The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-18

IN the printed page could hardly De eN-
pected to achieve the instant clarity de-
manded Of lines that live or die in the cur
sive human voice.
His indifference is a deeper and Il more
significant thing than any verbal obsourity.
Essentially It In rne result OF the thing that
undid Tennysoa and Eyron. Keats and
Shelley-mere ignorance of the technique
of the playhouse. The first scene of the
present play represents PippG AZ getting up
and dressing in the morning, and The last
a. undressing and going 10 bed that night.
The printed page is discreetly reticent In
such matters, but the stage, even the poetic
stage, in sppallingly explicit and detailed,
There was nothing to do but represent Pippd
az sleeping perpetually in most Of her ward
ODE. And as she was an Italian and a
factory girl, the representation was dis
turbingly plausible and realistic. In itself
that matter Ia of no great moment, but it is
sadly characteristic Of the poets oblivion
of the simplest and most obvious conditions
in the theatre.
The character of SebdH suffered a subtler
change. but a far morc distressing one,
In reading the poem, IL a memory ~ fifteen
years is to he trusted, his remorse and
self-slaughter are not without a touch Of
sympathetic heroism. On the stage. row.
ever, his death. all too obviously. leave,
the partner in his crime to face life alone
and the corpse OF her murdered husband.
The effect OF base cowardice transcends
the effect Of courage. Macbeth would lose
every trace Of his claim to sympathy, every
vestige Of even his appeal to vigorous
Reproduction. il he were to take himself
OF n leave his Lady to bear the brunt OF
their common sin. Here. at any rate. Pippd's
singing precipitated a catastrophe.
Most unlikely OF all was the effect at
tributed TO this singing. Hppd's was. of
course, OF stage, so that many of the words
could not DO heard. and those that were
heard were sometimes un~intelligible. But
we will pass that. The more vital defect
was that a. a dramatic means il was made
quate to the result attributed To it. There
is truth, no doubt, in the saying about the
last straw and the camel's back, but II the
Incident were Represented in the playhouse
IL would hardly constitute a dramatic
climax. To he telling the stroke requires
to be signal and unmistakable. And peO-
pie in the throes OF a spiritual struggle are
not likely to listen 20 street singers, even
to those that can be heard and understood.
When embodied in the flesh and blood ~
the theatre the incident in its repetiJionS
ave the effect of sentimental exaggera-
ton. There is a reason why only those
enjoyed the representation who were
steeped in Browning. None but the most
inveterate familiarity with the poem, the
n love for il, could enable n to
feel its beauty and power through the dis
torting medium of the stage.
For almost three centuries English poetry
has been divorced from the theatre. Such
stagecraft as our great ones have had has
been assimilated from reading the Greeks
and the Elijah ethans-whose stages were
radically alien in principle from our own.
France has been more fortunate. The
stage, OF Corneille, Racine and Moliere
was identical in principle with the modern
stage, and such chances in detail as have
been introduced have heen centres of
theatrical controversy. and so ave te-
come universally understood and recog-
nized. In Paris any minor playwright
has as intimate a feeling for sta0ecraft
as the master. With us OF to-day things
are more promising. One Of the few of
the works of MIR. Moody which are free
from literary inspiration is The Great
Divide" Browning not only did not write
that but could not have written it. And
there are other young American poets g.
! nota' lyMr. Percy Mackaye. who have proved
themselves Columbi of the playhouse.
Nine. Ala Nazimova's Heddd Gdbler
is for the most part u case Of de gustibus.
Beyond question she has a striking per-
sonality, authentic individuality and a tech
nique as sure as IL Is strong. In her per-
formances with the Russian piayeTs last
winter she revealed powers a. varied as
they are intense. Those who now acclaim
her "a an Actress OF the highest power and
inspiration have every right to do so. And
they are very fortunate, for those who did
not like her in HeddG found her tedious
when she was not exasperating. One
faction has described her accent in speaking
the newly acquired ENGLISH as slight, and
its elect charming; the other, as heavy
and hideous. For myself | can only say
that whole phrases were lost to me because
| Of misplaced stres es and defective syllable
values. loathed her speech and abomi-
mated it. The pros nave held up her read
ing as a model for native actresses. To me,
though vocally fine. it was excruciatingly
monotonous and lsbored. | would not
ask my ere ny to talk like that-if | had
10 hear him. But--non est disputdndum!
In the matter of her conception of the
part there is more latitude for discussion,
The action of the play calls for certain
qualities in Heddd which are distinguish
! able from the personality and manner
of the actress; and the lines have n weight
! OF their own, whether beautifully or hid
| eously delivered. II is certain that HeddC was
a woman of the potter world, al ~. light
| and attractive To men. This HeddG was, as
you choose, an insolent baggage or a crea-
ture Of the compelling moods of tragedy
but she was without lightness, variety or
| fnesse Of manner. There was no ~vivacity
in her conversation, no fash in her
malignity. She was not the graceful cat
thai lacerates on impulse, but the writhing
Tor i~nsinuatingI serpent that b~unorily
devours. She insulted poor Miss Tesm ms
new hat not from irritation. but from the
spirit of eternal malignancy, and instead
OF playing puss-snd-mouse with Nrs.
EIested she strangled her in Shiny Gf beau
tifuD coils. 1t may have been magnificent.
but it was not lbsen.
Outwardly HeddG must at least have
looked we'll or she could not have :~'nVted