The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-16

and :" Clothes " Prentice Hands.
IL il one Of the minor calamities that the
version Of Jacob Gordin's Kreutzer sonata
which is, a%rtistically. by all odds thu more
interesting should have had the wind OF
publicity taken out Of its sails by the rival
production. II could scarcely otherwise
have escaped being recognized "a one OF
the most novel and striking occasions OF
this or any recent dramatic year.
That the Yidd.. IN colony in the Bowery
has A dramatic life Of it's own. which Ia
native to itself, authentic and Of a very
high quality, both literary and dramatic,
has long been known. Ten years ago in
a MAGAZINE article l ventured the opinion
that the plays Of Gordin and his confreres
were more deeply vital in theme and ADLER
I'm treatment than anything We hsd yet
had from the playwrights 81 Broadway.
and that the acting Of Adler. Thomashefsky
and their companies -Kslich is Of a more
recent date-was on a par with our very
best. The opinion was OF necessity a
random one. for the language used was at
best a corrupt high German and at the
worst a polygIot jargon. But now we have at
hand the means Of a more ntimst study.
One of Gordin's hest plays has been done
into English by an American Of education
and proved dramatic ability, Langdon
Mitchell, and Is acted by the foremost
Yiddish emotional actress. Bertha Kalich,
who created her part in the original.
OF direct appeal to the merely American
public there is not much in the plays Of the
new Bowery. Or. rather, they are in their
very nature alien' and a~ntagonistic to
IL. Our drama is the expression OF a busy
and prosperous public that looks to the thea
tire for amusement that will distract It.
Our Yiddish population il the offspring OF
the deepest economic and social unrest OF
the most distressed Of European nations;
its traditions are those ~ Tolstoi and Corky,
with a kindred infusion from the great
Norwegian. What il looks for in the theatre
Ia not only amusement, but that deeper
enjoyment Of pure drama and tragedy.
One Of Adler's most popular pieces. Gordin's
Der Wilde Mensch," centres in the lustful
and murderous exploits Of an idiot-a
aexual degenerate. One Of Thomashefsky's
plays, the title and author Of which have
escaped me, il a realistic study Of the cade
aystem Of the East Side. centring in the
downfall Of the wife OF a busines man.
For a public that il ignorant Of Tolstoi's
Powers OF Darkness and Gorky's Might
feIuKe, anu hHONS OBCh Oho5t5 OHiy
10 abominate it, such pieces have little
meaning: but to the pIaygoer who is able
70 detach himself from the ~prejudices OF
his time and his environment they are full
Of interest and stimulation.
THE Kreutzer Sonata has only an allu-
sive relation to Tolstoi's novel Of the same
name. 1t is the foiblo OF the Yiddish play
wright to glorify bis work by borrowing
- "A 4. ALL - oraaNpaaa AAlaria aEfn7
Lear" and Thomashefsky's Romeo and
Juliet" are so called only because they
present the themes Of flial ingratitude and
romantic love between scions OF warning
families. AdIer's Lear is OF the Jewish
proletariat and Thomashefsky's Romeo is
the son Of a factional rabbi. And likewise
the heroine whom Kalich impersonates
Is no more than a woman subjected to the
sexual will Of a husband she abominates.
The Characteristic feature Of the play,
and the one that should have given it its
title. is the fact that it is a study Of a family
oF Russian Jews in process OF American
ization-a highly significant and timely
theme. The story begins in Russia. where
the authority Of the parent is absolute, and
it's crucial acts take place in America. where
the children are asserting their right to
live for themselves and to themselves.
The heroine is a counterpart OF Rachel
Mere in Mr.. JoueS's ~The Hypocrites'-a
young girl Of the people betrayed by a
sincere passion for a Russian aristocrat.
The English play moves on the plane OF
msIodrama To a happy outcome; but tbs
Yiddish play is a study Of disordered social
conditions with a tragic end.
Miridm's lover ia prevented by his ira
ditions Of casts from marrying her and
kills himself. Her patriarchal father main
tains the dignity Of the family. as he thinks,
by bribing a cur Of a musician. Gre0oT. TO
marry her and appear before the world as
the father of her child.
In Russia, no doubt, the expedient would
have succeeded in maintaining the SEM
blance Of responsibility; but the family
moves to New York, and in the freer con-
ditions here it's hideous and unnatural folly
becomes manifest. Gregor prospers in his
profession and. cur that he necessarily il,
becomes arrogant with prosperity. Ex-
nsperated by the sight Of the Legitimate
son. he bullies and beats him, and, repealed
by Miridm's natural distaste for him, he
seduces her younger sister Cetid-demoral-
lied by the freedom Of the life about her,
which her previous condition OF subsection
has untitled her to understand. Miridm's
fall from virtue has cut her of from her
fathers regard, and the new life, Of which
she cannot become a part, ~Cstranges her
from the rest Of her family. She even gives
up her son. partly TO get him away from her
husbands %tyrannies. and partly because
the boy is the one member OF the family who
loves and Ia loved by her father. Finally,
in a dramatic scene, she discovers how
matters stand between her husband and
her sister. and, goaded into a fury OF rage
and despair. shoots them both.
As a piece Of dramatic writing the play is
in the main admirably simple, logical and
true. The examples Of Tolstoi and Ibsen
have not been in vain. As a social study
IL is at once trenchsnt and sympathetic.
The Independence and irreverence Of the
demeanor of American children. so tragic in
its effect upon the lives OF the leading char
acters in the play. is treated with the true
detachment Of the dramatist. and with
abundant humor. The character OF Miriam
is nowhere sentimentalized, her sin nowhere
palliated; but il is pictured with the true
dramatic sympathy, and. in 50 far as the
logic Of morality and the theatre will permit,
is generous, devoted, noble. For myself I
should have preferred IL II Miriam had killed