The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-04-12
mrs. FISKE IN CHILD ROLE
HACPTNaNN'S "HANNELE" ~
Az ARTISTIC SUCCESS.
Tender Little Piay. WhIeh q GSOd q SmpAny
Makes Nurh OG Derpate sonss lneoa-
grultles-'"The Green cockatoO'' o.
Alss Presented. Nlthsat the star.

hrtauef Asitthe way " men n boou oulr4mg
Makes Nurh OG Despase sSnss Ineoa-
grulsIes-'"The Green COeksto0'' %
Also Ppeseated. Nttlsses the star.
Mrs. Fisks carried her policy Of artistic
! sslf-efacemsnt a degree further than she
had in The Pillars % Society when she
appeared last night NJ the l.yceum Theatre
~ the childish heroine % Gerhart Haupt-
MAINS poetic play. -Hannele.' The
character she enacted holds the stage
throughout the two short scenes. but 10
offers little or no opportunity to test Mrs.
Fiske's best powers. or even To indicate
them family.
Her chances for triumph-if one may
mention that word in the case OF such an
unexactinG role -liS rather In her ability
to leave undons Just what her public
might reasonably lie lod 10 expect her
! to do II IN readily comprehensibLe. how
ever. that the desire to produce the little
play might appeal irresistibly to her AS
a stage manager and a supporter ~ the
best that the contemporary theatre yields.
Hauptmann's drama ~ not unknown
here. IL was almost new and had just
achieved fame for its author in Berlin.
when q version by &. II. Meltzer was per-
formed-And not very adequately per-
| formed At the Fifth Avenue Theatre
about sixteen years ago. Then IL was
dismissed almost without a hearing and
the New York public. which has always
remained indifferent to Hanptmann's
genius. except in the case OF The Sunken
Bell had no further opportunities to
know the play although IL has occasionally
been performed in other cities.
Il IL different from Hauptmann's other
drama in that Il 10 purely poetic. without
message or symbolism of any kind. rely
ing for lie effect wholly on the study Of
the suffering child who. taken from the
pond in which she had sought TO drown
herself. sees in her delnum the figures
II those she has loved and those she has
been taught by the sisters TO revere aud
worship.
Amid the alarrellng mendicants Of this
village pOoThouse in the Sileslan Noun
tains those who had h.friended ner be-
come confused in her mind with the
figures 81 her religion. There are angels
as well a. the spirit Of her dead mother.
while the schoolmasIer. who has been
kinde~i Of them all to her. assumes IN her
mind he likeness % the one she had ben
taught to believe would receive her IA HIS
kingdom when all the earthly sunerinRs
caused by her brutal stepfather were at
an end
MhiIe the preparations for her own
funeral are heing made the chlld's vision
h enacted
There IL gentle and touching poetry
in every incident IT the play. and re
naive pathos colors every episode IN the
slmple action That such bea utie- as
-Hannele- offers are not for all markets
mus, he obvious from the slightest knowl-
edge &c it, subject IL ~ Wnd~nlable
that many persons would rnd little To
interest them even IN Mrs Fiskes prOduc
ton 1T the play. which left few u its merits
unrevealed Yet its original and fresh
poetic charm despite it, sOmbre subject
must find admirers
Mr.. Ftske knew that 60 play sSIcceSs-
fully q girl Of IL would In for her a hirtri-
onic tour de force without adding ma
terially 20 her reputation The hVrteri-
cal nervous frightened state 81 the
child abe depicted strikingly. although her
voice had no Juvenile note. Her faith IN
her religion and her resignation TO the re-
wards death promised her wers also -'IC-
ceasf'llly indie Rted. but IL was her arti--
tic and Appreciafive production ~ Haupt-
MAINS play rather than her performance
| 81 -Hannele- that pat New York. theatre
goer- again under obligation 20 her.
Holhrook Rim. Alice John and the
other members of MrS Fiske's company
gave her 'he valuable assistance size
seems always able ~ derive from her
B 49, CtANeN. ne uflcfffuttful Nffnfllfstl
difficulties ~ the visions were adrotly
managed The English version was 10y
Mary J SaForyi and Percy Mackaye
4 RlRterinR contrast 10 -Hann''lo-
cams. IN The Green CoCkatoo.- Arthur
Schnitzler's one act play ~ life in Paris
on the eve og the renCh Revolution
II was translated INTO very stilt'-d and
unnatural English nv Philip Litiel ana
George Ruhlee. hat that could not rob
tho t~N' e the characteristic aridActy
and T,-ckler-ne=s of It's p-riod Que of
the actors IN q cabaret 10 amuSs' the
aristocrats who gather there To- try to
bel,~ve that they are real criminals and
no, hired pretenderS learns that his
wife H. unfaithful and kills the man h..
had JIst claimed a. n part - his even
InRs duties 20 his employer to have
numbered iu his wf"'s dressing room
az the Porte ~ Martin Theatre
The Gilman of this episode WAS inde.ad
thrilling There might advantageou-ly
have bs-cn more diStinctHe-s ~ the per
Torrance and there was certainly a plen-
tiful lark ~ eleganc" iu all the actors
excepting Edward MRckAy and Holhrook
Rlinn who plavsd the Jealous actor with
real power and diStinctI0n. olive John
was a lovely n'TrsHisu-' with all the
ar,ificiBlity and pa~" ~ III" p~rioi. Will"
the acting was generally Comu-tent and
the accessories picturesque
But The Green tOckatop- was NO
such credit to- the theatTiC skill 20 Mrs
Fiske who did NOT take part ia IL. as
HauptInannE play which followed