The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-27
MANSFIELD AS DIMMESDATE.
y,wTUORNErS "SCARLET LET
TER" rs REVIVED.
,crco, No,el Reduced to Dramatic Shrels
and Patches Fails 10 sustain Interest
mt .>nords Mansfield a Few Theatre
uomcnts Miss Rockwell as Hester.

and Patches Fails 10 Sustain Interest
NM \nords Mansfield a Few Theatric
uoucn1s Miss Rockwell as Hester.
:, -,-ronye 10 many requests Richard
,r.sseld las, night revived the dramatiza-
.tar' 81 Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter." when
~. produced several years ago at DAYS
Tti. stnpe piece once had an author-a
t,ok euthor who did his utmost to Haw-
horne But so many people have taken a
t,oL at hin in turn that his identity has
hoon los, in the chips, and his name has
Ssonreared from the programme. The
uorolist himself has Jared as ill-in fact,
though not in name
The original novel, II need scarcely here
IA said. is a work Of distin guished genius
When it appeared ffty-six years ago IL was
=, once recognized as such, and succeeding
1acodes have only intensified the general
tn,rossion of its imaginative siren 9Th
"nd ~ its austere and elevated spirituality.
T." ;,s own sphere it stands first among
,ror,can novels, and there is nothing COM
n.,able 10 it in any literature shor OF the
lew great world masterpieces
Inst night at the New Amsterdam 1t
,rnaa red as a thing Of shreds and patches.
There vas now and again a fine speech
from the book or a scene OF potential
drama But the narrative upon which
,Sev were strung together was ftimsy
and unreal when it was not quite unin-
teiIigible, And horror upon horrors, the
Whole was diversified by an underplot OF
comic lovers.
Gold or any actor, could infuse into this
.crt NJ thing the pulse of dramatic life.
sill less could he create for us the Haw-
,bornesque atmosphere OF geld spirituality
and fateful fantasy. For the most part
ones heart was untouched, ones soul
tonai conviction as there were depended
largely upon ones memory Of the book.
But none the less the portrayal OF Arfhur
Dimmisdale was throughout the work OF
an actor Of great dramatic endowments
and compelling imagination Mr. Mans
Carlos, " were for the most part in abeyance;
Ills presence was striking and masterful
without pose, his motion full of unaffected
plastic grace. His voice shone forth In all
rs richest colon Of crimson and gold, that
faded at last, in the death scene, into the
dusk Of a splendid twilight, Inc huge
theatre was crowded and the audience
showed its appreciation by long continued
applause. But the fro OF great and real
enthusiasm was lacking
The first act, it will be remembered. cul-
inmates in the scene on the pillory s%cattold!
In which Dinmisddle, in his character OF
minister, defends his secret. paramour
against the %puritanical anger OF the crowd.
The line with which the scene ends--"Let
him that is without ain among you cast the
first stOne!"-does not occur in the novel
and Is not without a suggestion OF Theatre
obviousness. Last night this suggestion
was intensified by a too speedy descent
NJ tho curtain. Bilt the massage revealed
Mansfield in a moment OF very character
ktic uOwer and with repetition should
prove vastly effective.
The conception Of the concluding scene
Of the play, in which Dimmisdhte, supported
by Hester, publicly confesses his guilt and
bares to the crowd the stigma Of guilt on his
bosom, is at once dramatic and true, and
for a moment the audience was aware of
the potentialities Of the theme and OF the
powers Of the actor to realize them.
The supporting company were quite ade-
qlate to the material they worked in. The
malignant and vindictive hate OF Roger
~Chilhngrorth, none o convincing in the
Of the play. AS presented by A. O.. An
drews the character was picturesque IN
physical deformity and admirable in the
makeup Of its lean and intellectual face.
Asthe comic lover Henry Wenman revealed
INJUNCTION worthy OF n better cause. Vivian
Bernard and Alma Hathaway gave, vlgor-
GUS portraits OF two viragos, n Irene
Prahar was sympathetic as a kindly Puritan
maiden.
The Hester Prynne OF Florence Rockwell
was a really notable creation, picturesque
in presence and commanding in manner,
with a very unusual blending of passion and
Imagination. This performance, also, in
tensifed the regret that the play was not
more nearly adequate to its interpreters,
as well as to its original.