The sun., 1903-03-08
THEATRE TOPICS IN SPRING
AUGUST sTRJNDBERG, THE SWED-
!. JSH DRAMATIST.
A Name Little known to the Eng.
Itxh stage or Reading Public HIS
Ape, With Some Consideration OF
.-. Their Pfays - Fay Templeton ana
Maurice Barrymore ProNerb.

b To loll at ease amid old plays ana new
I studies OF the stage Is far more pleasant
and profitable than TO indulge heated dis
c,Issions over Tolstoy ukase or the VAN
virtues Of critics. Last Sunday We preached
--nli-too-human. as Nietzsche
, has it-Ienten sermon for the beneht OF
our friends and brethren. the actors Inc
.. number OF conversions, as evidenced ny
bulky mails. was most gratifying. One
cor-espondent, well known on the boards
sent US a post card with the brief. eloquent
words, Back to the pulpit!' upon It,
Il was indeed edifying Another, slender.
spiritual actress who excels In renned
vaudeville with occasional interludes OF
Ibeen has promised reform. She will give
up the sinful Scandinavian" dramatist
the word IL Mr.. Henderson'sl. Never
theless. the lure OF spring sunshine proves
too strong; our second exhortation In In
definitely deferred for term Of weeks
We had hoped 10 write of the inutility
Of dramatic criticism; but so many special
correspondents have undertaken the task
with more OF less success that we feel our
attempt would be superfiuous SO letting
that Mere Worm. the critic, free for the
day we turn to themes more attractive
August Strindberg is a name little known
TO the English stage or reading public.
Yet his dramatic work dates back to 1872.
when 'Meister Olaf" was composed. His
:finst novel appeared in 1879 and in 1884.
when Poison was published, the stories
in this violent book nearly sent him to
the Stockholm Jal-he is a Swede, born
Islo It was 1888 before .Grihn Julie
was put forth and this play originally in
three acts brought Strindberg European
fame. .Glanbiger- In 1889 confirmed the
first critical impression that a writer and
thinker OF a high order was come. Strind-
berg q career has been an errstic, disordered
one Always unhappy-until his last mar
riage-in his relation with women. often
quite mad and usually living on the treach-
erous borderland Of hallucination. his
existence has been fevered, miserable,
though his successes are brilliant Sanity
has not been his cardinal quality-he has
more than once gone to the asylum. emerg-
ing In few months cured, and remarkable
as It sounds, remembering the details OF
his mania. Defroqre. nerves that are
sick and cracked, he nevertheless plunged
into the study Of chemistry searching for
q universal solvent--a mad dream after
Balzao. Ideas literally consume the brain
OF this cerebral.
But hard work calmed his nerves. as was
he case with Dostoiersky. S'r.n iberg's
scientific investigations are full Of the flashes
Of divination that at times lend value To
TIE theories Of imaginative men. He has
written an Introduction 4 une Chimie
unitaire.' which was favorably received.
1t was q conclusion foregone that his i'm
pulsive and overwrought emotional nature
would lead him into extrava gancies. moral
and artistic. 1Inferno.' or tho double
drama. mach Damaskus." reveals his
eroticism. his farorche imagination, his
harsh atheism. He has confessed In one
of his photographed outpourings, for he
lays bare his soul with the some nalvete
AZ Tolstoy or Rousseau-that In his youth
he was . believer. that the modulation to
thinking and rank atheism was an
easy one. Then, after q period Of turbu-
lence. he became the dispassionate pom
derer-which we take the liberty Of doubt
ing-and finally socialism, with it's remote
horizons. Its heroisrns, its substitution Of
Humanity for the old gods, caught his
wandering soul. He Is become once more
religious, lives no longer in Paris-a whirl.
pool for . man Of his nature-has married
again, and now contentedly abides In the
university town OF Lund. Until the next
.psy chical hegira!
Anthropologists teach that after 20 a
man Of genius-who IL, in Darwinian
phrase a 'sport"-returns to his tribe;
resumes In himself the traits OF his parents
Perhaps Strindberg has reached the grand
climacteric and may give US le~s disturbing
masterpieces. In 1909. under the title OF Ell
Einakter. q German translation Of eleven OF
his one-act plays was published. This
collection contains the ripest Offering thus
far. OF his unquestionable genius. 1t begins
with -GrSfn julie condensed by the
dramatist into one-act piece. a tragedy
Of naturalisin.' he calls IL. We wish We
could describe at length this intense play.
IL 10 an emotional bomb~heil. The social
world seems topsy-turvied after a first
reading. After . second. while the grip
ping power does not relax. you begin to
realize the writer's deep. almost abysmsl
knowledge Of human nature. Imagine .
Joseph Andrews made love TO by q Lady
BOBBY. youthful. fascinating. But Field
ing only aims light shafts OF satire; S,rind-
berg calls up Ghos,s with haunting eyes.
Passion there 10. and . horrible-uo other
word fts-Atmosphsre Of reality. You
know the affair has happ~ned: you see the
valet. Jeaa. tucking his cook swesthsart
snder tho chin as she feeds him with dAiniie~
10 the kitchen; you witness the appearance
on the scene Of Jsiis snAInored: frantic.
unhappy Jshs. and you view the orumbiine
Of hes soui. depicted ~ In ons of thoss
drswinss Of Guiiio's ROmsno from which
Sou sv~r pour head. The hnais mAks.