The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-04-14

L. w. IN the DOulSNiiie Oouiiei- u 'i"t'
ttDRINcsEss, RAIL 'aa.,,1on New srr a9ss
i at the Mary Anderson yester-
day, and every seat was taken last night.
The sprig of vaudeville royalty appears
in her Original creation called the Cleo
patra dance 1t is pretty spectacle, but
if any attempt has been made to depict
the tragedy of Cleopatra's death nothing
more than unconscious comedy results. !
History says that when Cleopatra fed
from Actium, leaving Antony to his rate
Antony, not daring TO remain over for
the fate, fed after the flying draperies of
Egypts peerless but somewhat Bohemian
Queen. They fetched up in Alexandra
and Antony made propositions. to, Caesar
looking to his safety and that of
Cleopatra and the twins The Ro
man tartly replied that there was
nothing doing. He demanded the life of
Antony and came to Alexandria after it,
Because of little misunderstanding be-
tween himself and Cleopatra, Antony
fell upon his sword-about the time that
Caesar fell upon Alexandria@aft the
days. He learned too late that Cleopatra
was faithful and died In her arms. Cleo
patra, finding that she could not interest
Caesar in her time-tried charms, and pre-
ferring not to grace triumphal process
sion as part of the spoils of war, decided
to do that thing which ends all other
deeds; which shackles accident and bolts
up change" She committed suicide, es-
Gaping by few months the tragedy of
turning forty.
According to Rider Haggard, a man of
imag ination, Cleopatra INDUCED in cou-
pie of pages of striking rhetoric upon the
brink of the bourne. WAIT me- she
said, addressing a reliable poison, down
the popped ways of sleep. Lead me where
Caesars legions cannot march,
According to Shakespeare, Cleopatra
caused asps to be brought to her in the
mausoieum near the Temple of Isis, to
which she escaped. The clown who
brought "the pretty worm of Mus was
sprighty fellow, like all Shakespearean
clowns, who told her that the bite of this
old worm was Immortal and that per-
sons who died of it rarely recovered. He
wished her Joy of the old worm warned
| her that there was no good in it, but in
answer to a question as to whether it
would bite her, replied that the devil him
| self wouldn't bite a woman. Cleopatra
declared to Iras that she felt immortal
| longings that the juice of Egypts grape
should not again moist her lips; that she
could see Antony rousing himself to
praise her noble deed and mock the luck
of Caesar Addressing the asp, she re-
GREETED that it could not speak to call
Caesar an ass, and applying one asp
to her breast and another to her arm,
she died with dignity.
| But historians disagree as to the exact
manner of Cleopatra's death, and novel;
lists dramatists and dancers have a right
to ia artists license. According to the
programme note explaining princess
Rajahs" performance, the wicked, but
beautiful queen, hearing of the death of
| her lover, INDUCED in a wild, weird, ORR
entail dance. finally playing with pet
snake and tantalizing it. Suddenly COM
| ing upon the statue of Antony, ''she be-
came stricken with remorse, and placing
1t to her bosom, permitted 1t to bite her,
from the effects of which she died." 1t
was not, however, intended to convey the
impression that she allowed the statue of
Mark Antony to bite her. That was
merely an error of the editor of the pro-
gramme. This was plain to the audience
after the performance.
The curtain rose a few inches, disrlay-
ing the bare feet of attendants of Cleo
patra, and the audience murmureN its
excitement. Then the curtain rose, and
an emphatic whistle of approval, with an
almost gastronomic emphasis, came from
the gallery when Princess Rajah' was
T revealed upon a divan clad as II FOR the
hoochee coochee.
Having learned of Mark Antony's self
butchery through some news channel not
revealed to the audience, Cleopatra
stretched herself like kitten. arose and
l"indulged In wild, weird, gOriental
dance" as per programme. There were
faint suggestions of the hoochee coochee
ia an occasional wiggle but the dance did
not prove wicked. A good-sized asp-not
the little horned viper with which Cleo
|patra is supposed to have inoculated her.
self. but d iwaioppine i1arplntr possibly
: che pearest American cousin of the Afri-
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