The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-12-07

GIL SSlAo VI Tie plays DdSeQ on the SagaS
and Morse legends. On the other hand
the central motives, of Peers life-self-
sufficiency as suggested to: him by the
Dovre king and compromise as suggested
TO him by the Great Boyg-are the mod
ern human qualities which stir :'Ibsen's
rage and the utter futility of which he
sets out in this. poem to prove.
: Attic Peer is Norwegian, and the home
%! Ethe action, so to speak, Is Norway,
the topic and the. appeal are human and
UNIVERSAL. The Norwegian interest In
Peer Gy9t;"a arising from its perform
:ances. in Christiania, is largely national
and does, not, perhaps, go to it's deeper
meanings and .symbol-taught philosophy.
: Ibsen' s. dominating purpose to establish
}his{s thesis that Standardization and not
SELF -suffieiency is the philosophy that will
save a mans soul is what gives peer
.Gynt' Its only unity. His method, how.
ever, Is essentially undramatic, for after
the opening acts, delineating the char
acter and revealing the inspiration. OF
the braggart mountain dreamer, the play.
becomes a mere succession Of episodes
In Peers hfe,s connected only by his own
personality These episodes, many Of
which are, necessarily excised In The act
ing version, are designed to demonstrates
the futility Of Peers plan Of life and to
exhibit the gradual degeneration that re-,
suits from it. There are, in short, no
dramatic story, no continuous action, no
cllmacteric situation to make '.Peer
!esynf'' a great acting play. Ibsen; him
Self, who became perhaps. the greatest
master Of the technic of drama writing
the world has known, had at first no
idea that his poem would ever be put on
the:stage. It was not written with that
purpose. But some years later on he be-
gan to think of it, in that connection,
and he induced @GriegHto write the char
acteristic suite: that bears the name of;
the poems to. adorn the stage presenta-
ton. He himself suggested many excis-
ions and changes, advising at one time
that the entire fourth>act be omitted and
it's place be. taken by a great tone poem. !,
relating musieally the story of. PEERS
world wanderings. - &
AS an opportunity for Richard Mans
HELD. Peer Gynt'' is unrivaled. 4 It tests
his protean versatility as an actor, his
untiring industry and irreproachable
taste as a, producer. It gives him the
center OF the stage for nearly four hours
suntroubled by any secondary roles of
sustained Importance. He triumphantly
solves the problem Of depicting three dis
-tlnet periods in one mans life:; -
The Praggart youth, who lies in tho
sun and babbles Of his kaiserdorn to
come, who fndulges in wierd tales Of
his own prodigious feats, who carries off
to the mountains the bride, only to
abandon her.. and who, Othello- like. fas-
cinates the simple Solveig by the heroic
picture he draws Of himself
Next the niddle-aged egoist, whose
cynical world knowledge does not save
him fronna fatuous belief that Providence
has a special and personal interest In
him. - . 2 f. - &. q
And, finally; the broken down old nnaGn.
battling with the inexorable forces :of
nature which demand the forfeit Of a
mtsspeht, life, and returning to be- saved
from further corroding belief in the troll
philosophy of self-sufficiency and the
boyg-princfp1e Of compromise by the pure
and faithful love Of solveig. =
4 The boyish swagger, the juvenile light
heartedness.. the devil-may care youth
fulness LOT Mansfield in the first three
acts are wonderful. His makeup last
night was put on with too generous a
hand, as was that Of Miss Dunn in the
role of old Aase, and this undoubtedly
marred the effect, tho it was soon for
gotten in the admiration which his as
sumption f5youth in all it's physical and
mental aspects evoked The exuberance
Of gesture, which has been a defect .of
many Mansfield Representations, was here
quite in character. And the art with
which he handled the difficult scene of
Aase on her deathbed, transforming the
apparent flippancy' Of the boy into an
illuminating sidelight on the. odd rela-
tion between mother and son, was
superb: 4 sa#~ sY
There was supreme artistry, too, lin
the Identification OF the Peer Gynt of
later years with this boy, as well as in
theT differentiation Of. the two by the
corrupting influence Of the years that
have flown. Mr. MansfeId's peculiarities
some call them faults-of diction and
infection became more manifest In these
later scenes. He dearly loves to declaim
and yet he IS least impressive In his
declamatory moments. It was in. the i'm
personation Of an elderly roue5 that he
first won wide fame, and the old Peer
Gynt bears enough resemblance Ito Baron
Chevrial to insure that the cynical and
senile sides Of the character would be
drawn to the lne-as they were.
There are but two characters Of mo-
ment asidesfrom the principal one. Aase,
the little, ugly cid mother" Is played
by Miss Emma Dunn with spirit and an
appreciation that leave nothing to be de-
sired, Torn alternately by Indignation
at the waywardness OF her son and fears
for his safety, Inspired by mother love,
she is always a pathetic f1gure.S In the
death scene she achieves a realism quite
CHASTITY. Miss Adelaide Nowak makes .
simple ind sanity soiveis, even in those