The San Francisco call., 1904-12-11

'As to vaudeville" she went on,
q The Silent System was something Of
a relief after thiTty-seven weeks Of
'GhostsI'"
Ghosts" ahl that was what 1 want
ed I echoed: Thirty weeks of
Ghosts"
Miss Shaw laughed comfortably and
put it: 1T was rather a draggy sort Of
experience. You see there were a good
many one night stands during the tour.
That meant, well, it was the first Ibsen
that most OF the places had had
And that meant ="
That meant the responsibility of
presenting Ibsen to the big people. peo-
pie Of the plains. of the woods. of the
great farms, of the corner grocery. all
sorts Of people. Curious, too" she went
on. with the thoughtful. speculative ex-
preston that she most commonly
wears, "the houses were always top
heavy. We couldn't understand it. OF
course, as you know, the Ibsen genre
appeals most strongly to the student
who doesn't sit downstairs. That would
account for the crowding of the first
gallery-always full-but how about the
upper gallery2"
How did they take It. your plains
folk?"
Deeply, seriously, throughout" she
had to say. 1T is as simple as the
Bible, you know; its meaning is un-
mistakable."
But isn't Mrs. Alving rather diff
cult to get over the footlights?"
Naturally" Miss Shaw agreed: her
form of expression is wholly repressive
She has lived through all the outward
agonies Of suffering. After twenty years
Of it one does not do this sort OF
thing''-denghtfully absurd was the
actress agonized grab at her chestI
her upturned eyesl
In Mrs. Alving." she continued then.
''one is not dealing with outward sym
bols Of emotional expression. Those,
after all, If an actress is mistress of her
art, are pretty simple things-say the
Leslie Carter expression in Du Barry.
Mrs. Alving has to be lived. I used
to wonder if 1t were necessary to give
the same intense exposition night after
night. But you cannot help it. The
dynamic power Of the part simply car
ries you with It."
isn't It a little wonderful" she
turned sheer on me then with. how Ib-
sen came to write four or five plays In
which the heart Of a woman is abso-
lutely laid bare, absolutely probed to
the depths-that old, non-faced party
sitting there in that hermit study of
hist How did It happen? This way,
surely. Ibsen was a great socialist in
his young days. The compromise. cor
ruption, ineffectiveness of the govern
ment disgusted him, and he went to the
cause Of II. He saw how men thinned-
flattened out under temptation and
failed at need. He saw in them the
eternal soft spot, wondered where 1t
came from. Then he said to himself.
the womani' He asked himself. how
can the woman, cased round with all
sorts of restrictions, largely bundle of
the negative virtues, give to her son
the great soul?' Then he said-in his
plays: Release the woman! Christ
again. Open her cage. If she loves it.
she'll walk back, but she'll be a free
woman. And she'll find you a thou
sand reasons for staying there when
she can have 1T that the jailor has
never thought Of Let her even SIM he
says. But let her learn and be strong.
a Dolls House began the plays.
OllgGNC - l4lC CCQOCA. CllGClA9 eau
full people say about Nora Helmer
leaving her home and husband. But
Nora, finding in herself the liar. the
thief, exiled herself until such time as
she could be worthy mother to the
children she had, ana worthily bear
others. So read it,
And Mrs. Alving stayed"
Mrs. Alving stayed" the actress re-
peated. "Of course the man was diff
ferent. But Mrs. Alving did the con-
ventionally moral thing-Oswald was
the result. There, where she grovels on
the floor before her son. lapsing into
idiocy, is the magnificence Of Ghosts
Every child's birthright is love-'what
kind Of life did you give me. mothers?
he asks"
LAS to 'Rosmersholm' I suggested
then.
"Ah, we're on different ground there"