The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-26
Mr.. Trying IN FRENCH COMEDY
A FRESH AND AUTHENTIC TOUCH
IN A CHARMING PLAY.

"MAuElCGtte" n HiAmeioSe comedy OF Pars
tsian Life. with y Brilliant First Act
and Two Others That We're True and
Fine. II Not Very Novel or stFi AlnS.
II only Mr.. Irving could have made his
first appearance among US in "Mauricette Y
The remark was on many lips last night
at the New Amsterdam. The shadow OF
the greater Irving was lifted, n one saw
a young, finished, charming actor, with
a touch OF power all his own. And one
saw an ensemble performance which, except
for a few minor roles, had almost miracu-
lousy achieved the atmosphere Partisan.
The mar who did this was capable Of many
new and delightful things.
That the play was not sooner given was
no doubt due to it's lack Of weight, in the
theatrical sense, and the comparative
sienderness Of the opportunities it affords
Mr.. Irving. But better a thousand times
the smallest touch Of authentic individu-
atty than greatness manque
Roger Ddutrdn CMr. Irving) is an aging
libertine OF amiable levity whose wife sees
in the advance Of years an opportunity to
reclaim him from her many rivals. She
introduces a young and ~piquantly charming
child OF the Latin Quarter Marricette Miss
DOIOJhcA DhlIuI III VACh hOAAO AA AN wv
of giving him in innocent guise h touch
of grace and jo~yousness he has long and
deceitfully sought elsewhere. How she
happened upon so p~erilous a course is not
made clear-perhaps because the play has
been cut. The end, however, j~ustifies her,
though not in the way she hoped. DGutrdn
falls in love with Mduricette, and she with
him. To escape the tangle she marries
-g--l~ $1,000 -~I rt-hN vntn@aI
ward. Eventually, in the love Of the man
Of suitable years and state she finds happi-
ness; while Ddutrdn, in experiencing for the
first time the a~bnegation of true love, finds
something as deep il not as satisfying.
1t is a trihe bourgeois. il you will; n
though NJ. Andre Picard, who wrote it, is
. newcomer in Paris, il is reminiso mt OF
an elder school Of comedy. But IL Ia
genuine, and il is real. It's chief disability
spring 9 from the fact that the last two
acts, the tone of which is quite serious,
even emotional, follow upon a first act
as light and brilliant as ever came from the
pen Of Alfred Capus.
Mr.. Irving is capable throughout. As
the lover of Mduri cite he is delightfully."-
humorous and ardent; and his acceptance
Of his eventual fate is as simple as it is
convincing. But it is in the opening scene
that he is most salient and most appealing.
With evanescent touch (abetted by the
skill of the author he shows Ddu'rdn's
ably concealed WEAKNESS Of his wife, n
how it mainly springs from the knowledge
that she welcomes his approaching super
anuatIon as an amorIst-which is to bring
him back to her. Partisan that, to the point
of femininity.
And he is equally delicious in portravinR
the completeness with which Affairs OF
~gallantry have possession Of his soul-and
the superficial charm and address they
have evoked in him. At once subtle and
salient, witty and true, the act as presented
by Mr.. Irving and his company is an endur-
ing memory Of the possibility Of recreating
an essentially foreign manner.
As Mdurieette Miss Baird was uneven. In
the later acts she lacked depthand fervor-
or was IL that her gowns and her couture
lapsed into the French Of Strait ord-atte-
Bowe? In the first act she vas as Partisan
in costume as she was fresh and piquant
in demeanor. 1t was easily to be believed
that man and woman alike fell in love with
her at sight,.
AS the earnest and somewhat ascetic
lover Mr.. Harcourt Williams lacked the COL
loquial touch in reading his lines. This
may AVE been in part because he was not
quite perfect in them. In any case, it was a
fault easily forgiven in such a character.
Mr.. Williams's demeanor was always manly
and ardent. And. by the way. il IL an I'M
usual pleasure to be authorit lively assured
that such young men do exist between the
Channel and the Mediterranean
The play was preceded by w. l.. Court
ney's rather crude and stodgy dramatizs-
ton of Stevenson's story Of -Markheim,'
which gave Mr.. Irving occasion for a Bit Of
melodramatic acting worthy of a more
mature and convinc ing vehicle.