New-York tribune., 1905-12-20
THE DRAMA.
NINE BERNHARDT AT THE LYRIC.
"Magda. /"

0AdS4as
Nine. BernhaTdts talents and efforts often mis-
applied and wasted, are especially squanoeEed Wuei
used in exposition of the tedious and perniciouS
play of 'Magda-" This play has found consioet-
able favor with women, apparently fer the reason
that its drift sets in favor of womans right 10 Do
as dissoute as a dissoute man-if she happens 70
De so disposed. Magda leaves respectable hoIAF'-
in which her father is an intoierahle tyTant
sorts with proaigste persons; becomes motnel'
without having become a wife; is desertSd py heF
paramour; adopts the stage as a profession ts44s'
that glorious art should almost invariably be the
refuge sought by ignominious personsD; rises 10
enlinence as a vocalist; absurdly and unraturanS'
after Ions absence. returns to her fathers he9Ss,
meets there her former sweetheart, now Whi'eu
sepulchre of conventienaJty; repels him as a ee-A
tenapttble cliarlatan while thanking him for having
provided her with the blessing of maternity 49,
by the angry defiant, brazen tnImation that she mas
led life Of shame, causes her aged sire 10 eAptoO
with rage and perish of an spopleEy
There is not anything IL the story to account
for the interest that this fabric Of FOLLY and I'M
propriety has excited. nor does the chaFaess1 -
Magda-seIfsh perverse, vicious vatns catllAe'
and repellent-explain the attractive charm thAI
it seems to possess for the female popuIa.loi
Mrs. Biske Nine. Modjeska, Nine Duse' A1'Ne'
Bernhardt. and various other performers haN7 Pr.
duced it. and each and every one of them mas hleN
with sympathy and admiration female pRIo4@
named Stone. in an address delivered here some
time ago. announced that women taNoPapls va
template ''the woman with a past" IA cohSel17
porary plays, because they understand hsF an"
find her Interesting" 1t is all a mystery sslhce
to the male mind Magda is about as lhtet-
esting as rotten apple, unless It De as
before intimated, that Magda conquers py her
truoulent valor in hurting defiance ae 'H
tyrsnt man and in making clear the porten1ous
truth that if the game of vice is TO pe
played, the goose can play it as well as the gan
der, and that Freedoms license, once pegun' -
Just as fair for two one. Ana eoo" @ tO
daughter as for son. And on our stage IS he'eA
done The theme of Nine. Bernhardts aeung IN
+he mart of Magda,-often considered in TINS place
is not iraportant Her impersouatlon IS sustalheu'
reunded and finished. Her exqberance OF vlYae4tS
,s af1uent and delicious and it is denoted In count
less gestures poses and tones of joy. Her express
sion of faI fondness is very sweet, with It's hePlo
endearments It ali proficient and OFTEN very
pretty; but it comes to nothing. The aecolnpisi@A
actress personates all these loose and laWess hero-
ines of amatory intrigue in muen the sans "e9'
rFbav all enplev enticements or deliver impetueus
haranaTes; they all articulate in style OF oe-
lightful clarity and precision; they all nave 8
sweet voice: and they all wear marvellous raiment
Some Of them die by poison: some by the dagger
or the bullet; some by the operation always
thank Heaven rapidD of disease. OCCASIONALLY
as In the case of La Tosca,-who can be seen to-
,,ieb+-tbev are 'rheeled," and they make an eH-
neditious and saIutary use Of their weapons But
as class they are of uniform immortality and
uniform artistic symmetry. and they are exceeaT
tnglv monotoneus The Bernhard repertory, TINS
season comprises ten females of dramatic fiction
and every one of them is unohaste ana eaaSlhg ~
swirl of hystericaI sexuality. THE low sun makes
tba color" Quite true But o for breath of
the morning air and a CLINT of fAe rising Funi
". w.