New-York tribune., 1910-01-16
"CHANTECLER"
Fatiguing Rehearsals of Ros-
lands Strange Play.

u
with Rostand's ''Chantecier." Much has
been said of ii. bat little has been verified
SO much secrecy has prevailed that not
until recently has anything been known OF
its plot and only then because il leaked
Out through some unguarded channel. So
careful have the producers been that armed
guards have been placed at the stage doors
Of the Theatre Porte SAINT Martin. Paris,
where the play is TO be produced in Feb
rUary- Actors have been pledged not to
reveal their lines. Stage hands have been
excluded from the theatre during re-
hearsals which have been held behind fire.
proof curtains. Author and producers have
kept their lips sealed while the world gave
them free advertisement
IL was only just after Christmas that NJ
Edmond Rostand completed the fourth act
OF "Chantecier." Although the play
written Fix years ago. none of the final
scenes was actually elaborated until the
rehearsals began at the Porte Saint-Martin.
This is the usual custom of NJ Rostand.
and he practised IL with La Princesse
Lointaine.- -Cyrano" and "Aigion-" Ae-
corGing 20 present arrangements, il is ex-
pes-ted that "Chantecler" will be produced
on February 10. II is quite probable. how
ever, that IL may not be brought out until
q few weeks later owing to almost insur-
cry.
Pierre Grinscire the last OF the French
rued:eval poets. surnanled the "Aris-
tophanes des HaIles" NJ Edmond Rostand
may, perhaps be called the "Aristophanes
of the Bouievards." for in some respects he
resembles the author Of The Birds" THE
Clouds THE Frogs" and THE Wasps.'
inasnauch as he delights in the wild thrill of
the woods, makes the air Of the farmyard
vibrate with songs OF birds and fowls. and
in his flights Of fancy and fertility Of iuag
ination scars above all contemporary con-
ventional limits.
'-Chantecler" comes q sort of theatri-
cal aeroplane, driving stage managers fran
tic making actors crack Drained, actresses
moon struck, And revolutionizing stage ira
ditions. NJ. Rostand is, withal, serious in
his mirth, ard has method in his extrava-
gance and purpose behind his satire.
Bearing IN mind n. Rostand's deliciously
eStrayagant outbursts of lyric writing and
his volatile and changeable poetic imagery.
e true notion Of "Chantecler" may be OBJ
tanned from the following rough scenario"
of the play, which the author at first called
TN Petit Coin du Monde and was orig
inaliy suggested to him by observations
made IN his farTnyard near Cambo, and
which through the medium Of barnfowls
and other birds presents philosophical
satire Of the comedy Of up-to-date human
life.
First Act.-A bernyard just before
rise. There is huge dog kennel, in which
Is 4 big sheepdog IN Jean Cocueln). who,
with his body in the kennel, but with out
stretched head, pronounces alexandrine
verses, here and there rhythmically inter-
rupted with barks. growls and yelps. A
Vulnerable hens, cockerels and chicks
scratches straw and gravel, and mounts
upon dunghill, and as the sun rises utters
q long and superb hymn or TRADE glorify-
ing the sun as the grand motive force of
the universe as the creator and divine pro-
creator, according TO the ancient faiths
OF Egypt of the early Pharoahs and of the
sun worshippers OF Persia. This TRADE, de-
livered by NJ Guitry, the Cock, is a
masterpiece. The late Constant Coquelin
once remarked that this passage is un-
surpassed in force and grandeur by any
lines in dramatic literature" Coquelin re-
cited a part Of this invocation 10 the sun
to the German Emperor. This tremendous
sllocution, indeed hastened his death, fer
he studied IL and repeated it, with all its
weird croaks. crowings and ringing perora-
tions. the last evening of his life. The
fatigue was such to prevent his
covery. The sprightly little blackbird. the
merle" acted by N. Gaiipaux, has a
great deal TO say In this act especially
when the beautiful and irresistible Hen
Pheasant, personifed by Nine. Simond, now
Nine Claude Casinir- -Perier. falls from the
sky AMI, swerving with wounded wing and
with plaintive walls Of pain, gracefully COL
lapses on heap of straw. There is great
cornnotion among the hens, who cackle
and lay premature eggs. The big dog
utters oninous growis. The bIsckbird
whistles ironically, and predicts grand
domestic drama in Chanteciers household.
Scores OF graceful white and pearl gray
oyes-impersonated by a bevy of the
youngest and prettiest actresses OF Paris
bill, COO and peck fondly at one another,
they note how the wounded Hen Pheasant
has consciously or unconsciously. cast
speI upon the heart of the superb Chante-
cier.
Second Act.-Just as THE wasps" sug-
gested 10 Racine the idea of dramatizing
the fondness Of Parisians for litigation,
SO Aristophanes's Birds may have in
spired NJ Rostand with his conception of
the second act of 'rChantecler," which gives
q full measure OF the sweetness OF the wild
woods by night. The central figure here is
q huge majestic Owl. admirably acted by
NJ Dorivai, of the Odeon. The eyes of this
owl are simply terrific. They have a super
natural CLEAN, in perfect harmony with
the sinister utterances of the ever watchful.
willy, malignant, yet magnificent, bird OF
night Chantecler yields TO the blandish-
ments of the refined, voluptuous fasc.na-
tjons Of the higa caste Hen Pheasant and
the pair of lovers, caressing each others
soft feathers, stride stealthiy away. The
owl detects them, and summons all the
Lfvdc to thor
sturdy prinevai oak tree. The conspiracy
fails, however owing TO the ridiculous non
sense and narrow-minded prejudices OF the
low born. cackling, harfiyard hens.
The third act. Here find the golden
splendor Of noon. IL is the Apotheosis of
the Sun. All is radiant and dazzling. The
scene recalls the hieratic descriptions Of
the sun god Ra in the Temple OF Heliopoiis.
The aristocratic, dainty voluptuous Hen
Pheasant is enthroned, with the grand but
now obsequious chantecler as her consort.
Feathered bipeds Of every description pay
court TO the sublime queen. There Is de-
iicious side-play, revealing, with delightful
Irony and delicate satire, the fiattering hy-
pocrisy and yenality of courtiers and finan-
ciers-birds in appearance, but with the
ways and methods of INSCRIPTIONS conf
pany promoters. stock gamblers and graft
ers. IL originally intended to have
baroir cnck6Rhf n this T2.,f gf a,