The Washington herald., 1908-03-24
rne Belasco-Mme. Nanimova.


tensely satisfying performance Of Ibsen's
"A Dolls House" than that which was
witnessed by a large and fashionable
audience last night at the Belasco. And
that the performance was stimulating.
Intellectual appealing TO the head rather
than TO the heart-as Ibsen undoubtedly
/ intended It should-was due in no small
measure 20 the wonderful art, the beauti-
full technique the captivating voice. and
the grace and charm of Nine. Nazimova.
whose presence On the American stage
is another and most important factor in
the debt We owe 10 Russia.
"A Dolls House" is, perhaps, the most
human OF all Of IbseR's plays. II is, per-
haps, the easiest understood. Il deals
with elemental motives and passions and
iongings. The soul-strings upon which it
plays are the same to which every human
soul has at some time or other responded.
The play in itself is so vital: the prob
lens II deals with are so insistent OF
! solution among poor humanity crawling
in the dark and with no language but a
cry" that II could. possibly. never have
an utterly inadequate presentation.
But as # was interpreted last night IT
WIS revelation. The very heart and
meaning of the great Norwegian drama
tist-who saw life sanely and saw il
| whole"-was here revealed. largely be-
cause Of the genius OF Nine. Nazimova,
an actress Of enormous potential force. Of
great capability. and a woman who is
bound-let but the opportunity come her
way-to make for herself an enviable
position in the artistic world.
Ibsen's Nora. the part which. Of
course, Nine. Nazimova plays. Is essen
TALLY a doll-wife: II Is from that fact
the play gets It's name, but It takes some
art to make this clear 10 the audience
Nine. Nazimova's predecessors in the
role have relied almost wholly upon the
lines. She has entered into the very
spirit Of them. Her first entrance through
the door into her house after the Christ
mas shopping is made langhingly; after
that. all through the act she simply bub-
bles over with laughter: not laughter
of the lips, but laughter that shakes her
all over which is part Of her; an ex-
preston Of her soul. And who but Nine
NaziInova could so portray the childlike
yet womanlike. love OF Nora for her hus-
band He is more 10 her than husband:
he Is a demi-god II is for him that she
has sacrificed herself-l1nowing no wrong
How could II be wrong for her to do
little thing the doing Of which meant the
saving Of her husbands life? But more
than this, though the lines OF Ibsen do
not. perhaps, show so much, Nine Nazi-
mora makes It clear that this Nora
would have done the same thing even if
she had known it was wrong The beau
tiful. childlike simplicity OF her acting IN
the scene with Krogstad is something to
be remembered:
| Krogstad-Mu Helmer. you have evidently NJ
clear idea Of what yOU have really done. But
can assure you II Is nothing more and nothing
worse than made me an outcast from society.
Nora-Y0ul You want me 70 believe that ro1
did b1Fe thing % save your wife's Hfeg
| krogstad-The law takes no account Of motives.
Nora-Then it must be a very bad law
| krogstad-Bad or not. if I lay this document be-
fore court Of law you wiz be condemned accord
ing to law
Moral don't believe that. Do you mean 10 tell
me that daughter has no right 20 spare her dying
! father anxiety a wife has no riaht 10 save
her husbands lheg I don't know much about law
| but I'm sure you'll Aud, somewhere OF another
that that is allowed. And you don't known that
you. lawyerl You must be bad one Mr.
/ Krogstad.
| KrOgstsd- Possibly But brlsiness-such rslsiuesz
| as ours-I do understand. You believe thatg Verv
well; now do as you please. But this I may ten
you. that if I'm flung into the gutter a second
time you shall keep me company. Bows and goes
on. through hsnl
Nora stands awhile thinking. then tosses her
hesdl-NeVeri He wants 10 frighten me I'm not
50 foolish as that Begins folding the chidren's
clothes. Pauses) But? No. its impossible.
/ did it for lovei
| This is Nora's first awakening 20 the
real duties and responsibilities Of life.
Not lfe as God made Il. or intended It
should be. but life as it is chained down
! by human laws and social customs.
which puts lava thing Of rote-above
justice. and which condemns for an act.
placidly and blindly ignoring the cause.
| That is the protest Of the play; that
/ and a certain powerful exempllication
of how human life may act and react
upon human life, until II one comes to
believe the lessons that Ibsen teaches
here, he must come TO see that even
his lightest acts may be of the grarest
| consequence to the whole world. That
Is the meaning of the Inclusion of DR..
Rank in the play, the man who suffers
for the sins Of his father. That Is the
meaning of the substory Of Nils Krog-
stad and his wife-poor souls who have
drifted apart and have found ruin and
emptiness and who come together at the
last
But ever the central theme of the play
is the relation between Nora and her
hfrC l.aF, n rot fl,ar r,nr
relation between these two as between
Nora and the soul that has awakened in
her.
Nine. Nazimova's most powerful acting
was done in the last act. when the awak-
ening comes. Through all her fear for
herself you can see by the power of her
genius. has been the fear for the illusions
she may lose; the fear that the miracle
Will not happen; that her husband the
man she has loved and to whom she has
born three children. is an idol with feet
| of clay-a coward, time-server. The
bitter contempt that comes over her is
magnificent, and you have 10 realize that
II is all the more effective in its marked
change of note because of the lightness
and gayety that this fine actress has i'm
pressed upon you in the earlier scenes
She tells him that she has come to know
that She has other duties besides those TO
1 her husband and children-her duties to-
ward herself. 1t was with a bitter con-
tempt and something like loathing that
Nazimova's Nora turns from this hus-
band who has fallen so low in her esti-
! matloa, and tells him that
think before all else am a human being. Just
as much yOu a-e-or at least will try TO be-
come one. | must think things out for myself and
/ try 10 get clear about them.
And then, when he in his conceit cannot
follow the course of her mind the strug-
gle Of her soul. she tells him what she
| has hoped: how she had longed for the