The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-03
PARIS IS SEIZED
 BY DICKENS FAD Are Dramatizing Dickens
 Novels Now A NEW STAGE FRIGHT Audiences Instead of Actors Are Seized With Panic-Big Flow CTS Were Feature of
 Flower Show
By PAUL VILLIERS

Paris, December z.-(Spec1al )-Paf1S has achieved Dickens fad. Not long ago a French version of the Piekwicl Papers was given under the name of M.
 Pickwick at the Athenee and won
 quick success. The droll humor of the
 famous creation of Charles Dickens ap- pealed to the Parisians. Now David Copperfield has been dramatized and is
 being presented at the Odeon. And
 thereby hangs an interesting tale.
 One day M. Antoine, M. Pierre Nor
 tier and M Max Maurey were coming
 back together in train from Switzer- land. M Mortier got down at one of the stations to buy a book to read, and chose a copy of David Copperfield." M. Antoine looked at it after the train had started again, and said to M.
 Maurey that there was a good subject for play in that book which would please French families.
 If you write play out of it for
 me- he added T will give it at the Odeon."
 M. Maurey adopted the suggestion and completed his play at Camaret. when he and M Antonio decided on the distribution of the principal roles. The part of David Copperfield was played by an acrtess, Mile. Monna | Gondre, one of the youngest pension
 nares of the Odeon. This is explained | by the fact that M. Maurey has chosen | only the youthful career of David as described by Dickens.
 l The play turns out to be a vertiable l Dickens mixture, an entire act being | borrowed from "Oliver Twist" Several of the chief characters of "Copperfield," | including Peggotty, Little Emily, Agnes and Dora, do not appear at all. MT. Micumber, Uriah Heep, Betsy Tratwood and MT. Dick are the most prominent characters, and appear in almost every scene. A daring innovation is the coverting of Micawber into schoolmaster, for it is to the scholastic establishment kept by Micawber that David Copper |
 field is sent. M. Vilbert gave de- lightfnl rendering of the character. In
 one scene he comes on the stage with shrimping net Uriah Heep helps to contrive David's
 ruin, the result being that at the be- ginning of the fourth act he is seen in Fagin's kitchen, being initiated much against his will, into the art of pocket |
 picking. Thus David changes places with Oliver Twist for the nonce. The denounement is reached with the arrival of David Copperfield at Betsy Trotwoods cottage after his weary tramp from London, the discom- fiture of the plotters, and the adoption of David by his great aunt. Stage fright is well known trouble which actors and actresses have to cope with, but another kind of stage fright seems now to affect the spectators. A curious instance of it occurred at the Francais, where during a performance a sort of panic seized the audience with
 out any plausible reason. Shortly after the curtain had risen four or five young ladies in one of the front rows suddenly got up and left the building hurriedy, without saying anything; but apparently they were very much excited. Other spectators looked around in wonder but
 could see nothing. Many, however, took fright, and left their seats to rush for the doors In an instant nearly everybody was on
 foot and making hurried attempts to
 reach the exits. The audience consisted
 mostly of young girls and their mothers,
 and though they jostled each other a lit tie no great harm was done. One of the | actors on the stage noticed the beginning of the panic. He addressed the public
 and told them that they were absolutely safe and had nothing to fear. This did
 not suffice, and a fireman who stepped on the stage also made vain appeals to tEe public. There was nothing to stop them until nearly all the stalls had been evacuated. The directors secretary then | appeared on the stage and succeeded at | last in persuading the spectators that | there had been "a false alarm, and induced | them to return to their places. The ex- citement lasted some 10 minutes, and the | only material damage was some crushed | hats and crumpled ribbons. The striking features at the autumn 1 fruit and flower show were the great ex- | tension in size that chrysanthemums anu l hegOnias have taken, and the Super-eX- | cellence of the pears apples and grapes l But the garden vegetables seemed less | succulent, and they were often under | sized, compared with similar exhibits in past years. Gardeners accounted for these | features by the long and sngularly hot | summer. The flowers l have mentioned | felt, as 1t were, restored to their origi- | nal Asiatic climate. A sight of the show was Mme. Pail | lard, the peasant great-grandmother-in law of a gardener from near Valoncay,
 Of whom the papers have been spea..- ing. She had come up from the Cher to attend a wedding with her daughter. granddaughter of the latter, and is now her age. The youngest member Of the | party is a big girl The old lady, when | questioned about her age and health, has |
 d way of drawing back her mouth by | inserting therein forefnger to show the | l..