The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-02-14

in interesting and amusing only the
few and in sadly perplexing many.
Saint Simon said to Nine de Stael:
Madame. you are the most remark
able woman in France, and / am the
most remarkable man; if we should
have a child it would certainly be the
most remarkable child in the world"
BY the same reasoning il was inevi-
table that the Joint brain product of
those two brilliant but eccentric gen
tlemen. Bernard Shaw and Richard
Mansfield. should be the most original
and eccentric of dramas. and certainly
they were all Of that. II was quite i'm
possible to judge either production by
the conventional canons of the theater
for they openly and shamelessly fiout-
ed them all, yet Messrs. Mansfield and
Shaw achieved a triumph which is sell
dom accorded to cautious and law
abiding playwrights and actors.
From Satire to Romance.
Turning from satire to romance. sir.
Mansfield almost immediately took Up
Rostand's great drama. and perhaps
nothing in all his career has done, him
such credit. This extravagantIy ro-
mantle drama. cut. as someone has saId.
from a corner of the cloak of Victor
Hugo. made a peculiarly difficult prcb-
lem
The part of Cyrano is one of the
longest ever essayed by an English
speaking actor. 1t abounds in long in
volved spec ches. crowded with fantasti.:
imagery, bristling with abrupt transit
lions ana sharp contrasts. storms II
words that come now in rife volleys
now in hailstones and now in raindrOpG
No play las been written within tae
last quarter OF century demanding so
rich. so broad. and so versatile an elocu-
ton. 1t was, besides. a rich field for
Mr.. Mansheld's most meritorious az
tributes-hi- subtle underplay. his
auroi- I'm Z, his penetrating analysis
OF person. motives His reading, or
rather his singing of the moon extrava-
ganza in the third act. and his declama-
ton on the Cadets of Gascony' IN thu
battle scene were little short OF miracu-
lous.
However, as time goes on. both actors
and singers demand less from the voice
and more from the mind. Maurel, who
has no voice left at all. is still one q
the greatest singers in the world, and
Duse has given many OF Sarah Bern
hardts colcIatura passages in "A gTay
monotone. and gained. rather than lest
effect. His Julius Caesar was an
other OF Mansfield's splendid tragic con-
tributions 10 the stage, and IL cemented
his position as our greatest actor-man-
aSer.
This season ne turns again to comedy,
as has frequently been his custom All
through his career he has alternated
comedy with tragedy. The new play is
by Wilhelm Meyer-Forster, ana has
been the rage in Europe for two years.
II is "Oi1 Heidelberg" and as tho
Prince Karl Heinrich he has one Of
those fascinating roles of character
subtlety first cousin II his other.
Beau Brummel and Chevrial.
As a manager, Mr.. Mansfield has been
both ambitious. original. and effective.
II he is less popular in that capacity
than Sir Henry Irving. il is only be-
cause he is less adroit as a courtier,
and occasionally INDUCES in the expen-
sive privilege Of speaking his mind.
Art for the Many.
Many Of his characters. so different in
taste and temperament. have some COM
mon trait-a knocking delight I'm I'M
masking the follies and foibles OF men.
Most OF them could say with Kierke-
guard: The passion Of my soul Is
ms Is Iutlf Only tie
Of brotherhood, but il proclaims them
Of their fathers blood. At the bottom
OF his crucibie there is a hard residuum
which the genius of this actor has never
entirely fused.
Under his wigs and rouge and pov-
der, behind all this cunning disguise,
ore feels always A personality excruci-
atingly intense and not untinged with
animosity
No man ever WINGED more often under
the patronage Of the stupid. The author
or the painter, II he content to eat his
potatoes saltless. may at least work for
his own clientele, for men schooled IN
fine distinctions and 90 trained discrimi-
nation. But the drama is peculiarly the
art of the people. Every cab driver
who pays for his seats believes himself
a final authority on the art OF pIav-
acting. The actor must render his ac-
count TO the canaille; he is never safe
from the aggressive overtures of the
Philistine. HE belongs" SAYS Jules
.Claretie, ito the press, to the public. to
the man who Kisses him. to the man
who Judges him" Mr.. Mansfield has
now again been periiously frank with
his dull and tyrannOus master who
does not easily forgive or forget