The sun., 1908-02-16

something absolutely different. entirely
modern. and some will say degenerate.
just what constitutes degeneraCy must be
left to wiser heads to decide 20 the pas
sionately proper Max NOrdau, perhaps.
Personally we would not for a moment
intimate that a performance OF Greek
drama, with all the classic accessories and
with the ancient tongue once more spoken.
in the antique setting Of the Harvard
Stadium. is not a far more beautiful and
satisfactory and uplifting thing than q
performances of Hofnlsanst5hl's Play, even
with Gluck's overture for the 1Iphgenia'
which nobody listens toD. But neither
would we intimate that a picture OF blood
lust for revenge, q portrayal OF a woman
erazed by tho passion for physical retTibu-
ton on the bodies OF those who murdered
her father. a psychopathio study OF the
tabled Electra. may not he fascinating,
curiously Alluring and in no wiss necessarily
harmful 90 long a. IL is not supposed to
represent anew the drama of Sophooles.
This mAsquerading in olden Earb this
nsoclAsEe form Of the modern Electra
this simulated stride Of true tragic passion.
while they are pervprsely part Of its un-
oanny charm. are also it's danger for the
drama, but a. something modern and de-
hberately cruel and bloodlustful something
auite goddess and sordid not sublime. and
the Electra" at the Garden Thsatrs will
hold for you q new sensation. a strange
anurement. inspire a shiver OF delicious
horror. q Ahuddsr Of unsanctihed delight.
And Il 10 In this spirit that Mrs. Campbell
plays It. A remarkably striking woman
TO look upon. and q remarkably effective
actress in certain roles. Mrs. Campbell
has never displayed that GLIB virtuosity Of
Q BernhArdt. The blank verse grafton,
full Of sound and fury, and 30 often signify
ing nothing, IL has never heen hers to peal
forth with qufvering efSct. Still less has
she ever shown that she could Sardoudle;
the Fsdords and the ToseGs are not for
her. Perhaps she has too much scorn for
their falsity and pyrotschnios. But give
her q character that interests her. that wins
her belief, and she can seize upon its salient
outline with bold. firm grasp. and then I'LL
that outline in with the minutest strokes
of shading with patient cross hatching. and
with broad sweeps OF color and shadows
too Thus she did with Mrs. Ebbsnhh.
one Of tho finest portraits on the contsm-
porary stage. Thus she did with BeGtG in
-Es Lebe das Leben." And thus she has
done with Electro, in Won Hofmannstahls
drama. She acoepts It, she believes in II,
she exSrts herself on its creation, and il
comes 70 life under her touch. a sinister.
terrible woman. a strange perversion OF the
eternal Aholibah, whose lust is the lust for
blood, whose desire is toward murder and
revenge. Il have kissed thy mouth. To-
kansAn. have kissed thy mouth, sings
SdIOrne while the acid strings in Mr.. Strauss
multitudinous orchestra arc biting hor-
ribly. And Etectyd's triumph dance before
the palace door says no less plainly. Il have
had thy blood, Clytemnsstrs, have had
thy blood =" while Mr.. Strauss acid strings
in his opOratic version will no doubt bite
horribly once more That indicates the
spirit and the achievement OF Mrs. Camp
bells performance.
To bring this conception to the birth the
sonorous delivery of the sensuous verso Of
Mr.. Symons. after the manner Of the odd
school, actors Of poetic tragedy. would
have been out Of place and ineffective. Il
would have been as out Of place as make
up suggesting the tragedy queens OF Sir
Thomas Lawrence. instead OF an Aubrey
Beardsley drawing, which il what Mrs.
Campbell actually suggests. Her method
Of speech is a natural reading Of the verse,
that let's its sensuous SMILES tell rather than
ito measured roll; and her impassioned out
breaks come as a smothered fury rather
than an oratorical period. There Is much
TO be said for this method under any cir
cunstances. Here it is the only method.
For here Electra is not a figure OF tragic
dignity and noble passion. neither an in
str,lrnent Of destiny nor its victim. Nemesis
IL not here. the rushing Of the wings of Fate.
She is a woman sick with the lust for blood.
"somethinR curious and sensual In her
black rags and her grape blue headgear.
the naked marble OF her bosom deepening
the rings below her thirsty eyes and ac-
centuating the cruel crimson OF her lip line.
she moves a sinister figure about the stage,
a figure not Of brooding misery, but malig-
nant hate. 10 dig with her own hands for the
hAtchet when she thinks OTestes dead, to
dance in a kind Of At OF horrid joy when
she has heard her mothers screams and
seen the King dragged forth and slain.
falling at last prone on the stage in faint,
worn out with the excess Of passion. like
some creature in a Bacchsnalan orgy, some
figure from the ancient pictures OF the
Dionysian mysteries.
Sophocles would not recognize his Electra
in this performance, true enough. But
Sophocles would not recognize his language
or his spirit in such a speech as ElectyG's
to her sister. Swear to me. mouth upon
mouth; or his play in the abolition Of the
lyric choruses, or in the total subordinatiou
Of the part of Orsstes, or in the lost char
acterization Of the sister. Chrysothenis,
in the original 20 sharply contrasted in
spirit with Electra. or in the omission
Of that splendid throwing open Of the portals
20 disclose OTestes by his mothers corpse
and his recognition by the King. or above
all In the dance. This is not Sophocles's q
play. this is not SophOcles's Electra. And
any criticism OF Mrs Campbell because
she docs not rise 20 sweeping heights full
filing the conception OF Greek tragic poetry.
ample and large and nobly eloquent. is
utterly futile and beside the point. What
she does do 10 what she should do; she
creates by picture and pose and the play
Of passion over her wonderful face, by
smothsred voice and baleful Outbursts,
by body and by speech, a definite and un-