New-York tribune., 1911-12-10
LONDON NOTES
Bismarck and ToIstoy--Maeter.
inCk Interpreted.
Paris. November "A

From the politics Of Parliament 10 N.
politics Of the stage the transition ia "A,
abrupt when the paywrights char.
acters are historical Two Of Mr.. zans.
Wills figures in his melodrama .,
"Gothia," an overtaxed empire jealou,
Of perfidious Alba. with it's superior "a,
power, are real enough Mr Bourcher,
Count Torgrim. Chancellor and man N
iron. is evidently Bismarck. simple Ana
quick tempered in domestic life when n.
is taking snuff or coffee in his dressIn,
gown. devoted 10 The memory ~ his viii.
ard willing TO make any sacrifice for NJ,
son. but a veritable war god. rejoicing IN
/ armaments. spreading web of intrigue
| over Europe and working out with IN.
| flexible purpose the supremacy of m.
| empire as the greatest world power A,
foil for this strenuous figure there IA
Count Frithiof, made up by Sir Herbert
/ Tree as Tolstoy in a peasants gabar.
dine turning the other cheek when smit.
| ten in the face, proclaiming the wicked
ness Of resistance 10 evil, denouncinr
war and armaments and preaching the
glad tidings Of universal love These
striking portraits are seen on His
/ Majesty's stage in a parable Of Peace
and War" written in labored blank
verso and splendidly enacted.
The most mysterious figure is Lady
Norma. maid Of honor at court and an
anarchist plotting against the War God
When the revolutionsts fail in conse-
ouence 81 Count Frithiofs inhuenc,
over the masses. he is taken captive and
sentenced TO death by the anarchists IN
the mountains. The firing party wastes
It's volley: two swashbucklers make In.
effectual efforts 10 assassinate him with
pistol and dagger. and finally Lady Nor.
ma. reproaching the fainthearted. surer.
stitious warriors shoots him with r..
volver II the m. y Of iron were slain
instead Of the evsngel of peace IN,
symbolism might suggest the mission oi
the suffragette in voting against arms.
ments and bringing In an era of uniyer.
sal peace and brotherhood. As II is. sh,
kills tho saint and not the ogre. and
is mainly useful for the purposes NJ
melodrama. since she loves the chan.
cellors son. who commits suicide whef
he hears that she has been the execp
tioner of his beloved master The Wai
God is overthrown and dismissed from
service when the anarchists have been
disarmed. and he mingles his tears with
the sssassin's when the curtain fails t.
the slow music Of hymn Of peace. Mr.
Zangwill would have made a better
reace tract if he had substituted Napo-
leon for Bismarck as the Missioner Of
War. and he would have been released
from the necessity of introducing SEN
timental young king. without better &C.
cupation than teaching court ladies' how
to dance The German Emperor escapes
satire-and possibly because Mr. Zans'
will is a Little Englander obsessed win
the idea OF an entente with the Fatner'
land
Mr.. Cayley Robinson's watercolor u
Illustrations for the Blue Bird make
brave show at the Leicester Gallery
where there are nearly sixty of them
drawings or other analogous subjects
being included. When Maeterlinck HIM
self confesses that he was disconnected
by his first impressions and did not fuiy
appreciate them until lie discovered that
the artist had interpreted the story from
within instead Of translatng II from
without, the casual visitor may be e1-
cused for rubbing his eyes over these
restrained and rather abstract elimpses
Of fairyland. These are not eXuberanl
and whimsical revels Of imagination III"
Mr.. Rackham's drawings Of The Kins
OF the Nibelungen," or fanciful iusira'
tions for children. like Mr.. Dulac's va
tercolors for Hans Andersen's tales. MI
Robinson cares less for objective beauty
than for the subjective verities and ne
reinforces with his brush MaeterllncH
characteristic motive in poetic drama
and that is TO stimulate thoughtfulness
The exhilarsting effects Of the heauuiu
drama are renewed in the delignuW
journey around this gallery. where the
Hours dance, the oak addresses INV
spirit of the trees. Tyltyl turns the ds'
mond in the field Of white lilies Time
opens the gates of Dawn and the cnh'
dren wander among mystical palaces en-
chanted woods and silent shores ana
witness the blossoming of graveyard
the shadows of the land of Memory and
the promise of the Kingdom of the
Future LN.F