The Washington herald., 1908-01-26
Fame of Mrs. FiSke Inter
woven with His HerOineS.
TO PLAY IN "ROSMERSHOLM'
Actress BeIieveSeDramatist Is Great
est Creator of Character in Modern
observation-disclosures Barrett Pre-
dicted Her Success in These Roles.
"ROsmershoIm" HIS Best Effort.


'Fcatherbraln," and other comedies and
comedy dramas. made her stage reap
pearance at a charity matinee IN New
York, after an absence Of several seasons
following her marriage
The actress was Minnie 1laddern Fiske,
the Minnie Maddern of Caprice days,
the Mrs. Fiske Of to-day She played
Henrik Ibsen's a Dolls House, and her
performance of Nora viii not be for
gotten by those who saw IT then, or
later.
The occasion was more than success,
It was a surprise, a revelation-not only
OF a new dramatic actress of rare talent,
but also Of a new method of acting, that
had its inception in mentality, the il
lusion or reality for its aim and theatrical
artihce as its particular avoidance.
More than that it was sane intro
duction 10 the plays OF IbseH, who was
then regarded as an oddity, as Wagner
was before the world awoke to his great
ness.
Ibsen Recognized Now.
The public point of view has changed
in regard TO Ibsen now. Just as it changed
in regard To Wagner. Nowadays peO-
PIE know that Ibsen's plays are odd only
in being simpler truer to life, and
stronger than the plays of any other
modern author. They know that they
are. first Of all. plays, and that whatever
philosophy, satire or symbolism may
have been put into them. Ibsen was
writing plays for production to be acted
before audiences. and 10 hold them under
the spell of his stagecraft,
The apprecia ton OF Ibsen's plays has
been accomplished. as far as this coun-
try is concerned. largely through the
efforts Of Mrs. Fiske. but had its be-
ginning at that charity matinee OF "a
Dolls House" 1t was carried forward
by repeated performances Of that play
|her success in which was the immediate
cause of Mrs. Fiske's return TO the stage
by a second production, "Hedda Gabler."
and now by a third, "Rosmersholm," in
which we win see her at the Belaseo next
week, and which is, from all accounts,
the triumph Of her career.
Barrett Predicted Her Success.
As Mrs Fiske has always been the
steadfast champion of Ibsen, people
sometimes ask what influence this actress,
whose earlier career had been identified
with works Of much lighter nature, to
.take up these plays that require dramatic
ability of the highest order. A pretty
story that in way answers this is that
Lawrence Barrett. in whose support Mrs.
Fiske had acted as a child, advised her
10 study tho plays OF Ibsen and predicted
that she was destined TO achieve in them
the success that has been and is hers.
But while this may have been a con-
tributory cause. the real reason IS un-
doubtedly because they appealed 10 her
alert mind, to her sense OF technique
more than any other plays. From her
childhood those who knew her then say
her delight was always in acting plays
whose characters seemed human beings.
with human Impulses TO actUate them, not
stage puppets.
Repeatedly Mrs. Flske has been quoted
regarding Ibsen from the actors view
point; on the delight that the study Of
N.his characters gave her. She has pro-
Vluced them on this basis, too: that is, in
"a normal practical manner, with no ap-
peal 10 a cult, but TO the public at large.
What Mrs. Fiske Has 10 Say.
In a recent interview, In which Ibsen
was the topic OF discussion. Mrs. Flske
said.
"Ihsen makes an appeal TO the actors
imaEinatiOn-tO his brain, TO his soul He
IS a constant mental stimulus TO the
player The author of what we call
stO-v book play makes 10 such demand
on the acton ,.GH affords no stimulus.
'To be compelled to appear continually
in one OF these plays would, I think.
make one insane.
"Ibsen has revolutlonized the drama I'm
every country in the whole world. People
do not realize this because they see little /
OF Ibsen and a great deal Of the Ibsen
delUs.9ns.
'Ibssns mastery in the creation OF
character and the enforcement of the I
tragic in modern life and by thoroughly /
modern means has no equal In time, /
perhaps, those who initiate him VIII come /
20 a better understanding Of his purposes /
and methods, and may bring forth more /
toierable limitations. and. no doubt there /
will he creative work of mucn merit in /
spired by his example 1t may take time /
Of course, but these things Will come
about
1T is simply amazing how rapidly this /
dramatist has grown in favor In the last
few years At the time I first acted fin /
A Dolls House there was no interest /
in this country it had to he created.
Ibsen and Wagner.
ct find It interesting to trace the simiI /
larity between the growth Of Ibsen and |
the rise Of Wagner in this country. Can /
not we all remember when the name of !
Wagner was regarded as joke by most
Of The civilized world?
when the German masters music was /
first heard in the United States It was /
characterized as mere noise. 1t was re- /
garded as utterly without melody. and f.
the suggestion that it would ever be pre- /
ferred to the old Italian and French |
operas was ridiculed. To-day IN New
York and in nearly every other city /
where there are annual seasons Of grand /
opera, the Wagner nights are the big +
Wights.
AS for the Ibsen works. they will prob |
ably not become popular literature for /
they must be read often to be fully un- |
derstood and appreciated. but their pro- |
gress on the stage is a different matter,
Most people who read Ibsen fOr a first /
time wonder how he can be acted al all;
but the truth IS that he is essentially /
a dramatist not a ltterateur
Nothing Else Worth While.
'I assure you that I feel after having
acted in an Ibsen play, as If there were
little else really worth the effort of seri-
Gus artists; that is. among the works
created to-day. This seems extreme. of
course. but fancy I am much the same
rs those who have been successful in