,
but 1t il easy to CLEAN from the stagnant
current OF tho dramatized version that Il
affords botter opportunity for the marked
psychologist powers Of the writer than
the footlight experiment. The conundrum:
When is play not play? might be an
swered: When il is a book. sTrugbild'
Is really book.
Curious ia the fascination exerted upon
the -poeeic iMaghation by tho spectacle Of
minds diseased. All the great poets have
dealt with the theme; even Goethe, sanest
OF mankind, utilized the erotio furore OF
Tasso. And in the bread and smiling
kingdom Of Shakespeare how many mad
folk stalk and gibberl But Shakespeare
envelopes his sick Drained heroes and
heroines with the mantle Of his gracious
humanity. He is first the poet, then
the psychologist. 1t would seem that
modern writer's overlook this saving clause.
So is it that you can no more describe
Shakespeare a. morbid than you can &C
cuse the cosmos Of immortality.
Ibsen's drastic irony and bravo por-
trayal Of reality keep his work free from
morbidity; and in Tolstoi tho Oriental
pessimism is tempered by his Christianity.
But the newer men. the 1880 crop, are al
most without exception given to tho de-
ineation Of weak, hysterical souls, souls
that are conquered in the battle Of life.
Hauptmann, the strongest man to-day in
Germany, Is no exception, and his gallery
OF characters exhibits o dozen figures OF
puMllanimous men and women, from
Before Sunrise to sFuhrmann Henschel.'
Rodcnbach is an interpretive poet whose
work lacks the strong note Of revolt We
find In verhaeren-V erhaeren, whose sturdy
and fierce music recalls the ansrchistic
bronxes Of Meunier Tenderness, a fem
mime pity for all living creatures. a melan-
choly sweetness are the traits OF Roden-
bach, with intermittent out bursts which
rend the gauze wells in which he Grapes
his dreams.
.Trugbild" is a curious barking back to
Edgar Poe. Baudelaire set the Poe fashion
In France, and nearly all the new Belgian
writer's declare his influence. 1t is not
altogether healthy ono, In Baudelaire's
case the soil was already rotten-ripe, and
Poe but stimulated his genius. (The
Baudelaire translation OF Poe Is better than
the original, the Americans prose is frmer,
richer, more brilliant in French, incredible
as 1t may seem) In the case Of weaker
men this influence degenerates into an
obsession. and -Trugbild" ia the story Of an
obsession.
Va, ,,o1r ro,oI II khot ori,lv,, ,l,-n ~ Uol talo