The Washington times., 1908-01-05
Mrs. Fiske in MonotonOus Play.

Mrs. Fiske in MonotOnOus Play.
Mrs Fiske divided attention Monday
evening with Nazimova, producing for
the first time in this country Except
at a performance in German some
years aso) Ibsen's .RosmershoIm." the
last of his series of attacks on society,
and the least interesting.
Ii is practically, a political tract writ
ten in the dramatic form. in whth he
uses divers characters to set forth "A
strife between Conservatives and Demo
Gratis at a certain day in Norway. It
goes without saying that the play sis
excessively tedious and monotonous
nom beginning TO end. making one long
for the closing curtain so that the mag
niicent actress, Mr.. FiskC, may not be
lnsulted by ones precipitate flight from
the horrors of this inexcusable. newt
able boredom. The fact that Mrs. Fiske
poTJrays, with infinite felicity, grace and
perfection something that is not worth
while, does not Justify the presentation
OF such an unensertaining aud unillumi-
mating play II casts little or no ligEL
upon anything i'm this world, cor the
world to come. IL tells you nothing. 1t
is mauthoritative with regard to any
consideration under the sun. And 1t
bores YOU 10 death, with constant
illusions TO white horses "emaucipa-
ton. petty gossip, ana village politics.
In this mOrass of Vapld dramatic rot,
is thrust "a designing woman. who gOads
q wife on TO kill herself, then enmeshes
the man who is not worth catching,
and finally the silly pair so on and
drown themselves.
d. ..Hr- 90 80
parody ON ''NeTtheT" is pat, in this con-
uecJiOn,
And his passion boiled and bubbled,
Till he blew his silly brains out,
And was no more by 1t troubled.
l have infinite respect and most hearty
appreciation for the intellectual quail
ties and matchless technical art of Mrs
Fiske. There is no woman on the stage
who can GEOGRAPHICALLY induce you to fol-
low the very thoughts of her character
izations as she can. Last evening there
were several moments when she fairly
dumfounded you with her perfection Of
mature art. You delight in it, as every
one must She can thrill YOU with a
glance, or a word, or "a gesture. Her
stage productions are faultless- Her
Manhattan company has no equal for
ability in America George Arliss IN this
lamentable imperative. useless play OF
-.RosmershOlm." simply because he
couldn't help il, gave the best lmper-
s8uaJiOu of a bTOken-doWn, OLD, sChoi-
astic drunkard that ] have ever seen. I'm
truth, that absolutely inimltable and eE-
uuisite painting was the one bright spot
of the entire. gloomy canvas ~ NY m
the name of the twentieth century,
must the finest all-TOUnd actress of our
land offer us this awful play. that has
no significance at all. when We love her
and are positively wild 10 see her in
something worth whilet
We can forgive her for being the first
apostle of IDsenism i'm America There
is no occasion for her rubbing it in,
''Miss Hook" Dialogue a MisdemeanOr.
Miss Hook. of Holland" whom YOU
didn't like in Washington the other day,
was shown at the Criterion here. also,
this week There is no change of opin-
ion in Gotham from the restrictions YOU
placed upon Miss Hooks conduct at the
Capital Some of the music is accept
able-even winsore, but the dialogue in
antics are a misdemeauor. They should
introduce "a song What's the Matter
With Mr.. Frohman2 Oh, Mr.. Frohman,
10 the tune Of ''The Gibson Girl"
In some of the Friedman offerings this
year. especially the musical comedy
class there has been an Incompetence
bic lack of taste and Judgment That
big manager FrohmanIzed things, and
now he does not live up To his own
standards.