The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-25
THEATRICAL LETTER
 FROM FRANKLIN FYLES

U ANNNA 1S@4sAA<AAt AGAO \
 New York, Nov. 22-A half dozen variousiy interesting women of the stage, Mercedes Leigh, Ala Nazimova, Lena Ashwell, Margaret Anglin. Flea nor Robson, Minnie Maddern Fiske. Named here in creacendo of estima- ton. Each a striver for new consider ation in New York theatres. You have never heard of Mercedes Leigh? She has had the temerity. or effrontery, to present Oscar Wilde's "Salome."
 May be you are old enough to have seen Wilde in his exhibitions of him self as an apostle of aesthetic culture. He delighted in the rldicule which his travesty of art brought upon him. He attitudinized in long hair, low collar, velvet blouse, and silk knee brooches during a lecture tour of this country. Soon afterwards he was satirized by Gilbert in Patience" Along with his carefully prepared eccentriclties he evinced genius which with some peo- grammatic and his poems imaginative. Then came the exposure of his abnor- mality in crime, and he was sent into prison, to come out a dying wretch.
 In the time of Wilde's exile in France he wrote the drama of "Salome" in the language of that country, and died without having translated 1t into Eng Msh. At length 1t was utilized as a Hbretto for an opera, and now Mer- cedes Leigh has put it on Broadway stage in literal English version. It Is q foul telling of the Bibiican story Of Salomes dance before her stepfa- ther. Herodius. for the head of John the Baptist.
 Wilde makes her a degenerate girl. who implores the captive John to let her kiss hinh and whuse passion turns hateful when he repulses her. Wilde fmpIousiy quoted the seripturaI record of the prophets heraldry of the coming of Christ, asaociating it with the fict- lon of Salomefs oyertures. But Miss Leigh was not content with presenting that amalgam of sacred writ and sala- cious fancies. She gave as an intro- duction to Wiide's worlS play by Ed- ward Elsner, 'The Prophet" which showed John in the wilderness, Yoic- ing ia Biblical language the advent of Christ. and being arrested therefor. That served to make her exploit all the more appalling to Christian piettsts
 If Miss Leigh were any other one of the six actresses named in the first paragraph, much turbulence of objec- tion would arise; fer In that case Sa Iome's wooing of John the Baptist would be dramatically horrible; but she is too weak in individuality and too in dreadful heroine. If Mrs. Fiske were to misuse her abilities in "Salome," preachers would denounce her achieve ment and the play would live triumph antly, instead of dying mtserably. It Is only in her dance for Johns head that Miss Leigh Is at all efficient.
 That head Is of itself an awful thing | remember that when Steele Mackaye brought out an acting version of "A Tale Of Two Cities the final sight was an executioner holding aloft the guillotined head of the hero. The wax on counterfeit had cost Mackaye $200, and he was very proud of it; but 1t so mortified the first nights spectators that he never showed 1t again. The gory head used by Miss Leigh may not have been as expensive as Mackaye's, but it was far more repulsiveiy exhib- lted.
 I am not enough of an Psychologist to pronounce upon the authenticity of the young womans Salonle dance. She
 appears with her body wrapped round and round with many lengths of gauge, and unrollS them, one after another, in sensuous gyrations, until she finally pfrouetes before Herodius naked from breast to thighs. Whether the nudity is actual or simulated, not even a field glass at short range can determine. And then, for a revolting climax, em- braces the severed head of John presses her lips to 1t, and cries exult- antly. T said l would kiss you on the mouth"
 Ala Nazimona was the leading act- Fess in a company of Russian Jews whom the Czar drove out of his coun- try for presenting revolutionary plays. They came hopefully out of his coun7 try for the land of free politics last winter. but did not find 1t land of free gold. They turned a hall Into a make shift theatre in the Jewish quarter of New York, but eolldn't make living in it, and money was raised by subscrip- ton to send them back across the Att lantic--all save Ala. She was such