The Washington times., 1907-02-12
Peer Gynt" Magnificent,
And MarvelOuSly Acted,
But Not a Great PLAY
Mansfield in Personal Tri-
umph Amid Weird and
Splendid Tableaux.

which he brought to the National last
night But he has not made a play of
it, II is a tremendous production. a
magnificent allegOricaI spectacle. a Sc
ries OF splendid tableaux, a particular
ly vivid impersonation Of a figure OF
tremendous power and interest-au
these, but not a play. II is called "a
poetic comedy drama" The poetry is
there-and the comedy, but not the
drama. II is literary rather than
dramatic masterplece-fulI of humor,
touched with pathos. and appeaiingly
human. The lines are beautiful. and.
needless to say. they are beautifully
read.
All this without prejudice 70 Mr..
Manstields personal performance II is
doubtful whether he has ever done any
thing clearer. more vital. more interest
ing ,han his Peer Gynt," OF am tnlng
that shows more phases of his art, than
this triple impersonation Of a braggart,
romping youth, a middle aged pluto
crat, and an aged wandercr. The Peer
of the beginning, the youth In the early
twenties. vibrant with the JOY Of living,
fairly Tadiating health and joyous ami
malism. standing with his legs wide
apart Haunting insolence in every toss
Of his head a fancy-burdened ne'eT-do-
well. rapscalIion and poet, Is a most
lovabIe vagabond. 1t has been called
The Norwegian Faust" IL seems TO me
a regular Sentimental Tommy" Of
part.
IL is exquisite in spots. The opening
scenes with his mother and his final
leaving her on the roof OF the mill
house, screaming for help, are delight
fully amusing. And in the next scene.
Peer lying On his back by the hedge,
drunken, despised. with a smile on his
flushed face. seeing in the clouds the
pageant OF his glory, the future in which
ne is 10 rule the world. is as delicately
vivid piece Of work as even Mansfield
has ever done. and Asses death scene
at the close Of the third act is all poetry.
all sympathy. Peer is not all bad, he
loves his little. Old ugly mother"
These first three acts which make up
Part 1 are an unqualified JOY, bat there
Is a distinct falling of In Part IL There
Is a brightness and an out-of-door rush
In the beginning which IS lost toward
the end
The thirty years that are supposed to
clapse between acts III and " meta
mQrphosc him so completely that il
takes the audience a few minutes 20
recognize Peer, some ten minutes before,
The epitOmc Of jOcund youth, in Sir
Peter Gynt, the gentle-faced little old
man, with vet a suggestion of Charla-
tanism IN his benignant sickness that
explains his traffic in slaves, idols and
missionaries thus,
It prospered. Dauntlessly they toiled;
For every idol that was sold
They got a native well baptized,
So the Effect was peutral.zed.
II is the same magnifccntIy self-cen-
tered Feer. whose CgOtIsm few min
utes later finds voice IN the unconscious
blaspheI1y Of
What marvelo- feeling OF safety and
peace
II gives one to know oneself specially
shielded
This when his late companions, having
stolen his yach-, are blown up with II
and all perish
Finally there is the old Peer. faltering
back through the village, pitlful. fiabby
infrm Of body and mind. the bowed
world Wanderer who has Travelled FAR
on the rocky road Of experience and
finds himself az last only through the
love and faith NJ a good woman
Each of the three parts Is done with
Mansfield own clFEn-Cut SlTcneSS. but
IL is the youth. t. VagabOnd. attractive
in spite of his weakness, the sturdy,
magnificent boastCr, lying right and
lying left as his mother SAYS, that
remains in the memory That figure
against it's background of forest and
mountain with their suggestion of at
mosphere and distance, Is especially
vivid, masnihcently vital. Ii is he who
even as he falls in the drunken stupoT
in the delirium of which he has his
adventure with the rovre King and his
struggle with the Great BOgy, eNclaims
/ in empty rapture;
Peer Gyut, thou art come OF great
things.
And great things shall come Of thee.
And tie tragedy of it is that nothing
came. The whole story, which has al
ready been told in The Times. is a trad
edy of the might-have-beSn-
The scenes in the troll kings palace
are well managed, the dance of the
imps being peculiarly weird. The ship
wreck is really a masterpiece Of stage
mechanism. The second scene Of the
fourth act is really beautiful, except
Cor an impossible crescent moon, but IL
had better be omitted altogether. All
+ that is left OF il is the dance OF Anitra
and her mdidens, good enough dance,
which, with a little added ginger. 90
might do credit 10 Jimmie Powers mu-
, steal comedy at the Belasco. but it has
nothing 10 do with the case, and no
excuse for existence except Its own
particular music. The Grieg music, rs
the way, is a wholly delightful feature
OF the production.
After Mansfield. the honors must 20
10 Emma Dunn's playing Of Ase.
don't know who Emma Dunn is; l don't
recall ever having seen her before. But
she plays Ase superby, confidently. tri-
umphantly. Adelaide Nowak meets
fully the not very exacting requirements
Of Solveig. And Henry Wenman makes
the troll king realistic. But when all is
said and done, Mansfield is the whole
show-and a mighty good one,
But with due appreciation OF the much
that Mansfield has accomplished in his
pToduCtion-Of the very big lob he
tackled, and the splendid fashion in
which he has put il through the fact re-
mains that he has not made a play Of
peer Gym - that at least one-third of
his audience stares open-eyed, admiring
certain visible beauties, but WONDERING
what it is all about anyhow; that two
thirds of it, if it were honest, would
admit that much Of II bored them OF
course they won't admit il. for that
would be admitting their own inferiority,
but It Is none the less the truth.