The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-16

other side and goes downstairs TO have
matters out with the concierge Another
man PUSHES upstairs. 1t il more serious
case than broken water pipe, He pulls
the bell over which the doctors sign il
affixed and the architect languidly opens
the door He IL in his shirt sleeves and his
hair is rumpled Can't people sleep OF
nights? The man explains his need. 1t il
pressing without doubt. but what can an
architect do2 II is not in his line, Why
not try the doctor. But you are the doctor,
excaims the mystified visitor. The archi-
tect reads the sign, hiccoughs and slowly
moves TO the other side. He bursts into
laughter as he realizes the mess, and sum
mons his friend. The women now come on
and in the ridiculous finale the two strangers
in need of an architect and doctor again
run upstairs and demand their services,
The architect begs but the husband In
hurry will take no refusal the doctor swears
he never saw a water pipe in his life, but he
is made to follow the man with house
The curtain falls.
Possibly this hasty resume seems harm
less enough But, as you know, a par
of Partisan playwrters can extract de,
pravity from a SNOWFALL. In the thlfd
act the two husbands relate their expert.
ences with their two clients. IN Is iuh Oh
Rabelaisian sort. Then the wives enter
and with doleful faces tell Of the trick they
played ana Oh uneNptc'eN co''7SiIII ~
The men groan: there is weeping and wall
ing and crashing of teeth. what! Ian
il be possible9 The husbands view each
other with ill-concealed aversion; worse
remains. BY fiuke the women nave
discovered that no banquet was given
the night before and rub this discovery III
by sending a printed notice that the Blank
institution was forced to post pone its pro
ject ed celebration and banquet. Fairly
cornered the two men confess. but swear
that they drank champagne quite alone
This lie il also nailed, and after lettlnR lne
silly fellows suffer from what the Germans
SO happily call "a moral kdfsenJdmmer.
the truth is told in its entirety-when the
door plates were changed the wives also
changed their abodes. Curtain.
II may be seen that as il stands in me
original this farce would not be tolerated III
New York. 1t was the acting Of the company
that principally delighted me. Alexander Is
an accomplished comedian, and with Marie
Reisenh ofer, a handsome woman who acts
with much fnesse and Josefine Sorger, an
excellent ingsnue, the piece went on oiled
wheels.
Manager I.autenberg is a Hungarian by
birth, and at one time played in Vienna WIN
Somewhat. Later he appeared IN all tle
classic roles SO dear TO the German-speak-
ing actor: FrdnE Moor. Nathan the WISE,
Richard III. When his art matured he
essayed more modern characters. lbsen Tor
a time attracted him and he played sucn
parts as II jdlndr Ekdol in The Wild Duck;
Ostrdld in Ghosts" Helmer In Doll >
House" and L0vborp in "Hedda Gabler.'
Now a prosperous Berlin manager. Herr
Lautenberg, does not disdain artistic pieces
and when I told him OF Ellen Terry's ex-
pertinent with lbsen's Vikings. he was
much Interested For one thing, he had
never read the play, and its possloilitss
IN
is great admirer OF America ana American
methods. and only last spring went 10 New
York and the Middle West Just IA vacation.
Some day, he predicted, the tide will turn
the way Of America and Europeans on
pleasure bent will seek our shores
I also saw the Deutsches Theater com
pauy play otto Erich Hartlebens Rosen-
montag. and but indiferently well. This
Officers Tragedy" with its high pitched
sentmentasm and its pictures OF par
rack life. has been success Its realism
Is Of the variety that makes popular appear
here. for there are shrill filings, drums and
trumpets and the gauds and wiles Of snowy
uniform The ensemble work OF the COM
pany was excellent, though no better than
Mr. Conried's organization several SEASONS
ago l soon found out 70 my dssappont-
msnt that the better actors OF the Deutsches
Theater were away Number two COM
puny WIS cIlJOyHlB 40
After listening 70 Der Fvangelimann
at the opera house, realized exactly what
Kaiser Wilhelm meant in one OF his recent
divagstions on the theme OF national
art One can also understand why Gorkls
"Nachtasyl' found no royal favor. ~ -
the drama OF the dissatisfied the drama OF
rAvolt In the opera Of Der Evangel-
mann" the book supplies the sweetest
combination of mush melodrama, cheap,
snivellng pietism. and a realism that appeals
TO those FOR whom their belly Is their god
The Emperor was quite right In honoring
this mLlddle Of Wagner and water with his
approval He is first the politician and then
the connoisseur. and while l believe that
he secretly enjoys Tolstoy, Ibsen and Rodin,
in public he undertakes any art that 10 NOT
Germanic in It's quality: Wilhelm kienzi,
the composer; Rudolph Begas the sculptor,
and let us say Hartleben as drama
with the Impressionists who endeavor 10
make their pictures quiverinR transcript
tons of sunlight and the beautiful shadows
that liza on the thither side Of couch
ing cattle So, in consequence, at the Art
Exhibition this summer, the dear old dirty
browns and blacks OF our forefathers, 70
Qether with the painted anecdote were all IN
loval evidence on the walls. Yet in the
Berlin Museum there are several wonderful
Claude Monets, a marvellous Segantini
Pissarro, a Cezanne, a Renoir, Sisley, an
Anders Zorn, three Robins, one Of which is
a most exquisite offering, IL homme ct "a
pensee 1t would not surprise me II the
Emperor was often in this gallery, though
he continue to praise mediocrity openly.
Der Evangelinann" has not been heard
in America, though IL may be. II Ia
German Salvation Army grand opera, and
il might appeal because Of it's psalm-sing
ing The story Ia nauseously naive. The
| first scene Is laid in lower Austria, 1920;
the second in Vienna, 1850. The action
concerns the doings Of a wicked elder
| brother, who, furiously jealous OF his
man-0plots his destruction. The cGsus
IeK is a pretty girl, the niece OF an official
| in their native town. In Act 1, we see a
| picturesque scene, church with brief
| glimpse of sky at the background There
| Is choral singing. Matthias and Martha,
| the hero and heroine, discourse Of their
love without Then as they go on the
wicked minded brother. very thin, very
barytone as to voice, and altogether SIMS
| ter, notes their enlacing arms and growing
affection, and whispers his suspicious to
| the uncle of the girl. The affections OF his
niece are surely being tempered with by
! the oIsrlSly Junior brother. The bass uncle
| Ia wroth, and the mischief maker goes his
way rejoicing Martha and Malhids-a
| brace OF lovely names-are reprimanded
| and the lover sent to Coventry. johannes,
the eldert brother, makes bis appeal and
finally snatches kiss. l forget how this
| kiss is orchestrated- something baleful and
whirring goes of in the orchestra. The
indignant maiden saps the naughty man,