The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-11-25

Pippa Passes,'' and she is playing to
practically empty houses. -Four long
{ hours of gloom and Browning so
the Times characterized the perform
ance, and the Sun styles it "a rite Of ,I
m,nisconceived zeal and reverence.
True, too true. But, tho Browning is
9caviare to the general, to those who
know him and love him this presenta-
ton is treat. . The bright spot is
Mabel Taiaferro as Pippa. She is
sweet and ingenious. She accomplish
es the difficult bedroom scenes with in
nocent grace and charm. Mrs. lie
Moyne IS methods preclude the POSSIBLE
tellectually delineates the role. AS
William Winter aptly puts is, she does
not impersonate; she exemplifes. In
the role of the old bishop, Monsignor,
she was much better. BY sheer force
of intelligence she made real this
stanch old soul in, his wasted body.
All in all, this production confirmed my
Judgment Of Mrs. lie Moyne in s"The
Blot in the 'Scutcheon. My opinion,
that Mrs. LIE Moyne is a reader rather
than an actor; and second, that Robert
Browning is for the minds eye, not
for the stage. ~@.
If Henry Miller made a mistake ip
standing sponsor for "Pippa Passes,
he certainly did not repeat his mistake
in producing "Hedda Gabler,'' now
running in special matinees at the. Prin-
in the title role. The production is
such triumphant success that one
scarcely knows how to begin. Let me
begin, if you please, by stating what
seems to me it's one fundamental weak
ness, the intrinsic viciousness of the
drama itself. ~
In these days of realism we have
learned that the mere presence OF wee
in literature or drama does not spell i'm
hesitates to call spade a spade. The
play "Hedda Gabler' has in it good
people and bad; but the good people
are poor fools, while the bad are the
only ones really interesting. The
whole thing is from the point of view
of Hedda-Hedda, with, the instincts
OF a degenerate, aggravated by her
pregnant condition, The play unfolds
Hh % %as false pa haaF It wod @ot
be dangerous-witness many amusing
tales Of horror by Edgar Allen Poe
but, being true to a diseased or alb
normal aspect of nature, it produces its
reaction in every spectator. The SIMS
ter fascination of Hedda, augmented
by every bit of incident and psychol-
ogy with answering technic, points to
self destruction. There is. no lesson
implied, as in Ibsen s Ghosts" but
here we have a cutting into the sore
for the pure scientific joy Of the dem
onstration. It belongs to the dissect
ing room rather than to the stage.
The function of tragedy, said Aristotle,
is to purge the emotions thru pity and
terror. There is no pity for Hedda
Gabler. ~ Rather ones soul cries out
with Macduff, '" r. = ~ -,
o, horror. horror, horror! Tongue nor. heart
Cannot conceive nor name ,thee!. " .. T.
To be sure this fact does not lessen
the acting value of "Hedda Gabler."
On the contrary, can think of no
more rigorous test of historic genius.
The present, production, is notable
for containing some of the best actors
in New York. There is one genius
and only one in the cast, Nine. Naz-
imova. When she appeared she was
overwhelmed with plaudits. The ec-
casion was significant as both the cul-
mination and the beginning of her life
work: 1t was her first appearance in
English. Born on the shores of the
Black sea, educated at Odessa as a
violinist, and being graduated three
years later as an actress from the Phil.
harmonic society of Moscow, she was
launched at once as a. star in a stock
company. After three years in stock,
she was leading woman in the Imperial
theater at ST. Petersburg. Then she
joined Paul Orlenoff and his Russian
players, and appeared with them last
she made sensation here, but nat
urally our critics could not gage her
ability. This then, her first appear
ance in English, was to be the test.
Nine: Nazimova stepped on the stage
as Hedda Gabler, tall, sinuous crea-
ture in green draperies, an iris at her
throat, she was superb beauty, dark,
Iustrous, metallic. -, The applause sub
sided. Then she spoke, and her first
ward off blow she threw up her arm,
and the audience realized that she had
forgotten her lines. 1t, was over in a
flash, and, except for that first moment,
Nine. Nazlmova was complete mistress
OF herself, the calm answering spirit
OF the action. Her English was clear
and pure. Altho with the aroma of a.
foreign accent, hers is, not the garbled
tongue, of Nine. Modieska: Nine. Naz-
imova's voice is low, flexible and cleo
trifying., Her grace is supernal. Every
motion suggests ease, not affectation.
Giving full value to the picturesque,
she poses, but never obtrusively. Her
facial expression is the most wonderful
| have ever seen. A side glance at
name, "Eilert Lovborg ''-behold. the
whole exposition! Before Ibsen- has
told US, we know Hedda's relation to
all OF her associates, so perfect is the
actress power of alternate repression
and revelation.
There is an interesting article in the
November number Of Putnam IS, which
declares that Hedda is not a woman at
all, but that she typifes pistol. The
analogy IS suggestive, but scarcely per-
t1nent. 1t is because Mme.. Nazimova
has made Hedda a woman first of all,
that she has succeeded in her vital ap-
peal. But she. is, not content to leave
her mere. woman, as Mrs. Fiske and
Mrs. Campbell have been: There is: a
tingers OF. symbolic aloofness about
Hedd la perhaps caused by her hypno-
tlzlnga curiosity. This intangible quail
31ty. DEITY suggested by: Ibsen, is nice
ly4 bodied: forth by .Nazimoya. 81
want for once in my life to: have power
to mold human destiny,''S this is. the
thesis of the super-wonan;y. then the
animal in her becoming dominant, she
springs like a: tiger at Mrs Elvsted:
think / must burn; your hair & f.,'1
she misses. The burning of Lovborg g
manuscript is the apex Of passion in
Nazlmova delineation. AS a beast
might tear his victim limb from limb.
she snatches out the leaves and plunges
them tumultuously into the flames.
Nowhere, however, is the actinU moro