New-York tribune., 1909-10-03
AN AGNOSTIC PLAY
False Gods" at His Najesigs-
Spectacle ard Pessimism.
London. Septembe Is

/ think about religion and other profound mat
| ters, but it viii not entertain them pleas1ntiv-
| False Gods u Brieux's La Fol" Translated
/ into sonorous English by Mr.. James BERNARD
Pagan. strikes down into the deepest foundations
OF faith in all ages. Intellectual spectators uiE
be invigorated by the great theme. sstheris
/ playgoers will be delighted with the beauty q
| the stage pictures and with Saint -Saenss iuari-
native incidental music; but everybody win also
\ be depressed and repelled by a most s9Elbr7
/ drama vibrating with the philosophy Of pes-
| siTnisn- The examiner OF plays. who Is sup
! posed to protect Church and State against
| basphemy. ribaldry and anarchism. has N-
eensed a drama sUbversive OF all religions. past.
| present and future. Under the guise 0f the
/ false gods Of Egypt faith in Christianity ana
| supernaturalism is attacked with Destructive
| satire Whatever is in religion or in cvil au-
| thority is condemned as fetch or myth ard es-
sentialy wrong because grounded -Ipou mu-
7 posture and superstition, yet it mast b. up
held false fable as it is. for convenience Of eov-
! eminent and the comfort Of humanity wIch
| persists in inventing its own gods and cannor
/ be happy without themt These cOUnseIs Of de-
spair may be presented with subtleties 0f az
nosticism and illustrated with stage pageaRrs,
fine acting and sympathetic music. but whas an
/ uncomfortable evening the spectator is f0reed
to endure and how hopelessly does he face the
| work and obligations of the morrow
| The scene is Egypt p thousand years before
| the Christian era-Iong enough. surely. TO con-
vince the censor that such warfare as is waged
| is against dead and buried religions! There ara
/ thousands OF idols in the land and the caleudar
OF the year Is filed with the continuous routine
OF superstitious worship. The time has come
| for the sacrifice OF two virgins as annual ton
20 the Nile; and beauteous Youma Miss Eve
| 1yn D'Alroy) is in an ecstatic frenzy Of re-
| Hgtous infatuation because she has been chosen
/ for the sacrifice. Her betrothed lover Satnf
/ (NIr- Henry AtnIey). returns from a circuit oe
1 travel and intellectual awakening and denounees
/ the false gods as hctions of creduous miads-
/ He incites mob 70 destroy the idols and. ex-
/ cept for a mUff1ed peal of thunder there is no
4 sign that there is supernatural power behind
/ them. 4 blind woman. 8Iieris CIrs Patrick
| CampbeID clasps the image Of Isis in her arms,
/ with excIamations of gratitude for the hopes IN
| spired and for the SORROWS sent to sleep: SatrIs
father. Palh. the potter (A1r. William HaviIa1d).
| IS morJally wounded in the riOting and the son
| IS powerIess to console him with the new
| tangled philosophy of agnosticism; father and
mother unite in cUrsTng the reformer for de-
strOying their faith: his image breaking r0fiov-
| ers consider themselves licensed to commit any
and every crime with inpunity. and YOuma.
still entranced by the thought of sacrifice and
only half convinced that her lover is the in
spired servant os divinities more potent than
the ancient goods OF Egypt. demands OF him
something more positive than a barren system
of deniaIs and negations-
| So the drama drags on dreariIy until the last
act. WIDEN the high priest (Sir Herbert Tree}
and Pharaoh CNIr- Hubert Carter) succeed BY
their sophistries in convincing the refOrmer that
it is wiser and more humane to perpetuate a lie
than to tell the truth that it is the dreamy wor-
| shipper who makes his god. At their behest he
| artifcialy contrives sham miracle N the
| temple When the nauItitudes are crying n
anguish for the gift Of healing and for signs
| which viii comfort and satisfy heart and mind.
! the stone statue bows it's head and the supreu1-
acy Of the OIdtine religion is established for
the good of the people and because they cann0r
/ be conveniently governed without its restraints
I Youma now gees forth in the glory of uiartyr-
dom TO de for the people and to propitiate the
Nile and Satni returning 70 his followers TO ssI
them that the miracle is only poor trick oe
his own. is greeted coIdIy as a liar and stabbed
/ by slave. The idols are set up again. the Old
superstitous are revived by the casuistry and
/ hypocrisy OF high priest and PharaOh-Church
( and State-and everything goes ON before
because a world without religious illusions and
shams is realm Of Ia"lessness and desp;ar
The play lacks the dramatic intensity OF "a
/ Robe Rouge" of which Mr. Bourchier presented
( an English version at the Garrick few years
ago That drama involved the condemuaClUu OF
the ordinary processes Of justice in France. and
. this was done by peculiarly poignant iIlusfra-
tion of the operation of the law. In ~False
Gods" there Is an aHesory of religion and va
tionaIism and of the relations Of the iade-
. pendent thinker 10 Church and state; and the
+ characters. instead OF being creatures Il 1csh
and blood talking puppets symbolizlns at
ttudes of mind toward supernaturalism ard ex-
haustirs their enersies with declamatioR and
F uolenics They do not represent life, ne do
i they appear to feel what they are saytng- They
/ are lacking IN personality. and are incapahie Oc
exciting i'm stalls or galleries eiUhe- emotion Or
interest This is not due tQ~artidciality in the
Z acting Sir Herbert Tree is sOulbUe and impress
sive as the High Priest; Nh Anley is siren
nous and persuasive as the fauaticaI refCrmer.
/ Mrs Campbell is weird and fascinating as the
blind Mieris Mr.. Edward sass is most effective
+ as a slave owning patrcian with degraded uu-
derIiugs, and all the minor parts are we'll taken.
Nor is there any fault to be found with tie
stage management for the pictures Of palace.
desert and temple are wonderful in coIoring and
IN movement, the crowds are wen drilled in
the scenes OF image breaking and sgyptian
ritual. and the music by Saint -Saens is in
geuious in harmonic construction and highly
suggestive and Impressive. IL is a magniileenr
spectacle, with popular artists TO uiusJrase
series of controversial formulas,
ON the theory that any stick is good enough
when there is q Radical dog 90 Oe beaten. Tory
leader writers are pretending ind u he.
fauaticaI potters sen another Lloyd Geovse.
clamo-ing asairst existing Institutions and Ie1d-
ing the p-o.etariaJ across country 20 an imros-
sible millennium Ai BrieuN indiIerent TO
politics, English or French A. a free thinker