The Washington herald., 1912-03-27
AT THE THEATERS.
Madame VIarda.

Heralded by prolific and enthusiastic
press reports that likened her to Duse;
that called her a rival Of the Divine
Sarah Bernhardt. and gave her a place
beside Mines. Ristori and Rachel, Nine.
Alexandra Viarda, the Polish tragedi-
enne, made her initial Washington ap-
pearance in The Bride Of Messina +"
Frederick Won Schiner,S classic tragedy,
in the Belasco Theater at a matinee per-
formance yesterday afternoon.
After more than half an hour
later than the regular matinee hour an
nOunced for the performance, the audi
ence which had gathered to see the
widely advertised tragedienne wos DOOM
ed to most poignant and bitter disap-
pointment, for grim tragedy stalked be-
yond the. ken OF Schillers noble lines
into the strenuous performance OF the
players. hhing the hearts Of their audi
tors with a feeling manifestly Of pity
for the crudeness or their production.
The tragedy of the house. OF Messina
deals with a curse that is passed from
sire to sons. --
4 prophecy declared that a sister
should set brother against brother and
bring both to a tragic end in the final
fulfllment of Fate's decree In an ef-
fort 10 abort this decree the mother. Isa-
bella, Princess of Messina, causes her
only daughter to be spirited away in in
fancy. - -- ..'.--
Long afterward, the brothers. ignorant
Of their kinship TO the girl, seek her hand
in marriage. and the younger Of
them. Don Manuel by name, removes
the innocent maiden from the convent
where she Is contemplating her novitiate
The brothers are thereupon infiamed
to hatred. and Don Caesar slays his
brother. Don Manuel After the tragedy
the secret of the ancient curse and Of the
kinship. is revealed and the fratricide
makes expiation by killing himself at
the foot Of the bier on which his mur-
dered brother lies, and the mother and
daughter are left TO lament the spectacle
Of tragic woe and find what relief they
can In the~arms of each other
Presented by a company which bore
not a trace OF organization, which held
not vestige of the power of pathos even
In the most tragically pathetic lines of
the piece. The Bride of Messina" awak-
ened only pity and sympathy for its pro-
ducers yesterday. T.. .....
From an account given by. Mime. viarda
herself. II would seem that yesterdays
presentation was. attended with many
mishaps, 1t having been impossible to
obtain the, stage for the rehearsal of a
company comprised OF many new mem
bers until the ninth hour. which ac-
counted for the lateness of the first cur
tain. -, ....- go. s-...'
Nine. .Viarda excused her superabun-
dance of intensity throughout the per-
formance to extreme nerv vousness caused
by the realization that her support was
most Incompetent in the: deliverance of
blank verse With the exception of Nine.
Viarda herself, the company ise largely
American, and totally out OF sympathy
with the tragedienne, who has received
much favorable comment in European
countries.
, Be It said to the credit of the 1Belasco
audience that little demonstration Of dis
pleasure was made beyond the first ripple
of laughter over the crude mishaps OF
some of the minor players and the lack
of feeling in the presentation. After that
folks just settled down into their seats,
seeming to wonderful II was all about
Nine. Vlarda's emotional work lacked
sincerity and shading. She was obvi-
ously laboring under excitement, which
was afterward explained as. due to the
conditions under which she
was forced to give her initial perform
ance here.