New-York tribune., 1910-12-07
THE DRAMA
Nine. Bernhardt as Jeanne dare
at the Globe Theatre.

Nine. Bernhardt as Jeanne dare
at the Globe Theatre.
NJ Emile Moreau's four-sct play. LIE
Process de Jeanne d d'Arc." which should not
be confused with an earlier one on the sub
ject Of the Maid of Orleans in which Nine
Berr1hardt appeared several years ago. had
It's premiere In this city last night and
proved 70 he we'll constructed. strongly
dramatic piece of work apart from the
ably invented opportunities il offers the star
10 run the gan7ut Of emotional acting 70 the
full. Nine Beruharjt appears in but two
of its four acts the second and third. but
these she dominates from the rise of the
curtain to its fail
The first act. explanatory, of course. Is
yet A strong one in itself Jeanne is al
ready in English hands when the curtain
rises Warwick has decided that she must
die on the of the coronation al Ro1en
of the infant Henry VI brought over from
England for the ceremony by his mother.
the laughter of Charles VI. in France. The
Duke Of Bedford. too. insists upon an early
trial. but because he would save her, for on
the approaching day of the Atonement the
clergy and monks of the cathedral have
the right to set at liberty a condemned
prisoner The bishop of Rouen. too. would
set Jeanne free. but Warwick's influence
preTails. Here begin the ecclesiastical in
trigues that run through the whole play.
and are employed in such way as TO
heighten tension. instead of weakening ii,
as might easily be the case. Bedford IS.
in fact, in love with Jeanne. without know
ing IT. but when he rises to defend her in
lmpassioned speech the church dignitaries
present convince MIN that he has been be-
witched by the sorceress. Horrorstruck,
he. too. decides that she must die. lest he
lose his soul. The infant prince signs the
order for the trial at his command
The trial occupies the second act: Jeanne
in prison. awaiting execution. fills the third
The last act takes place in one of the
rooms of the royal castle of Rouen. look
ing out upon the square where Jeanne is
burned at the stake.
One cares not one bit whether Nine
Bernhardt looks like girl of nineteen or
not; one has no memories of five or ten or
twenty years ago TO consult and make
comparisons. She appears in a part new
to US. and she conqUers- She is the un-
tutored. ignorant peasant girl telling sim
ply, with a shy, reminiscent pleasure, of the
days Of her childhood IN answer TO her
Judges, but she rises also 10 the height of
the most poetic figure in history, the height
OF the inspired woman believing in the
voices that bid her set out and conquer.
She whispers of them. ecstasy Illuminating
her features. but before the theological in
genuities of the Church she stands dumb:
II do not understand She admits, she
denies. she grows more and more bewil
dered she defies these Englishmen-War-
wick and Bedford-whom she has van
quished. and prophesies that they will be
driven from the soil of France. She con-
demns herself. This act Nine. Bernhard
plays standing almost metionless in the
centre Of the stage. She gesticulates but
little. she merely turns 10 left or right as
questions flung at her with ever in
creasing rapidty, But every iuto7ation of
I her voice tells, even though it be no longer
the voice OF yore, and the play of her
features IS amazing in its expreSsiveness.
1t is remarkable, convincing, moving, act
ing per Sc, which forbids comparison.
So it is in the third act. Jeanne. brutal
lied by her keepers is waiting in vain for
the voices. They have deserted her. Bed
ford visits her. and proposes a plan to
spirit her away, but she refuses. for the
voices told her before they vanished that
she would be delivered by a great French
victory. That deliverance failing. she will
stand by her faith to the last. The Bishop,
who. too, still would save her, now enters,
| and in the face of the opposition of War
| wick. who accompanies him. attempts to
persuade her to sign a retracti of her
| hereSies by revealing 10 her the fact that
she will not be beheaded or strangIed but
burned at the stake Jeannes physical re-
vulsion leads her to append her cross to
| the document. Then the vesper bells begin
TO ring and with their sound the celestial
voice returns to her. She answers 1t. de-
stroys her recantation and declares that
she has conquered her eakness She will
! face death in its most horrible form.
Nine. Bernhardt's facial play as she hears
| the voice whispering. then speaking, the
transition from despair to ecstasy, is one
/ of her finest moments in a remarkable
performance. With it she adds new
| Iaurels 20 the old in the New World. The
old one her in this part some time ago.
The performance last night was remark
able for good scenery. notably the colorfuI
castle hall in the first act: for appropriate
ment, the ever moving mass of ecclesi-
astics. mobiles and warriors being handled
with laudabIe skill and vivid effect NJ
! Lou Teilegen. in the part Of Bedford, re-
vealed himself as an actor of parts, espe-
cialiy in the first act. The fact that the
audience stayed till the end of the last
act. although it had been sufficiently an
nounced that Nine. Bernhardt does not ap-
pear in It. was a well deserved compliment
m