New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-04-10
" THE FATHER"
Strindberg'S Play Given Here for
First Time in English.
WOMAN AGAINST MAN
Theme Of Drama Strikes Ultra
Modern Note Of Sex
Warfare.


TO the doors with playwrights. professional
playgocrs and those who perhaps might De
called connoisseurs of the drama. To these
at least. the event was one Of interest ana
importance. as the leaulng Swedish dram
atist of to-day. whose works are no"
staged throughout Europe, and particularly
I'm Germany is very little known, and not
at all played. in America. Nor are they
very likely to become popular here. "Peo-
pie don't do those things" is more than
probably the verdict that will be rendered
by audiences I'm America over plays IN
which the characters live and act IL hey
do. for instance ia The Father. or
this play the theme is the dominant one
Of Strndberg's philosophy inevitable
triumph Of woman in the inevitable conflict
between her and man.
IF we are both descended from mon
KEYS" says the husband to his wife. we
must have originated in different species
of monkey. for there's nothing in common
betw cen MS is there"
The story Of THE Father is briefly this:
\ Swedish captain Of cavalry and his wife
have a daughter. The father Is . free
thinker an atheist, the mother a follower
OF some Christian faith When the play
begins the daughter IS old enough to begin
her education. and when it comes to de-
Gliding under what sort VI instruction she
shall pass the conflict between father and
mother begins. According To the law in
sweden. the father has full power I'm such
matters. The mother however. TO whom
power is lifc. plots tho overthrow Of her
husbands will and in this she Is entirely.
and from the 6rst inevitably, successful
Her method probably vas chosen 20 show
what woman is capable Of doing when she
is apparently coruered in her struggle
for control over man and ultimate
power. She deliberately creates in
her husbands mind the suspicion that
h" lis not the father Of their child. When
he had accepted that fact, she figured IL,
he would lose interest and make no further
attempts TO dictate But the woman struck
even deeper than she planned. His belief
in his child was the mans only hold on
immortality. With a child he had a future
life; without one. none. The suspicion grew
at once into an obsession and tho father
mind became unhinged. His wife had pre-
pared the way for insanity By dropping
vague warnings To their family physician
She planned to have him put away a. in
sane until the child vas safely directed in
the proper sort Of up-brlnging. hut she had
not planned to bring on actual insanity.
The father in a sudden paroxysm OF rage
and despair dies. And the mother turns
and clasps the daughter in triumph.
TO a great extent the sordiduess Of fam
lis strife is kept out OF this play-an eject
T.. lN
against tho personal and keeping 20 the
key. There are people and there
is tremendous conflict between them.
conflict based ON the fundamental prln-
cipIes Of tn. natures f men and women
that is all The simplicity Of the them"
and its working out and the inevitable" ad
vance Of the TRAGEDY which comes 20 ih"
one character and the triumph which is
gained by the other. max" THE Father
the substance Of Greek drama.
without having the form ~ the antique
model
The play. in It's present translation at
least. has no feeling Of locality, except per
haps in its tone Of thought Even that
could be described only as Northern.
The characters are not definitely named.
The father is designated merely az "a Cap
tain Of cavalry" Ills wife Is simply
81 Laura" Then there Is The Pastor.
The Nurse" etc. This evident attempt TO
lift the characters out OF the local Into the
universal Is parallcled in the action. The
war scenes-thcrc Is no other way to de-
scribe them-betwecn the man and the
woman. which end in the man throwing
the reading lamp at his wife and trying
TO shoot his child ar" hardly IN IN" key OF
everyday realism. Yet they may be called
realistic I'm the sense that they reflect the
life and the action Of thought. They show
the carrying out OF possible enough Inn
pulses and mental pictures. And In this
WAY many Of the incidents are terribly and
bitterly real
Warner GLAND who played the father.
also made, with the help OF his wife. Edith
Shearn GLAND. the translation of the play
which was used in last nights production.
Mr.. Glands portrayal of the woman
man had good points. The sense
Of his physical and mental strength yet
his baffed inability TO cope with the cum
ming Of a dinercnt-he described 1t as a
superior-calbre Of intellect, was well con
veyed As his wife, ROsdlind Ivan made AS
strong a portrayal OF d supernaturalIy crutI
and Unconditional woman as could Wen De
imagined. Her triumph was almost the
triumph Of a dcyil-not Of the colorful ana
na rtially human medieval dcyil, but a mod
crn one a mechanical one.
The lines OF the play hardly called l9r
e,,cL a steel woman. In her part there -
a message which lets i'm her humanity very
strangely Miss Ivan does not make much
Of This passage. Possibly il has been cur
when her husband allowed her TO love MN
,.itb . rnotherlng love all was well between
them. Afterward ne had become her iQNei,
and at once something changed Inns u
,Iot the only passage that shows "A mere
,'n,,,.niv side Of the wife Miss Ivan, now
ever. emphasizes only the hard inhuman
side. a., ,. mo-, tho
,,,net svmpathetic human being in the play
iIor work was restrained yet full or FEELING
other Strindterg plays are to FOLLOW ms
one at the erkeley-'Couhtess June
,.,rio outIaw" and The Stronger. IL is
unlikely however, thai the Swedish dram
atist although he has at last. at Sky
tErcc years. become pdtonal nero IN ms
own country, will become any more pOpu-
i,r bere than Ibsen. with whom, no DOUBT.
To- ,,iil ne compared The Swede IL dr.
fereut from the Norwegian. He Is less nm
= ginative I'm the poetic qualtieS' anu mas
ouality Of bitterness which the NorWesian
docs not show. ON the woman question
botb are what will he called advanced
I'd although lbsen pleads for the rights
81 woman and Strindberg fears her. both
aye ON the same track with regard 10 thelr
efforts 10 emphasize her mentality.
CAST or THE FATHER"
c,,taIn Of cavalry Warner GLAND
- ~, III wife ............... ROsalind Ivan
I,r' ns,ermark ....... Robert -. Kegerres
M psstor Observation-Disclosures. Harry Dodd
Nurse Louise DEMPSEY
Mold ....-.-.' Oh. .'+-'''+ - .-'