The San Francisco call., 1913-09-06
TRAGEDIENNE WILL
GIVE NEW LIFE TO
CLASSIC "ELECTRA"
By w alter Anthony

TT was just tired woman with
whom I spoke at the Greek thea
ter the other day. when Margaret
Anglin took my hand and gra-
ciously permitted me to believe
that she remembered me.
tt was just a tired woman, worn to
the sensitive quick of her nerves by
the narrowing Iabor-and none the
less narrowing because a labor Of
love-of rehearsing sophocles' "Elec-
trag
The sophocles tragedy was in prep
aration for tonight's great perform
ance Miss Anglin was then as she
viii Be. venture to say tonight its
moving spirit and animating force.
had watched her as time and time
again she went through the same
scenes. reiterated the same cues.
showing her associated players this
point, correcting that. and flashing
forth from the ancient manuscript
some significance hidden beneath the
changes Of "a centuries and incased in
the idiom Of a modern translation.
She seemed to know the meaning
or her friend sophocles. for whose
dramatic honor she struggled as
though "the playwright were in the
house" and I am sure that his shade,
though Dante differs, viii dwell in no
circle Of hell tonight. when Miss An
elin breathes life into, his soul and
revives his winged imagination.
For two hours, beneath an ardent
sun of summer she had already been
working on the big stage OF the
Greek. theater. and her labors were
not half over. A straw hat of the
shape that bathers wear on the surf
pounded beach covered her auburn
tinted hair and her finely nodded
features A handkerchief about her
throat protected it from the rays that
had not been diverted in time. Her
eountenance was of a. rudy hue She
was not yet in her Electra robes.
but in a working gown Of modest
cut and hue.
~ He Greek theater is never closed
against the public and so it hap
pened that tourists wandered into
the big amphitheater and sat around
and chartered. Somehow the spirit OF
sincerity hit even them and without
e being warned they lowered their
voices. A load from a chugging
'.rubberneck' wagon disembarked and
its Integral parts were attracted into
the place. Being in a spendthrifty
mood. most of them had bought
grapes. and two of the number
wandered on the big stage. when It
was temporarily unocoupied, and pro-
ceeded to make themselves at home,
munching their fruit, while a third
took . picture of them to carry back
to the fat farm in Kansas, whence
think they came.
None Of these things ruffled the
composure Of Miss Anglin. The in
te-Iopers were disposed of in the
incest manner imaginable and took
places on the concrete seats. whence.
until she spoke these lines. Base
deeds by base are learnt and per-
fected," they wondered audibly which
one is Margaret Anglin?"
At the magic of her voice even a
Missoerian must be convinced.
\
TT was as, Antigone that 1 remem-
tbered Miss Anglin and I was sur
1prised to find her no taller than she
really is. I expected to see a young
woman Of the stature that the no
bility of her Greek heroine had i'm
pressed upon me. Upon my word
she isn't as tall as am, and II she
were as tall it wouldn't be saying a
great deal AS she gave me her hand
II a friendly greeting, and just as
though to stop sophecles' Electra"
were not an audacious thing to do.
I looked down into her eyes.
You see she has the capacity of
making her person an abstraction,
which she fashions over again in the
spirit The passion and the frenzy
with which she invests her Greek
heroines, like their robes. can be di-
vested. which is a most fortunate
tlsing for her husband. Mr.. Hull. who
would have an awful time domestic
ally, with an Antigone or an Electra;
but graciousness and courtesy,
think, are hers by divine right. for
these she exhibits at such narrowing
moments as those OF a few days ago,
when she was just a tired woman.
y
a. had some trouble" she said, 'in
finding a role in the dramas OF
Aancient Greece with which could
return to this glorious theater
For quite a while I intended to
play Medea,' and I put in a great
amount Of study on it. I decided not
to do. It. however. because it offered
too sharp a contrast to the 'Antigone'
OF three years ago. I do not want to
disturb that memory.
There is a serenity. a loftiness
about Antigone that Medea con-
Pounds and jars. 1t is too horrible,
SO gave it up.
Looking for appropriate roles
among the heroines Of the Greek
drama is not so easy. is it?
Then 1 contemplated the Euripi-
des' story of Electra but gave that up
on the same account. 1t is too vio-
lent