New-York tribune., 1912-01-17
THE DRAMA
uoy Reinhardt's "Sumurun" at
the Casino.

h ',ns of wonders! The day after Christmas
~ nroduced at Olympia, in London tan
@..na twice as large, perhaps even more
10, twice as large, as Madison SQUARE
cardsn). a spectacular marvel called Ihe
,r-acle" with 1000 persons in the play
'ho,us of so and an orchestra Of 90 NigHI
S.,rs last. at Covent Garden opera House
- onazed and delighted London with MS
.,,,srh production of "OEdipus Rex" Last
.,rh, AZ the Casino he by proxy exhih-
,,ad 70 New York his wordess play
.sumurun." in which Berlin and Lon
son have already found great JOY. In the
-,.sntlme he has kept his German theatres
sn,d with audiences attracted by plays of
Al sorts Now must this Alexander Of the
cage he signing for other capitals to con-
cuer
Rut Max Reinhardt has yet to bestow
,non New York his imperial presence. He
sends his commander of legions, Richard
ordynski. 10 represent him. enabling Win
throp Ames to begin his labors as New
York manager on his own account with
assistance the most expert and a play
famous. brilliant, beyond words. sum
,rIn" being a wordless play so much at
least may be said And what may be
said of il in New York need not come
far short of what was said of II in Ber-
lin and London. The New York produo-
ton may be taken as identical with those
of the European capitals, for the same
players, costumes, scenery, music, stage
director are here. And here on the Casino
stage is the atmosphere" of the glorious
and stored East.
II was anywhere you like in Arabia, and
, # must have been a THOUSAND years or
more ago. Nur-al-Din. the handsome mer-
chant. sat in the Bazaar and dreamed.
dreamed of a woman the perfection ot
beauty. while he watched hunchbacked
Snowman. and an ugly charmer Of snakes
and a black giant, and lovely dancer.
The hunchback dreamed. too, dreamed Of
his lovely dancer. But she loved the
shapely Son Of the Ancient sheik, and every
other man she set eyes on. And, while
ali this Is going on, the oeauuluI'
perfect woman passes the shop OF NuT-ai-
Din, in the Bazaar and the merchant
starts. bewldered, for his dream has come
true She lives! And there she is. Per-
haps she has been dreaming Of him.
Clearly, he has made an impression. she
is Sumurun, wife Of the Old Sheik
The Old sheik tries to buy the dancing
girl from the hunchbaCk, and there all the
troubles begin There are so many trou-
bles. and everybody in Arabia gets into
them Such adventures as befaH. The
abductions. incarcerations, Killings and es-
capes. The course of love runs as roughly
as ever It did. and as ever 1t could. There
are Affections dire and red tragedies. 81
the end Sumurrn and Nur-al-Din survive
and love. and the hunchback. astonishing
man, who has already died a thousand
deaths. lives and looks on.
II YOU have imagination, prepare to let II
run now WheIesOever it will. There are nc
words to guide you. Fancy must flow
freely The story and all its bearings are
simple enough understandable by all eyes.
And the hearing is witched with music.
Acting IS reduced 10 its essentials You
feel that words would jar Or you may say
that here is pantomime magnifed TO the
highest power.
Music accompanies every movement Of
he play every step OF its action. But what
will surprise New York is the absence OF
what New Workers are accustomed 10 call
scenic effect" Reinhardt does not by
ua'rtad feasts for the eye. divert atten-
ION from the acting. The scenery is Of the
uainest II suggests rather than Illus
..a,rs. There are no marvels OF landscape
o- af architecture. At times the ftments
of the stage are almost as severe as those
which were used by the Irish Players.
New York: which has not been in touch
with the new European movement in stage
lighting and stage setting may feel at first
that something is wrong something lacking.
ptr4 Sc and all that IL lack
ing is the mighty overelaboration that has
dazzled the eyes, jumbled the taste and for
a decade or so mixed up scenery and act
ing to such an extent that many honest citi-
zens scarcely know the one from the other
Take the chamber OF the Sheik in the
eighth scene. It is a huge room hung in
black In the centre is the Shek's couch,
over which hangs an enormous lantern,
giving the only light for the scene and
throwing the light direct upon the sleeping
figure OF the Sheik. The gloom Of the
room and the concentration OF the light
at this single point prepare the mind for
and heiehten the effect of the double
tragedy which is about TO take place when
the Sheik kills his son and the Hunch-
back kills his Dancing Girl. The dramatic
effect here IS tremendous. Some may call
II terrifying. And the scene that follows
the denouement is quite as powerful. when
the sheik himself is killed by the Hunch-
back
Even the most pretentious scene OF all,
the interior of the harem, is quite simple:
but it is In every way highly effective In
all scenes. The chief thing IS acting, not
stage carpentry, properties and paint. And
the acting is good, in some cases astonish-
ingly good powerful and thrilling, in all
cases convincing, reaching the end that is
aimed az. There IS a good deal Of comic
business in the play. and some Of II IS
familiar 10 some at least of the spectators,
notably the acrobatic business on the stairs
IN the shop Of Nur-al-Din. There is a comic
black fellow. badly made up, clever enough
In such acting as he aid, but giving rise 10
some wonder that he was not as skilfully
colored as he should have been.
SumurUn Is not the most conspicuous
character In the play. Her maid is quite
as much Of figure, and the Dancing Slave
is practically the principal female charac-
ter. An astonishing character fhe is, all
passion and wickedness q creature who
kills While abe laughs This part was
wonderfully acted. So was the Hunch-
backs part This was by turns comic.
grotesaue and pathetic. In fact. all the
acting is worthy Of high praise. The play
itself cannot be called pleasant one. II
is play Of passion and murder. but in
Its lighter moments II is agreeable enough.
II Is IN places. little strange perhaps
TO New York audiences, but II surely is a
masterpiece of dramatic presentation.
Mr.. Hollaender. the composer, conducted
the orchestra Several Of the characters in
some OF the scenes entered the stage from