New-York tribune., 1911-11-10
THE DRAMA
MoIiere's ~es FsmmeS Sa-
vantes" Given by the Drama
PLAYERS.

only other prOfeSSlOidl p'I'"fHld"'' Va
this play given i'm America was seen |
several seasons ago in German at the
Irving Place Theatre on the notable oc- /
casIon when Ernst Won Possart cam" from
Munich and played the part OF ChrysaL u
T. interesting TO know that this same char-
acter. which is the one taken by Donaid 4
Robertson last night. was played, In the
original production at Easter le'Z' ny
Moiiere himself.
MANY people who go 10 the theatre III /
New York have wondered why the Drama
PLAYERS chose to go back 2SS years Tor
play. when the agencies are seething WIN
dramas written to-day and on modern /
topics But as far as its theme goes the |
Learned ladies' as It Is called In the pres
cnt translation. s modern enough. INC
scene end persons could have been laid in
Jacksonville or Cincinnati or. for that
matter in New York. in 1911. Just as wei
rs in Paris in 1872. And this POSSIBLY eN- !
plains why the play has survived poth
thought and thoughtlessness and mas come |
down through the centuries satiricai
study in which actors Ike 10 play.
The story is very slight one Phila-
minte is strong minded lady who de-
lights in new intellectual movements
patronzes poets and scholars without re-
alizing that they are imposing upon her.
rules her husband and children with hrm-
ness coldness and scorn. and in all ways
conducts herself along highly intellectual
lines. as that terrible word is fondly inter-
prpted hy the devoted. Her sister-in-laW'
BGlise, another of the savantes. has the al
ditional charm of fancying every one is in
| love with her and insists that they enter
| tain the tenderest affections for her even
| when they Indignantly deny H. Armahde'
ono Of the daughters of Philamnte. is the
third in the group Of learned ladies' Her
| claim 10 attention. besides her brain is her
| jealousy Of her sister. Henriette, VINO IS
good looking theoryless Young woman
| very evidently loved by Clitandre. the man
whom Armande wants for herself Inc
two wits and men Of accomplishments ana
letters who represent Nine. Philaminte
| salon are Trissotin and Nadius. Doth OF
! which characters are supposed TO nave
| been drawn from life. There is no PROOF
| that this was true In the case Of Nadius,
although every one said al the time. the
old records declare, that Menage, scholar
of the day. was the original. There Is
little doubt that Trissotin was really based
y
in Paris and intimate friend OF Mile. de
Montpensier. The two roems OF Trissotih
read in the play are identical with two TO
be found In Cotin's fashionable rhymes.
That Chrysal husband of Philaminte and
father of Henrlette and Armande. VINO
spends an unhappy and terrified existence
under the pitiless domination OF MS "ile'
is trying I'm faint spurts OF bravery to deiy
Phllaminte and betroth Henriette TO Clitan-
dre. instead of to Trssotin as the wife de-
sires. and that he has I'm this project the
help and scorn of his brother Arlste sum
up the action and principal characters III
the satire The dainty little romance be-
tween Henriette and Clitandrc comes out
happily, owing not to the efforts or the
father. but to an intrigue of Ariste, VINO
manages to shed great stream OF whlte
illumination upon the intelligence OF PIMA
mlnte regarding the real character OF the
great Trissotin.
That this play can be dressed In costumes
Of the seventeenth century, the Wig ana
lowered waistcoat and ruffied trousers
for the men, and for the ladies, poth
Learned and unlearned, the full skirts and
pointed bodices and wide colnures oi
Moliere's time, is really a matter 10 be
grateful for. Especially in the case OF men
on the stage, no chance should be wasted
TO vary the painful monotony of the present
dav business suit by using the costume
Of any date, past or future, with designs
drawn from history, memory, dreams OF
the imagination.
In the present production every ef1ort mas
been made to add TO the grace and plquah-
cv of suggestion with which the old COM
edv trips dalntily through five acts OF VII
and coouetry, pretty little manners ana
/ black little souls And universal though
the pJay Is in it's human nature, the great
est charm is to be gotten out OF II py
keeping every detail, not only dress ana
scene but manners and the whole inslnu-
ating background, which is called point OF
view. in the Moliere period.
Rut although the effort has been made
the result was not what was expected from
companv organized with taste and discre-
lion as its watchwords. To leave behind
tho manners. expressions and costumes Of
TODAY and take on those of the seventeenth
century take kind OF training ana eN-
rerience that actors to-day-at least those
on the American stage-do not nave vi
the thirteen characters In the cast only TWO
gave the impression of being at ease IN
their costumes, and those were two whom
New York knows quite wei but has not
soon I'm several years-Herbert kelcey, In
the mart of Ariste. and Efie shannon, in
that NJ Armande These two also were able
to assume the graceful ar,ifciality OF man
nor Of pose and gesture that. so FAR as we
prou were characteristic Of the times rep
resented. The others put no flavor in their
acting. II was fiat and without shading.
Charlotte Granville. as Philamnte, was
niouant but wholly modern. In her YOU
saw in a fash the president Of the literary
club Of Spottsvile about to read ten
minnie paper on Emusic" or art She
caught the human nature OF the part but
not its setting.
I, Is only fair. however. to the actors in
this niece TO say that the translation used
was as uninspired and dropping a compost
,ior as was ever offered. There was, with
hardly an exception not n brilliant passage
from the first minute until the end. THIS
niece of work though, is only another eX-
annie Of the kind of translation that is
usually made Of French masterpieces into
rroIisb The dulness OF the lines in THE
learned Ladies'" must have been what
forc.d Mr. Robertson into dressing like a
mage and making of an aristocratic II fee
lie and foolish. old gentleman low
comedy part one Of the most bitterly sa-
tlrlcal passages in the original that OF the
,cene in which Henriette refuses the HAND
of Trlssotin on the plea that her taste had
not been good enough to choose man of
his brilliant personality, was given by
Renee Kelly wholly in the tone OF apology.
as though she quite sincerely deprecated