New-York tribune., 1910-06-05
THE PARIS STAGE
"La FIeur MerVeilleuSe" Is Pro-
ruCed at the Theatre FrancaiS.

E1EASf Nay -
" Miguel Zamacofs. whose dramatic
pcetry is fnbued with the robust tradi-
tons OF the "Chat-Noi-." and whose come
dies in verse "Bohemos'' and ''BOuHons-"
were successful in France and abroad. has
written 4 delicate anecdotaI comedy IN
verse called la FIeur MerveiIieuse-" Il
vas produced az the Theatre Fransais last
night. and ELECTED considerable applause
IL Zamacois has talents that justify the
prediction that he Will become a modern
successor OF Regnard and Banville- La
Fleur NerveiIleuse'- Is a delightful story
which floats between a fairy tale and
realistic play. It is replete with sentinenr
and purity. and causes the hearts Of young
zvor,en to throb with emotion and clouds
their ewes with steaIthy tears The action
passes in Holland IN the sixteenth century
The hero IS a romantic youth Of Provence.
named Gilbert. who. jil1ed BY his south
eru sweetheart, is bereft OF reason To
cr1re his sorrow his mother. Regime. travels
with her son to Holland They set out for
! Harlem where they arrive after all sorts
Of strange adventures In the land OF
tulips we find Franz HAS and his fellow
painters slipping wine and talking abous
art The burgomaster. Amstel, is a fanatic
for tulip culture. Disappointed because
a rival has won the prize ar the tulip show.
AmsteI promises 10 give his young and
pretty daughter, Griet. in marriage. with
a princelY dcwry. to the man who produces
the finest tulip Gilbert is impressed with
the charms Of Griet His mother, Regime
feels convinced that IL her son weds Gries
he will be cured Of his broken heart and
viii regain his reason But how can Gil
bert thus win the double prize-the girl
and the tulip?
Luckily, during their travels, Regime
saved poor gypsy girl. Speranza. from
ruin 6peranza. although she secretly loves
Gilbert. resolves 70 sacrifice herself. and
offers him superb rElip. the marvellous
flower" which win enable him 70 WI the
hand OF Griet and which Spera1za has OBJ
tanned IN some mysterious way from the
Far East But Gilbert IS straightforward
With a nice sense Of honor he gives the
tulip TO Griet. because he does not wish
her 20 marry him unless she really loves
him Griet. overheartng Gilbert's sOGiOQuy,
in which he con<esses 70 Himself his pas
sion for her rushes toward Gilbert. re-
turns the tulip. and al ends happily
The play would be charming as a pure
fairy tale but the dramatic action Is partly
realistic and partly ideal This lessons ths
theatrical values and prevents the play
from being as GOOD as 5OOIonS me
piece Is enIivened by half a dozen ether
characters which trpart comic, and once
in = while uelodramatic. notes The com
edy is likely to have a satisfactory career
n Za1acoIS has not given however. the
fun measure Of his talent He Is capable of
producing a really great play Il ne Will
only concentrate his efforts so as 20 secure
logical dramatic action woven in verss
that is not TOO ''raciIe." and the drse
hernistichs Of which do not enable the spec
tator too readily TO guess what the Sec
ond hemistichs Viu be La FleUr Me--
veilleuse'' is mounted at the The3trs
Fraucais with admirable taste. and TIE
scenes In Holland Of the seventeenth csr-
tury have all the picturesque beauty which
that essentially picturesque period demands
The play was a brilliant success for Mile
Marie Lecorte. who was the most delicious
and most mignonue Griet that can be mag
fned She was the smile and the flower OF
the evening Next after Nine. Barter. and
In quite another way. Mile Marie LecOmts
makes greater impression on a Partisan
audience than any other actress az the
Theatre Francois. where. Notwithstanding
popular banrering. sound stage traditions
and excellent, finished, conscientious act
ing still prevail g I 3