The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-23
"MONNA WANNA" In VIENNA.
WAETERLINCkS PLAY AT THE
F-BURGTHEATER.

The Production Effective and S,icccssru
stella BOhentels M Elderly bu
Dramatic MOnna yanna-The AttraC
al0ns OF vienna for Summer Visitors
You have read much of Maeterlinck il
these columns the past three months. doubt
less too much. have written of him becaIs,
his dramatic evolution presented so many
charming surfaces He occupies a com
handing position in the field vacated b,
the grand old man of Norway, Henrik
lbsen; his talent has waxed, not wanec
with the years, and compared to him there
In no one so poetic except the author OF
The Sunken Bell" Hauptmann. III,
newer Frenchmen, Hervieu, Donnay. jules
Lemaftre. BrieuX, Mirbeau. Lavedan--I am
not naming them in order, but by the flick
ering light of a treacherous memory
have ma lie and are making comedy of a
delightful or revolving sort, whichever way
you choose to Judge There is to-day not
single commanding figure in French
dramatic literature Rostand no longer
counts; he has been stuffed for preserva-
ton in the Academy. Before Sarah Bern
hardt and a craving for easy honors seized
him he displayed a small, charming talent.
But his beautiful artistic future IL behind
him. Sardou. with his 8 ,ribe-like imita-
lions OF the well-made play another con-
vention). has long since degenerated into
theatrical costumer fitting actors with
motley. So ii is that we have had to look
70 Norway. to Belgium. for dramatic writ
ers Of the first rank
Yet ! have wearied. as doubtless you
have also, of Maeterlinck and his towers.
his mysterious marshlands his monosvabio
princesses and his pathetic moonlights
Next year we may all learn to detest him,
80 mutable ia the taste of mankind But |
determined early in the spring that il |
crossed Siberian wastes | would witness
"Monna Wanna" in its dramatic garb TO
see If it tailed with written judgments.
The devil of doubt Ia not far away from
the elbow Of every right-minded critic
In Paris I asked NJ Maeterlinck where
could hear -Monna Wanna In Berlin,
Vienna and St. Petersburg he replied.
The first-named city satisfied nv desire
for long distance travel, and fastened
to the Deutsches Theater, there to be
greatly disappointed, though not critically
Inundated, It was in this revolutionary
playhouse that what Lyof Tolstoi calls
the fruits of culture are offered. All that
is bizarre, violent-in word modern
usually gets first hearing at the Deutsches
Theater. The night l heard "Monna
Wanna the programme recorded its i53d
performance. big figure in Berlin where
our prolonged runs" are comparatiyely
unknown.
Unuckily the second-or was il third2 |
cast was playing, 30 I was present at the |
usual obsequies Of NJ Maet erlinck's J
bold and poetic play. The gifted Teresina !
Gessner had been the first German Wanna,
and her successor, Hedwig PAUL., while
considerable intelligence and |
a certain nervous intensity, was hardly
an ideal wife of the Inflated Guido Colonna.
She has unquestionabe temperament; but
the role demands higher attributes. emo
tional and intellectual Played like an
heroic tigress, it loses its spiritual force,
its delicate pathos. Nor can the character
ne expressed IN terms OF the so-called static
drama (Which is but another name for an
play) The PAUL. must be COM
mended for her self-abandonment and
sincerity. Technical dexterity she has, but
not In abundant quantity. Her Wanna
was trif1e too headstrong and did not in
dictate the underlying determination to
brave husband, lose honor, life, if needs
be, for the sake Of her beloved and suffering
city. She was too much the Judith, too
much the Satammbo and not enough the
Godiuu. Passion, not pity, was her keynote.
Nevertheless she was the one bright
spot in an abominably dull performance.
Guido was noisy brawler-why give his
name? Kurt Stieler, the Prinsirulle, des
perately bad. / thought him the worst
German actor / had ever seen until his
better work as Hans Rudolf in 4Rosen-
He was miscast in the Maeter-
linck drama. Carl Meinhard, the elder
Colonnd. alone betrayed craftsmanship.
The setting was ridiculous, and the tent
scene seemed like parody. At the close,
when the stage should have been scene
Df splendor, few swollen "supers" rushed
in, shouted. looked thirsty and happy az
the curtain fell. Altogether slaughter
IF the innocent dramatist.
But abashed | was not Even through
this muddy Interpretation there filtered
CLEANS which told the spec
ator OF the plays beauty. The German
text OF Friedrich Won Oppeln- Bronikowski
Is excellent, though it lacks the verbal
grace and assonanoe of the original French.
The same version was used in Vienna, where
wo weeks later saw the piece at the Hof-
3urgtheater. noblest theatre of them all.
No need to tease you by descriptions
" the pictures or memorials of celebrated
players. Vienna loves to honor her artistic
lead, as her picture galleries, parks and
testify. The "Monna Wanna"
witnessed within the classic enclosure
II the Burgtheater was something to linger
'ver The title role was taken by Stella
who made her first artistic
success as Desdemona in 1873. No matter.
'he did not look over 30. and you must know
hat Wanna is trying part for physical
display. The second act not only demands
ARE arms, neck and shoulders, but even
Wanna is wounded and shows
Ter wound TO Prinzirdlle. The Hohenfels, I
Who must be over so and few odd notes
n the octave, stood the eye-test extremely
veil. She ia a blonde Wanna, much given
o pauses, during which her expressive
eatWes play no small part in painting
he character. She has tempestuous
but uses it charity and made
refreshing foil to Josef Kainz, who I
hrieked fdlsetto from curtain to curtain {