The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-27
MISS WALSH'S TRIUMPH
THE GREAT PRODUCTION -oF
 T0LsToT'S RESURRECTION"
Large Company, Fine Stage Settings and e Terribly Realistic Drama Seen by Two Montgom-
 cry Audiences.

fa
 Let Montgomery add it's praise to the genius of Blanche Walsh aud the pro- found sincerity of the drafnatization Of T0istois "Resurrection."
 Montgomery has waited for this great drama and Montgomery joins in the uni- versal verdict that has been passed upon it.. It is drama of remarkable strength, and it's rendition was masterly. Miss Walsh and her excellent support made of 1t 2 thing to be remembered, albeit grim memory.
 The main theme of Tolstois book sug- gests a play of unusual dramatic fnten- sity. It is a story of passion, pity, mis- cry. love and gentleness-a vibrant, pull sating note in wrangie of minor tones. The audience is brought into direct har- mony with the central figure and one or the most direct lessons Is set forth that has ever been preached from the stage.
 Decent nerves revolt at the picture but when it Is all over the reaction of the mind tells us that such sermons must in- evttably accomplish a good purpose. We see an innocent peasant girl. katu ha Masleva. She is pure. modest and inno- cent. The prologue concludes, ten years elapse.. and the innocent one is seen steeped in sin. aye m d gradation. She is q woman of tho streets, convicted
 
 jeering decency. shameless and brutal. Slowly at first but quickly after comes an awakening and the resurrection be- gins. She is lifted bv the man who was the cause of her undoinE. Her redemp- tion made sure the woman chooses te- tween two men. The first man. a noble- man. is free and well clad. He holds his head high and he tells her that he will make her his wife. He rejoices in his f,.f,,pnnh hic afPorts haya mt haan it, vain. The woman loves him but must Sacrifice herself for him. She is beloved by g convict. For the sake of the suan she loves she will not drag him down to her level She gives herself to the con- vict whom she does not love. And as a bened.ction upon this sacri- fical act, there comes from over the Si- Eerian hills the sound of peasants and guards and convicts singing the Easter the end of the drama.
 This is an ancient and solemn theme and it is given with a dignity an1 elo- quence that does not preclude simplicity of treatment it is too plain in its sim plicity. There are no niceties. One shuddered at some of the lines which fell upon the ears of young women who the afternoon performance yesterday to hear them.
 The sickening blandishments of the wo- men of the streets, the brutal candor of the men, were startling in their fidelity.
 The triumph of Miss Walsh was com- plete Nothing quite so perfect has neen seen on Montgomery stage in many a day. Repression, repression and more re- pression is the dominating note of her art and we who saw her as Empr ass Josephine are giad she has learned this subtle anninrnenf of ba artist.
 The adroitness with which she portrayed Katusha the simple peasant girl in the frst act, yielding to sudden passion, was exquisite; the poignancy of her grief in the scene with Dimitri in the second act, needed no words of g. ief to drive it home to our hearts, It was told in the face, in the tone of her fine volce, in the look out of her luminous eyes.
 The diction of the sodden convict was terribly convincing. Miss Walsh brought to it all of her spiend4d intellect; all of the, resources of her stupendous. emo- tionalism. Here she proved that she is entitled to all of the encomiums that have been laid at her Aeet. The gu .tural tones, the shuning gait, the strident outbursts of hysterical gaiety, the notes of seif-plty, all, all made a repulsive scene, so faith ful, so natural that it was shocking, but true.
 There were men present who declared it was outrageousiy indecent. It was too real, too true for them.
 The glimpse given us of returning reas- oning, of the awakening of the min A the complex, conflicting mental process, was something so vivid as to hold the audi ence in the grasp of the woman who did it, naturally, quietly, superbly.
 Summing up briefly and hurrying on, it must be said that Miss Walsh sustained the most difficult task to the end nobly; never faltering, never failing. Certainly it must require great force of mind to do this thing some seven or eight times each week.
 With truly great artist it would have been an egregrious blunder had the mana gers of Miss Walsh provided anything but a superior company of players. In this direction they have. met every require ment. No flaws were there. The d. anna moved without a discordant note. Its production was daring, but splendid.
 The Prince Dimitri of MT. Won Mitzel was sufficient. He never overleaped the work set before him and he was rewarded with clear appreciation of his under standing and his perfect portrayal.
 The company is large and each person fitted we'll into the duty assigned to him.
 Nothing more delightfully."- natural, more artistically perfect than that Jury scene has ever before been witnessed here. It is an innovation, a real novelty, and the only ray of light in a cheerleNs, unwhole- some panorama
 The company, the series of faithful pictures, the scenic investiture the pro- duction, is by Wagenhals and Kemper. We long ago learned the care. fulness, the general excellence of their entertainments and we invariably show that we appre- ciate their laviShness by patronizing them. In "Resurrection" this firm of stage pro ducers has excelled itself The drama is correct, is perfect. We cannot say more.
 It was produced at matinee and night. Both audiences will long remember, but many persons will shudder as they recall the awful, the earnest, the intensely human story it discloses.