The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-22

pAV u uIania 40 VSn 10 tOutiug uuth NS"stto
begins to talk about her fathers library
and her own baths-a passage OF dialogue
which Shaw has been at pains to justify
with documentary evidence Of Bulgarian
manners, but which, nevertheless, as pre-
sented on N stage, remains farcical. 1t
never fails to let down the dramatic ten-
sion, what is Of quite as much mo-
ment-the sense Of integrity Of character.
Sergius appears as a study Of the modern
youth whose ideas Of life are modelled
upon the o~peratio tenor, until he degenerates
into a Palais Royal hero flirting with the
serving maid, and detected by his fancee.
BlIntschl, being the embodiment OF the
attitude Shavian, is more consistently
maintained, but in the end breaks down
In the scene Of the inventory, in which he
matches his possessions in horses, coaches
and table linen with those OF his rival.
The dialogue may not, as Mr.. William
Winter has twice intimated, be initiated
from the old Anglo-French farce, Used
Up" which Charles Matthews produced
in 1S45; but it's effect is non the less farcioal.
Those earnest souls who still perplex them
selves with discussing the nature
measure Of Shaw's sincerity might get a
clue from the integrity of his dramatic
point Of view. He keeps himself well in
hand until he is called upon to portray
normal emotion or to deny himself a joke.
Hitherto the interpreters Of Shaw have
erred, when they have erred, in taking
their task too seriously. The present com
pany, it seems to me-, errs in the opposite
direction. Mr.. DAILY keeps for the most
part TO the modesty Of nature If the phrase
-...- - ..-1,nl 30 N CHAN harn-Iulf nnOp-
~sionally strides and shouts. Never having
seen Mansfield in the part, l can only guess
at a comparison--which could hardly, how
ever, fail to be odious. Mr.. Days per-
Torrance Is distinctly less solid and spirited
thar that of the English actor l saw In the
part, Miss Chrystal Herne as Rama seems
always at fortissimo: but she has the best
opportunities of the play, and, with her
sympathetic personality and prevailing
intelligence in method, makes much OF
them. Az Serpius, Aubrey Boucicault has
the most difficult and p~erplexing task oil
all, but that is no reason why he should
leap about as he does in the last act like a
monkey on a stick. Frequently his coat
tails rise supreme above his head. the fell
Of hair on which shakes like q feather
duster. AZ Louka, Biiou Fernandez has
a consistent though impossible part,
and infuses It with passion and sociological
conviction which are, II anything, too fiery.
In the intenser moment one and all rub
noses and hiss in each others teeth In the
old but not good manner Of melodrama.
Doubtless an excess Of energy in such
pal ts is better than tameness. 1t is certain
that the play is one Of Shaw s best, and holds
the audiences at the Lyric-audiences OF
considerable size-in the heaven OF delight
from start to finish. 1t is easy to pick
flaws in Shaw, and easier to cavil at his in
terpreters; but it is very hard indeed to
find plays that afford more fun for play
goers who refuse to check their brains In
the courtroom.
Mr.. Gaylord wiltshire forwards to me this
message, signed G. b. s.: Tel Gay to tell
COrbin that the description of Tanner in
Man and Superman' is not, as Corbin sup
poses, a description Of me, but a very close
description Of H. NJ. Hyndman. or course
it's necessary nowadays to knock thirty
five years of H. NJ, HIS age to make the
description at, but Gay win recognize it at
once. 1t lie absurdly unlike me-the frock
coat alore ought to have made the mistake
impossible Not being acquainted with
Mr.. Shaw, OF even with his lack OF a frock
coat, I was misled by the report that the
actor who played Tdnnerin London followed
the makeup oire ctions (which Mr.. Lorraine
ignoree), and WAS generally recognized to be
the living image of the author. A big man
with a beard and q name of hazel colored
hair, slender, restless, excitable, a Socialist,
possibly a little mad, a megalomaniao who
would be lost without a sense of humor-
there are two such men in England. Happy
England Happy in possessing them, but
happiest in being able to tell them apart
by a frock coat. JOHN CoRBIN.