The San Francisco call., 1910-07-10

NH views has been long continued
V and active 1t was not due,
should say. to an indisposition
90 meet an. interviewer so much
as the" interviewer-the person
, who misquotes or puts on inky airs and
struts vsinly with much recently ac-
quired information and half baked
knowledge.
An actor or an actress is necessarily
at The mercy Of such person, who. un-
fortunately exists. though, think, in
q surprisingly small minority.
However. Mrs. Fiske never talked
much for publication. Occasionally she
would write. and her messages TO the
public have been more concerned with
humanitarian than dramatic matters
Her activities in behalf of the brute
creation-the dumb animals which man
abuses sometimes-are well known;
but about her art Mrs. Fiske has main
taiued a reticence which has been,
think. too modest. too complete. She
has been. she allowed me to infer in a
recent and brief chat. content to let her
views OF plays. players and playwrights
exhibit themselves IN her stage work
: she has pneferred 20 create than to- edf 4
.Sorislize. What she thinks Of the
drama might probably, she says, have
better expression in her treatment Of it
A created character such IS HsnneIe,
the child OF I5auptmann's fImy fancy.
was better contribution 10 contempo-
nary art than cursory discussion Of
the poet playwright Becky. her pres
ent characterization, speaks for her
self, and Iona Hessel. the unexpected.
'sprightly figure in Ibsen's usually
mournful morsss. is. apparently. bet
= ter commentary on Mrs. Fiske's appre-
clstion Of the great NorwegIan's work
than q page OF panegyrics could be-
The facts remain that Mrs. Fiske
doesn't like 10 talk shop; that she
doesn't seek exploitation on the inter
viewers pages, and that she avoids
discussions in the newspapers on art"
So il happened that her willingness to
meet an interviewer for purposes Of
publication was a somewhat unexpect-
q. pleasurable manifestation, aud her
freedom from pose, absence of anecta-
tion. unconsciousness of her position in
the drama OF the day were delightful
factors in an all too short chat
But she wouldn't talk shop. Not that
she refused 10. on the contrary, she
was willing TO listen to any theories or
ideas that I might PROFOUND, but for
herself, she professed an indifferent
knowledge OF the subject and remained
silent
You have been quoted" said ]. "as
having said that while You admire the
era rsftsmsnship of Ibsen YOU deplore the
TACT that his wonderful gifts are not
enlisted in behalf Of the noble things OF |
life"
That Mrs. Fiske might have said such |
r. thing seemed 10 me most reasonable |
an assumption, for her own nsture-at
least 50 much Of it as was permitted
ole In the Superficial association Of 1
aeeting half bour-was sunny Her /
eyes sparkle with an inward ligh.; she
is zivscious. even merry, thouga she
stops suddenly in her mental processes
snd while you chat on remains lover
ing over thought that has heen sug-
gested. Then she viii look up quickly
end say something quick, incisive and
sxiomatic about a thought which was
dropped in the conversation OF several
moments before.
I could hardly have said such a
ming" she answered in reply to the
implied question.
-why?7 / asked.
Because said she, Z do not con-
slider myself an expert on Ibscn. do
rot know enough about his work to ex-
press SO broad sentiment
There you have it in nutshell. Mrs
Fiske is the creator, not the critic. She3
produces. Her energies are bound up
in the making Of history. not the writ
ing Of it. She does not take the time
10 glance back on what she has done
draw comparisons, work out theories
and establish rules That work she
leaves TO others. She is to drama as
Wagner, let US say for the illustration $
sake. is 10 music. She is a builder.
zot a compiler Of laws
DO not know enough about Ibsen?-
I asked.
You would have felt the game sur
prise had you been in my place. Her
Nora in the Dolls House was one
Of the most perfect pictures ever drawn
TO the center of the American stage.