The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-01-08

! Gratitude is the least human OF the virtues
A man is much less willingly bound 10
those from whom he has rece we'd an obliga-
ton than To those he has benefited. La
| biche had his hands on "A subject of which
he might haze made really excellent
ccmedy-one that would have taken its
place in the national repertory. But he
FILTERED IL away Tor the lack of caro- md
| concentration. 1t cannot 10 denied that
! Sarceys objections ara just. In the third
ofthe four acts Lnbiche starts aside from bis
main theme to introduce AZ new com
| plication the matter oi duel which, funny
/ a. it il, is not only extraueous to his legiti-
! mate purpose but tightly considered
| destructive of IT, And that is the act which
sho uld mark the climax Of development.
/ So Sarcey reiegated the play TO the limbo Of
abortlons When in the full flush of the
rediscovery of Labiche 4Le Voyage de NJ.
Perichonr was revived at the Odeon rs his
comedy masterpiece $50 Ssroey, while
standing by the justice Of HI early acolding,
hailed it AZ one of the very snail number
Of comedies which his generation would
add 10 the repertory Of the Theatre Fran
Gals
In Mr.. Fitoh's adaptation, It seems to
me, there are mar ked defects--and even
more marked virtues. In the FIRST place,
the attempt TO make the play in any real
sense American was foTedoomed to failure.
The unctuous vanity OF PerTichop, his monu-
mental simplicity. IL altogether OF the
French bouTgeoisie. and the negaton OF
our chief national characteristic Of bralny
oomplerity. Some of the fun, too. Ia OF
necessity sacrificed. In his access of com
monplaoe emotion inspired by tho Alps,
Psrrichon wrote In the register OF the inn:
How small II man, contemplated from the
height OF the Mere de Glacel- On reading
this, his critio-a Con1mandant OF zouaves
10 the original -writeg below; Let me
call " Perrichon's notice 10 the fact that,
az the Mer de Glace has no children, the
e. he attributes to II Ia grammatical bull.
Perrichon avenges himself by subjonlng
that the Commdnddn, is lout
The young girl who is the object of the
pursuit OF the two young men Mr. Fitch
seems to have tried Ia reclaim from the
supineness Of the French maiden but II
so he has not succeeded. Her mother
May Robson's part-has actually lost char
acter and at the same time the theme OF
the play has suffered. 1t was Labiche'e
Enthusiastically ore women have a natural
penohant for gratitude. In the core Of
their hearts they cherish the memory of
benefit The loss # this phase Of the
main idea is serious, and particularly az in
tho process the girl and her mother are
made far less openly favorable 20 the young
man who saved Perrichon's life. and whom
the audience wishes 70 win the maiden.
M ~ IL l.
relaxed
Why this deviation? II was perhaps a
consequence though far from necessary
consequence the change which made
Of Perrichon's wife a widow with whom
Cousin Billy is in love. Then too perhaps.
10 have de1 ''ap@d the characters Of fbe
women sou d IA re rnomentarily thrown Mr..
Wilson into the background But faithful
as are Mr. Wilson's sointillsnt knees. Is 1t
right to Labiche TO RELY on them only for
his support
Against all this must be set some Of Mr..
Fitch's best comedy lines and grotesque
characters When CoWsiu Billy comes in
perspiring from the glacier. he hooks back
at II and says THAT old iceberg ia MI
right but wouldn't It be great with a bit Of
rye aud lemon peel and r here Mr.. VIII
son initiates the mixing and drinking Of
highball. Il was q stroke that went 70 the
seat Of every American thirst But why
expatiate, when the thing itself may be
seen? In all its main outline and in vast
deal of comic detail Mr.. Fitch has pre-
served his original intact And even while
lamentng certain " the alterations he has
made. it is no slight triumph 10 have made
the play at last popularity acceptable
The end Of the first act Mr.. Fitch has
made much more oomical thHn in the orig
inal. and hc has strengthened the story by
cleverly dinerentiRting the characters Of
the two young men. The addition Of a
love affair between Billy aud his kinswoman
has greatly enhanced the popular value
of the piece without in any way impairing
its quality Mr. Fitch's signal triumph
il in cutting OUT the matter 81 the duel.
and with it the irrelevant third act entire.
In his version the play is logical and
well developed unit This one change alone
more than redeens every ehortcomng
that can toe alleged against him
Those who have chosen TO see nothing
in the play but lilly driyel have attributed
it's popular success TO Mr. Wilson's clown
ing But overwhelmingly funny as the
comedian H. he gives ~ much besides his
old fami.iar tricks. His present success
may well pave the way To a more restrained
method. Il is tho old cutlery of
scorn for those who amtss. How history
does repeat itself GeofrJy, who created
Perrichon and many another Of I4abiche's
leading parts, fel under the same ban
Before Angler read the plays. ne oonfesses
Il imagined like many others that they
required. 10 make them amuss, the gro
tesaue accompaniment Of the actor m /
hen. /. me ,ror pdla' 1t is no
longer question Of the nervous, grimao-
ing laugh OF mouth tickled 10y leather
The laughter OF Tablche Is broad. full
blown laughter dominated 10y sense and
reason JoHS CoRBIN.
L. L n..n,, Irn,rt aI,o An...,.r,