The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-03-21

plddlng OF Calaphas; with Indignation she
denes him, for his attitude toward ner
makes her feel-perhaps for the first time
TO what level she has sunken. and De
sides, although she has not yet seen christ
all that she has heard of His nobility ana
His goodness has stirred the true woman
mood that is in her. She goes to the garfisn
or simon only TO be driven from tue
grounds by an angry crowd that has recog-
nized her as a woman of pleasure she Is
called by all the harsh names that Tor ages
immemorial have been applied TO women
or her class by fellow-men and women,
many of whom have sinned as deeply in
other directions. The mob Is Quilted by ST.
mon. who repeats the words uttered by the
Master, Let him that Is without sin cast
the first stone" Mary has caught the sight
of the Nazarene's face and she knows that
this beautiful godlike man has seen her,
too-that He has looked into her eyes and
into her heart and read every. secret of her
SOUL She is stunned, terrified at flrst ana
then the good Of her innermost being bursts
from its prison. sweeps into her heart, and
Mary of Magdala is penitent.
When Judas learns from her own lips that
the woman whom he has long adored will
never again be his companon-when he
fully realizes that Mary has put aside the
old life for the new and the better one, and
when. Immediately after making this dis
covery. he is Knocked at by young Flavius
for following the Nazarene, the disciple of
ness. jealousy and despair, and he decides
TO become the betrayer Of Him at whose
holy feet Mary is bowling in reverential
love- 1t is only when Judas has lost the
woman who was all in all TO him that he
can ind Ii possible to act the traitor. the
author or the drama thus throwing a new
light upon his character entirely different
from that of the Bible. Judas has been
tempted with gold by the high priest, but
has refused to do the Master the irreparable
where could nO
tempt him revenge could. He seeks out the
crafty Cataphas, and, covering like a whip
significance of his words is burning into his
very soul-he arranges to give the Nazarene
over into the hands of His enemies. When
Mary is made aware of the betrayal she
determines to save Him at any cost to her
self To this end she consents TO favor
Flavius II the young Roman will but inter-
cede with Pontius PLATE, but vision of the
Nazarene bids her be steadfast to her new
life. She and Judas come face to face once
more, and she divines by his haunted look
that II was he who acted the traitors part.
Judas urges Mary TO leave Jerusalem with
him, bidding her choose between flight and
death For answer Mary bares her breast
TO his dagger, but he cannot find IL in his
heart to strike. The wretched Judas then
departs from the palace, and soon after
the knock of Flavius is heard. for the young
Roman has come TO claim the woman who
he thinks will at last come to his arms AS
Mary starts hesitatingly to open the door
another vision of Christ comes before her
minds eye and His voice falls upon her
ears, saying: Art thou not born AGAIN."
And the woman. her strength returning.
does not draw the bolt She is true as steel
now. The audience next beholds Judas at
tempting to hide from those followers OF the
Nazarene who have heard of his treason.
He is seen vending his way through rocky
pass near Jerusalem during the storm which
followed the crucifixion, and from one who
has been present at the tragedy of the cross
on Calvary he hears himself named
Christ's betrayer, accused forevermore.
The miserable man ruSheS on 10 death by
his own hand as the multitude returns from
Golgotha. Then comes Mary. delirious with
grief, wishing only for death. But with
the passing of the storm and the coming OF
peaceful light that spreads itself over the
earth, a message is conveyed to her soul
the message that the Savior OF mankind
will come to earth once more. and that all
is for the best
1t may be seen how closely the play fol-
lows the Scriptures and yet how inof-
fensively ii Is told. Neither the author nor
the producer has been lacking in reverence.
and one realizes before the first act is half
finished that the production is the artistic
work of a temperament that has given
months of study not only to the mere lines,
portrayalS of character and picturesque
and accurate stage settings but TO the
spirit of the age that has thus been trans
ferred to a modern stage. Scenically the
production is superb, the scenery for the
second act being particularly massive and
handsome. The mimic thunderstorm in the
last act of the play, with its crashes or
thunder and flashes of lightning, is one or
the most wildly realistic and awe-inspiring
scenes ever shown in a theater. 1t would
require a great deal of, space TO describe
the, various stage settings. which are COM
plete in every detail and which give one a
better idea of what Jerusalem was at the
beginning of Christianity than anything
else could possibly do.
xxx
Mrs Fiske in the title role is wonderfully
artistic, as she always is in whatever char
acter she appears. She has in this instance
sacrificed personal glory to a great extent
in order to attain what she considers per-
feet Interpretation Of the drama. She has
been seen in many other parts that have
offered her far better opportunities for ris-
ing to greater dramatic heights, but never
has any actress performed on local stage
who seemed more completely the woman
whose life she was supposed to be living.
Her strongest moments in the Drama are
when in the second act she hurls defiance
at the high priest who attempts TO talk
to the woman, over whom the dlVlne IN
fiuence is gradually creeping as he would
talk to the lowest creature in all Jerusalem,
and again in the fourth act when Mary
awakens to the true significance of the
coming of Christ-when she realizes that
His words, Art thou not born againY are
not only meant for her, but for all human
ity. She gains all of her enects without
the least a. thNSS
portions of the drama, and one feels that
she is really the Magdalen OF the Bible and
loses sight of the actress entirely. Her art
is art in its highest phase.
The strong role of the play is Judas. and
as portrayed by Tyrone Power the char
acter is one of the most unusual ever seen
on the stage. 1t is not the Judas whom all
Christians have been taught to hold in deep
contempt as the most despicable of trait
ors but a Judas whose mind is torn by
doubts as TO the divinity of the Master
and whose heart Is filled with the hopeless
love of woman and finally with over
whelming hatred of himself. Mr. Powers
work is magnificent throughout, and sell
dom has more fOrceful acting been seen in
this city. He is never melodramatic, al
though his role offers him many oppor-
tunities to be so. In the third act, baked
in his ambitions and laughed to scorn by
Flavius, cast aside by Mary and tempted
by the high priest-it is then that the over
wrought disciple of the Nazarene deter
mines to turn traitor, and the actors per-
Torrance in this scene is as near perfect
as il could possibly be- Henry Woodruff
makes a manly AuluS Flavius He looks
the part OF the handsome young Roman,
and acts il with much skill, his only fault
being a tendency TO fall into an unnatural
elocutionary style at times. However, he
interprets the character in noble and
classic manner, and il would be hard to
imagine a better Flavius than he. The
role OF Caiaphas is capably played by NJ
j. Jordan. and Scott Craven, George S.
Christie and James Young are equal TO all
demands made upon them in the smaller
parts OF Haran. lothian and Joab There is
no feminine role of Importance in the drama
hacfdcC character nf