Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-22

casional representations. To appear at
them has become n faVorite holiday en-
ployment of actors who have suricient
largeness of style 70 NIL their spaces
Eminent composers write tncidental music
for them, and the best orohestras OF
France so to play IT,
From the first, however, the diiicuity
has been TO secure plays suitable for
such surroundings. 1t was not posslpie
TO repeat "Oedipus the King, ana Oeul-
pus by common consent was not oeui-
pus unless Mounet-Sully was there to act
him. Comedy, with hneness or execution
and intimacy of appeal. was out OF the
question on a stage and in an AUDITORIUM
of such dimensions. OF French tragedy
Racine was too delicate for such per-
formance, and Hugo too complicateo
while the appeal of Corneille depended
too much on the Immediate anu eNact
effect of the sententious word. There re-
NAMED Greek tragedies or modern imi-
tations of such tragedies, The eider
dramatic poets were ransacked Tor tnese
.mitations the younger set themselves
to the writing of them. A whole crop a
few years ago was sown on the stages OF
these natural theaters," but the harvest
was distinctly disappointing. Apparently
what spectators wished to see. what, in
deed, they would come hundreds of miles
TO see, were representations OF Greek
tragedies.
The young poets took the hint, snapped
their own pieces into their portfolios
and toiled to the free translation of
Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. A
new crop was sown In the amphitheaters,
and this time the harvest was fruitful.
Meanwhile the directors of the Partisan
theaters were taking thought. If per-
ceptible part of their public would jour-
ney every summer to remote corners OF
Tr,r1w fn 10
Pyrenees and again to the Vosges-to see
Greek tragedy and endure many dis
comforts in the process, what might not
be reasonably expected of 1t at home, in
the capital. In winter? There were the
Greeks in the fashion, and not a theater
in Paris was giving heed to them. BY
way of musical substitute the Opera and
Opera Comique FASTENED to revive "Al-
ceste." "Orphee" and "Iphigenie en- Tau
ride out of Gluck, But the only manager
who could translate his thoughts into
action was M. Claretie at the Coincide
Franchise. He alone had at his disposal
actors who were capable of classic trag-
edy and who had kept themselves prac-
ticed in 1t. Had he not been lending
them summer after summer to half the
amphitheaters in France? Now they
should display their powers on their own
stage to their own public. "Aedipe-Roi,"
long reserved chiefly for "off nights"
and classical matinees, began to figure
oftener and oftener in the animate re-
pertoire of the Comedie.
A translation of "Antigone" that had
been played at long intervals was re-
vived, and for each there were audi
ences that filled the house and testified
to their emotion alike by their still
ness and quick applause. Two trage-
dies, however, hardly sufficed for a
Greek repcrtory, and NJ. Claretie began
to ponder. the translations that the
young poets had been making for the
theaters. He found one
that met his standards in a version of
Sophocles' Electra" by Alfred Poizab
Late last winter he mounted it, and his
public were so impressed that for the
time "Oedipus the King and Anti
gone" have been shelyed again. In
four months Electra" has had thirty
performances, which for a Greek trag-
edy in the spring and summer of 1907
may surely be counted a run, and not
once has 1t been played to a house that
was not full to the last seat. 1t is easy
to wonder If an American public would
80 receive Miss Marlowe or Nine. Kalich
should the one or the other happen to
discover this Electra" of Sophocles'
and appear in it