The Washington times., 1906-11-16
"SUNKEN BELL"
SHOWS SOTHERN AT HIS BEST

II Is called on the program "a fairy
play''-'The Sunken Bell" which Mr.,
Sothern and Miss Marlowe gave at the
BeiascO last night. And in so far as
fairies and gnomes and trolls most re-
alistiCally Visualized move familiarly
through all its sceaes. il is a fairy
play. But the fairy stories all end hap
PLY. and leave thqir hero to live happily
ever after. while The Sunken Bell
tells OF tragedy, the eternal tragedy of
the idealist
IL tells OF Heinrich the master bell
founder. whose whole dream is OF a
perfect work, a noble bell. which shall
indeed, ring out the false. ring in the
true" and who in the pursuit OF this
dream sacrifices home and family. hon
or ana obligation. only 10 ind that
without these no enduring work can be
achieved. He allows Rautendelien, an
elfn creature typifying nature, 10 lure
him away from all human obligation
in the pursuit OF his ideal. and he is
only brought hack 10 the world of duty
by the sound Of his lost bell. toIed by
the hand of his dead wife Failing ut
terIy in his dream of power. he dies.
overcome by remorse, his hopes wreck
ed. his work ruined.
4
something better than his impersoHation
OF Heinrich. the master bell founder.
bat memory extending over the ma
1ority of his characters, from his Lord
Chumley and Jack Hammerton down TO
his Due a. AlencOn in Jeanne d'Arc'
fails 10 recall il. lie plays the idealist
thoughtfully ana intelligently. of course,
but he does more; ne plays it as only
an ideahst could. He plays II with
fire and enthusiasm that approach
closely TO genius, a thorough under
standing OF the struggle thaI is Shaking
the very soul OF humanity, typincd In
act when CTdZCd by the reEeTberatluB
dirge of his suuken bell he rePudiates
RauIeudelieu, and fees once more To-
the valley OF human endeavor, he
touches his Eigh-wateT mark.
As for Miss MarlOwe's Rautendelie1,
II Is ali grace, all poetry all encbant-
ment. But II is not quite RautendeueE.
Sic Is bit too sympathetlcally spirit
ual. not quite elnsh enough, Tor part
that, in the beginning, at least, tyPiijes
Merely the remOrseless gayety of nature.
She puts too much feeling into II IN
the beginning. though toward the end
when Rautendelien is supposed to have
been somewhat humanized by mortal
love, she plays the part ideally; and the
despair OF her nnal yielding to the water
sprlte Nickelmann Is pathetic in the
The realm OF mysticism and superstI-
uOus fancy into which The Sunken
Bell takes the spectator is wonderful
ly presented. The fairies. the sDrites.
the gnomes and elves. the spirits good
and evil. the nymphs and satyrs are re-
markabiy realized. And the tollsug of
the bell at the end OF the fourth act
Is a masterpiece of stagccraft, or of
orchestral effect, one hardly knows
which The dance of the nymphs in
the first act WAS entirely satisfying TO
the Imagination. So, too. was the
satyr-like wood sprite played by Mr.
Eric. And the grotesqueuess of Mr.
Buckstone's makeup as the water COB
lin Nlckelmann could not have been i'm
proved upon. though one mi~ht have
wished that he had preserved the music
or his lines without so emphasizing the
meter. The only one of the supernatural