New-York tribune., 1911-10-29
THE FOREIGN STAGE STAGE
Items of Interest from London
and the Continent.

NJ Sacha Gutry the talented son Of "
| Lucien Guitry. perhaps the nnest Of the
many fine actors in. France has made
another contribution 10 the gayety OF ma
/ tions and more especially the French, ia
his new play, "Un Beau Marriage" just
produced a the Theatre de Ia "reminiscences
! with himself and his wife. Charlotte Lyses.
/ in leading parts. NJ. Sacha Gulty Is al
ways bubbling over with run OF hlgnly
Parisian type, and. as ne knows an tne
tricks OF the dramatists trade. ne has
given a very good theatrical form 10 ms
ideas. His guiding principle Is to make
| people laugh, and, TO en1oy MS plays, II Is
not necessary-in fact, II Is hlshly ua uhae'
! srable-to think about the characters
] That would spoil all the enjoyment, for We
| should find out that though quite charm
ing. they are hopelessly immoral. They 90
! lust what they please and say Just what
they think, like so many groWn-up chil
dren. They have A complete disregard for
cOnventionalities and other peoples inter-
ests They are most delightful companions
| up TO certain popt. but it would be un
! wise to expect any Of them to carry our
promise simply because II was promls'
or to do what bored them. There are &C
many people Of this kind In Paris tanc
! varieties Of the type are not unkno"n
elsewherel especially in me tneatrlca ha.
| appear perfectly natural here ana very
=, few people would dare 10 suggest that "
', does not exactly conduce TO the advance"
| ment Of public morality to hold such per-
sonages up 20 admiration I'm the glare Of
! the footlights.
Herbelin. the rich bookmaker in TN
Beau Marriage" is characteristic speci-
men widower with one daughter
| drought up by a geographically distant
cousin and almost forgotten by her worthy
/ sIre) he has plenty of money and riotous
! tastes which he gratifes TO the full, and
enjoys himself thoroughly The distant
cousin dies and his daughter Simone turns
up Unexpectedly 10 share her parents home.
| This does not suit the afectionate father
! at all and he sets 10 work TO get rid OF
! her by pairing her off with the lively young
Vicomte de Vsrencey who lives in one or
/ Herbelin's apartment houses. owes him
three quarters rent is up to his eyes In
! deb and is generally charming and dis.
reputable frerpenn calmly offers mis-
daughter and a substantial dowry 90 the
! v.comte who refuses through noble regard
! for his liberty. OF course. he changes MS
/ mind after making the girls Acquaintance,
/ and then il Is her turn to decline the honor
/ Of an alliance with him. They are exactly
! Ike two spoiled children who say NO on
| principle.
! Finally the supposedly innocent girl re-
ycals that she has had an adventure. and
has appropriated good round sum belong
| ing TO the deceased cousin. The v.coTts
| l.kes her all the better for this confession.
/ and as she also has changed her mind
| about him, they agree 10 marry ihouSn
. they quite think that the matrimonial conf
| tract Is a mere detail It is a happy and
| cutie Partisan, ending TO a comedy which
| viii possibly be quoted by future historians
as typical Of our time. The dialogue is one
| perpetual coruscaton of paradox, humor
! irony and illusions incomprehensible to
those who do not know their Paris very
: we'll indeed.
| J. NJ Barrie's play what Every Woman
| Knows" has passed its four hundredth per
Torrance in London.
4 new play entitled "Milestones" has
been written I'm collaboration by Arnold
Bennett and Edward Knoblauch, the au-
! thors respectively OF The Honeymoon
/ and ''Ksmet' both Of which are nov
running in London. and the latter Of which
will be produced soon in New York.
! The following description from the Lon
6on Times" of a weekly programme at the
| Coliseum, a London variety house. gives
! striking realization Of the difference be
tween the European idea Of variety and tn
| American:
"Rialon." a wordless play by Her
Freksa is a queer thing Not impression
/ list. surely. In the usual sense OF the word
! but secessionist In the art adapted FOR Us
mounting. On the huge stage of the COLI
scum small fragment Is inclosed, in mos.
cases by simple screens. Within the screens
! is the very smallest amount OF furniture
| that will serve the purpose; and the loneE
little scene standing our ias agatnst te ,smn sHs
or candles on the stage. This ODD kind OF
calculated crudity controls the story as "eii~
as the setting. .
We begin with the epilogue. wnch
shows park gates dimly seen ilpthe night
and two liveried servants holding cande-
labra toward a. stone bench whereon lps
a dead girl i'm vivid green ana man IN
evening dress al her feet. The man Is the
Marques who has cas- he supposes) res
cued the girl from a brutal apache-nf
brother, as she tells hinl-aud, hdNihs
married her and found her unfaithful. has
tracked her to a Montmarte cafe. poisoned
her and her lover, and carried her bon
away with him. Calculated crudity ~
careful oddty in every scene-the oddeS-
OF all being, perhaps. that Of the weddinl
i'm which the row Of candles on the alt
gives the only light; and priest, br'
bridegroom and witnesses glide ghost
in and out again before we realize VII
these dim shapes are. As odd as can
imagined. but very forcibly conveying ~
impression of something hurried, furu"
and rather shameful Not till the les
scene does any one get the opportuni
or the light for much display Of pant
mime; and then Herr Alvin Neuss. as
Marquess. shows a wonderful power of
pression. both Of jealous fury undisguis
and Of jealous fury masking deadly
Venge under the antics OF Pierr
| 'raulein Songa van Eeden and Herr Osc
FodOr make a fine. dashing pair OF mig
! birds. The whole thing is as queer as q
be, rather horrible. and sometimes fran
| ly ugly: but IL has an adventurous Wits
| ity that informs nearly all it's quet
logical Crudeness. Herr Max Ettinger
music PLAYS significantly with well-knov
French airs. and is appropriate. ,thous
never remarkable. Among many othf
new things I'm the programme are flapp
Fanny Fields with her pigtails. he
sabots and her laughter. and Miss Adr
enne Augarde and Victor q Huntley ~
| a rather funny little sketch. and Mus
Sarah Bernhardt continues during thAs
week her superb performance of Joan o.
Arc in the trial scene
\ new musicsh piece by Gladys Unger.
| called The Night Birds will soon be pro-
duced in rondon. The play is based On
Strausss Die Fledermaus" although
scarcely anything OF the older work will he
recognizable in the new production that II
inspired. "The Night Birds" 1t is promised
will have some remarkable costumng and
scenic effects we'll as a Viennese wats
OF the most alluring kind.
\ strange coming together of dramatic
talent Is the lately formed partnership ot
Nine. Rejane. the celebrated Partisan ac-
| tress, and George Grossmlth. with whom
Rejane has recently been appearing in
London music halls They have made an
agreement to produce together "A new skit
called sans Gene" in Reiane's theatre I'm
| Rue Elarche, Paris. The French actress