The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-13
Anusen,ents
Aila Nasimova at ihe 0ranA.

A slender, almost ethareai woman.
 . woman never mechanical. always . creature of impulse an inspiration, a
 woman thoroughly steeped in a char
 acter of the greatest emotionalism. is
 but . poor tribute to an actress--Ma-
 dame Ala Nazimova---who Friday
 night at the Grand held with pow erful grip the faculties of a large Montgomery audience. Breathless with
 interest, the dropping of the final our tain was received with . sigh of re- lief. as well as a sigh of regret that the end had been reached.
 As the audience slowly arose from its chair and quietly left the play
 house, Montgomery theatre-goers re-
 alixed to the fullest why the advent of the Russian actress in New York and other dramatic centres had been
 received as the dramatic event of the season. In the lightning transition from the lighthearted Nora, the sunshine of a house of laughter, to the woman keen ly- awake to the great defect of her husbands character, the actress show
 ed her genius. Early in the develop ment of the play, when Nazimova laughed. her audience lavghtd with her; when she romped on the floor with her children, her audience appreciated her happy life. One dimly suspicioned in these scenes the power of the &C., tress when she should fail to see "the miracle" transform her husbands s character. but 1t was not until the final scene itself that the audience was held in a grip SO intense that the final curtain was received with sigh of relief.
 Madame Nazimova's presentation was
 natural at no point in the develop ment of the characters was her act ing strained in the least. Her light hing transitions from the frolicking mother to a woman combating utter ruin, from a dazed mental condition. when informed of Krogstad's absence from the city to the light-hearted wife, were nothing short of superb dramatic art.
 Like all Of Ibsen's plays, "A Doll House. Is dialogue play. emotional dialogue, with just enough action to prevent the audience from tiring of too much character vivisection. One feels that Ibsen puts the little action in to his plays to relieve a tension.
 not to make a climax.
 "A Dolls House" is said to be one of the most understandable of Ibsen's plays. It nevertheless is blend of wierd situations calling forth results l that stagger in their far reaching ef- fects. The playwright makes what
 would ordinarily appear as . common place situation, one of powerful emo- | tionai quality. He transforms gem | tie breeze Into a hurricane of horrify- ing dimensions. But to tell the story of the play in a paragraph or two | would be impossible Montgomerians
 saw the play last season, though play | ed by a different actress. Cultured
 Montgomerians know the play through
 their reading.
 | The cast with which Madame Nazi- | mova has surrounded herself Is most
 Admirable. The Torwaid Helmer the
 husband. in the hands of Dodson Nit | chell was most creditable. trifie | weak during the early acts, his final
 scene in which the wife is disllluslon- | fzed. her hopes of the miracle" blast
 cd. he was admirable.
 The Nils Krogstad of Cyril Young l was excellentiy done, his ultimatum to
 Nora being his best scene Evelyn Wiedling as Mrs. Linden, Nora's best | friend. succeeded in. displaying her
 abilities as an actress to advantage | throughout her every scene.
 The Dr. Rank of Percy Lyndal. one Of the most trying character parts of the cast. succeeded in driving away the
 abominable impression of the part seen
 last season in another company of actors. Too overstrained perhaps in
 telling Nora of the coming examine
 tion anu the verdict of death which
 he knows will be declared, Mir Lyndal
 in the latter part of the scene im- pressed his audience with his ability.
 Tonight Madame Nazimova will pre-
 sent Contesse coquette. a play by
 Roberto Bracco. The play presents an
 entirely different phaze of the abili.
 ties of the great Russian actress. The
 tensity,