The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-05-29
AT THE THEATERs
Observation-Disclosures o,Nell In "Ils

Observation-Disclosures o,Ne,l In nHsdda
0abler.". ~ IS Z 4;
- be quiet now says Hedda Gabler,
with 9 laugh. to her hliaband and friends.
a shot rings cut b6hind the SCENES.
Iney rush out to And the terrible Hedda
weltering in her own blood Then the
curtain goes down and the and Hence wakes
9 y. with the terror sof its dream still upon
IT. The spell which Ibsen casts ipon his
audiences has been upon this one, 1t has
! SAT- go. tense and sbrea thless thru four acts
! IN which there has not been one change Of
scene and with but seven persons telling
the story. =.
y is not pleasant story-tar from it,;
It is not q likely story; none but an In
veterate pessimist would call It q true
story Its characters do not appeal to
/ ones sympat hies; its tragedy is not on
the lofty plane whereon the noble heroes
or Sophocles and Racine and Shakspere
We're overwhelmed by fate Nor has
tiedda Gabler the resistless and un-
escapabie movement OF that terrible
tragedy OF heredity, "Ghosts.'' Yet
1t holds one In the thrall Of an Ainexplicable
faseination-a thrall that lasts long after
the curtain has gone down and that resists
analysis. Ibsen deals here, as always,
with degenerates. There are several
types Of them in the play, but Hedda
Is the one who appals the. magma
ton. Can It be possible that even so cold
ana self centered a woman could lead a
e former lover on to certain destruction, and
even hand to him the pistol that was to
end all for him. simply because the ennui
or commonplace life led her to yearn
for q tragedy with a Hbeautiful lending?
Or has Ibsen conceived some deeper ly-s
ing motive referable1 to her jealousy Of her
successor In his affections? The com =
pick emotions that lead this beautiful de-
llrt e.
ending do not act as they would upon a
normal woman and, fascinated by the
horror Of 1t, we must follow Ibsen I'M.
quest1oningly to his conclusions Re-
volt against them is impossible. Ib-s
sen sllences, tho he cannot convince us.
Itedda IS character which Miss O'Neil
causes to stand out with hard distinct
ness. Every move, every tone Of her
voice, reveals the selfish, bored woman
whose soul Graves excitement. obtained
at no matter what cost. When she burns
the manuscript made by the two persons
she hates. the Intense passion that flames
out casts lurid light upon q charac ter
whose outlines have already been clearly
drawn, but whose depthslef deprayity
were only suspected. 1t Is not a pleasant
success that Miss q, Neil achieves but it is
realization Of Ibsens conception that
compels admiration.
Herbert Carr makes Of Hedda's husband
slHple-m1nded dolt, engFoSSed in his
hobby and in love with the woman whom
he supposes his wife to be. He has eyes
that see not and ears that hear not.
His aunt. with her unwise altruism, played
by Mrs. Charles w. Brooke, is a variant
OF the same type. These two illustrate
1psen's fondness for painting good people
as fools and thus depriving US Of any
characters to whom we may pay the trib-
ute of a genuine admirati Assessor
Brack, another kind of degenerate whose
sskilful formation of a domestic triangle"
IS overturned byHedda's unforeseen act. is
cleverly impersonated by. E. j. Radcliffe,
VINO demonstrates anew his aptness in de-
lineating characters Of the devious kind.
A capital bit of work is the picture pre-
sented by Charles, A Milward of Low
borg. an example of the neurottc genius
capable of great things if only his appe-
tlte for the joys Of living could be kept
in leash. Miss Agnes Rankin makes a,
fearful but not an impressive Mrs. Elv-
sted One fails to gather from her in
depreciation an understanding of the in
spiration she furnished for Lovborg, tho
she brought out the pathos Of some Of the
situations rather effectively.
w r Cha m harJo;n S