The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-09

has caught something OF "tne stTahBc'
irregular rhythm OF life" in this piece, and
! you feel the vibration OF truth in every
line OF the extremely plastic dialogue.
| That the stage has, or has not, any BUSH
ness with such speotacles never occurs to
! the special until out upon Berln's broad
avenue of trees pulsing with life. Inter
| den Linden.
The amateur OF sensations, exquisite.
| morbid or brutal must feel after "Nacht-
| nsyl" that the bottomless pit has been
| almost plumbed. What further e1ploita-
ton of woe. OF crime of humanity stripped
OF it's adventitious social trappings can DO
made? And this question is put by every
generation without in the least stopping
tho fresh shaking up Of the dramatic kalei-
doscope The Gorky play, even IL It dis
gusts at times, at least arouses pity and
terror, and thus. according to the classical
formula. purges the minds Of It's spectators.
Compared to the drama OF lmbricity manu-
factured in Paris and annually exported
to America, this little study Of u group OF
out cast men and women Is powerful
moral lesson. That II is not play do not
deny; nor could it be put on the boards in
America without a storm OF critical and
public censure. After all, we go TO the
| theatre to be amused and not to have our
nerves assaulted. Thackeray, in a men,
orable passage Of -Vanity Fair" refused
to stir those depths OF humanity where
Turk all manners Of evil monsters Per-
haps this refusal was for the great writer
m artistic remuneration; perhaps he knew
the British public. In our own happy,
sun-smitten land where poverty and vice
abound not, where the tramp il only
creation Of the comic journalism America,
IL such a truth-teler az Gorky arose we
| should fall upon him, neck and crop, gag
him, and without bothering over the
fornlality OF writ de IunaticO inQuirendo,
clap the fellow behind the bars OF mad
house cell. Ii would serve him right The
ugly cancers OF the social system should
never be exposed especially by candid
| hand. In art, to tell truths Of this kind
does not alone shame the devil, but out
| RACES the community. No wonder En-
| peror William does not grace such per
formances with his presence. No wonder
Gorky is a suspect in Russia He tells the
| tmt which in the twentieth century is
more dangerous han hammering dynamite.
There are many characteristic touches
| Of humor, and not few sly digs at Official
ism, at the bureaucratism under which
Russia at present grosns. The thief does
not miss an opportunity to jeer at the fat
police officer and his weakness for brides.
In plain parlance, the abode Of his niece
is fence; her husband is a receiver OF
stolen goods, paying low prices for the
| jewelry offered him by WdsJkd. The
various scenes "Scensn aus den Tiefen
| des Iebens" the aut hOr calls thence
| tain minor Incidents which reveal the
| capricious dispositions Of the human animals
in this cage; a Willingness to forget life
in the most puerile diversions seems to be
Gorky's summing up OF certain section
of his fellow countrymen. He knows
just enough Schopenhauer and Nietzsche
TO introduce their pessimism and glorfi-
cat ion of will msladroitly. Gorky is not
a great thinker. He is first the artist ,
a man Of great emotion endowed with
| intense graphic powers, and then he is The
| Indifferent philosopher, Whatever is is
wrong He is against all forms OF gov
eminent and il he had his way would erase
them from the map Of life. He errs natu-
rally enough in laying at the door OF society
| the blame for the misery OF the so-called
lower classes. His personal experiences
his battle for bread, have narrowed his
| critical vision With a ripper wisdom gar
nered from cultured leisure he may not be
80 bitter in his Judgments. But how futile
| it is to speak culture" to men and women
| whose bodies are neither housed nor
nourished whose brains and bellies cry
4 for food, drink, rest!
| As have already limited, the Berlin
performance OF "Nachtasyl" was remark
| able in its ensemble work, and also In the
| elaboration OF special business" that
1 Gorky could have never originated. The
| Kleines Theater was formerly the spot
where Ernest Won Wolzogen had his Eeber-
brett The stage is small, the seating capac-
! ity OF the floor and balcony not large.
| 1t is lust the style Of theatre suitable for
bizarre experimenings. In Vienna. as in
| MOSCOW, st. Petersburg and other Euro
] pean capitals, this play has had big vogue.
| After coffee and cigars. with 10 O'Clock
| supper sta ring at you agreeably from the
| clock face, you endure the tenebrous gloom,
| knowi ng that not far away are Plsner
| and Paprica Schnitzel For all that, and
despite the long pause after Act H., the
I audience heaves a sigh of relief after its
| two hours in dreary tunnel among sewer
| rats and other underground creatures
| Act ILL., in the published book Of the
| play, calls for another setting Stage
| Director Richard Nallentin wisely enough
adhered TO the same scene throughout.
There are also some unimportant teItual
changes. OF the various individual bits
in the acting should single out for I'M
qualified admiration the impersonation OF
the old actor by Guido Herzfeld. II was
very lfelike, full of pathos, never for a
moment sentimental. and painfully tragic.
| The shrewsh. unfaithful wife was capt
tally enacted by Adele Hartwig; her stage
sister by Clara Gernod. Next in power
was the Wasjka OF Edward Won Winter
| stein; who looked like q Paderewski gone
wrong. His yellow hair, slouching walk,
defiant gaze and smooth. comely features,
together with an easy control OF the varying
moods Of this simple yet complex individual
proved Herr Won Winterstsin an excellent
artist. Lukd, a difficult role, was safe in
the hands Of Leopold Thurner. The NOR
| bid and unpleasant personality Of the de-
generate baron was played by Erwin Baron
| with a fidelity to nature that was patho-
logic His mumbling and nail biting. his
continual rede tOeiter. his haunting stare
and swift changes OF mood, demonstrated
that the actor must have made close study
| Of mental decay. Minor parts were all
well done. The madcap shoemaker and
1 l. k.nru LAM Lord hn