The sun., 1916-08-27
PANT0MIME REDIv1vus.
Company Of French Artiats TO
RevlvIfy the Art.

Company Of french Artists to
Revivify the Art.
"Pantomime, my dear sir" says
George Bernard Shaw in "Fanny's
First Play" using one Of the charac-
! ters in the comedy for his m%outhpiece.
"you don't suppose I mean that vulgar. |
ugly. silly. senseless. malicious, de-
structive thing. the harlequinade Of a
nineteenth century English Christmas
pantomime? What IL a harlequinade
after all but n stupid attempt TO imi-
tate the success made by the genius
OF Grimaldi n hundred years ago? My
daughter does not know the existence
OF such a thing. ! refer to the grace
full and charming fantasies of the
italian and French stages of the sew
enteenth and eighteenth centuries. A
Louis Quatorze pantomime ballet
such as Vatican loved to paint and
by which he immortalized himself"
The word 'pantomime' has indeed
lost pretty nearly all its original sig
nificance In this country. and the
piIuant announcement that Winthrop
Ames Is TO revive the Simon-pure.
genuine. blown in the bottle article at
the Booth Theatre with a revival OF
"Pierrot the r%rodigal" ought to excite
keen curiosity among all p%laygoers
who know anything OF the subtle and
delicate art NJ gesture and facial
expression.
Pierrot Is M newcomer In New
York; he Is old In France and older
still in Italy. He vas originally II
Of the foremost figures OF the old
Italian Comedy or the "Commedia dell
Arte" Of the European continent in the
epochs cited by Shaw. His costume
was that of Watteau's Giles. lie
Sage wrote little plays to introduce
him. Gretry wrote an opera around
him. He was. in those days. "A simple
clown. one Gaspard Deburau made a
new type Of him al the Theatre dcs
Funambules. In Paris. lie was no
longer simple or clownish. lie became
sly and cowardly, "A giutton, d thief
lie had neither friend to aid him nor
woman to love him. II his master
was killed by Harlequin he would kick
the corpse. lie was ssrvilc to the
great, arrogant 20 the weak.
He kept the Vatican costume Of an
Gent days. merely changing the round
hat for n tight fitting black cap.
After Gaspard Dcburau came PAM
Legrand and Charles Dehuvau, who 10y
mere dumb show turned PIerrot into
the ~satlrist of Paris. Charles NJdier.
Jules Janin, Theophlle Gau,ier. Champ
fleury. made him an object of careful
study. Gautier wrote n witty skit FOR
his use and called 1t "Pierrot Post
bt,n,n" 'bnn,nfianrr ,nI1tneal an
enormous number OF pantomimes, in
all of which Paul I.egrand, as Pierrot,
was the central figure. "Pierrot en-
, Afriqae." for instance, was Il grand pa
triotic spectacle. Picrro'. as the rep
resentative Of France. slew countless
armies of Aiycrians and resigned at
ease In their palaces. "licrrot, Valet
: de Ia Mort" was an odd pantoininr
showing the power ~ man over death,
> "pierro, Pcniu' depicted the criminal
adventures of the hero. ending in his
appearance under the gallows tree
ON May u, 1883. i'!errot made a
trlumphal entry into the Theatre Fran
, Gals. thereby setting the seal ~ classi-
cism on his performances. The piece
In which he appeared was called LIE
Baiser' and was written by NJ. Theo-
dore de Banville. The poets in brief
have made ~l'ierrot their W in France,
In place Of the clown of the English
\ II the American stage he Is the sigh
ing. romantic lover of p%ant"mime.
"p!crro, the Irod!ral." wh!rh Mr.
e Ames will revive at the Booth Thca;r,
@ in conjunction with Walter Knight, the
Z English manager. Is the recognized
@ classic of the silent drama, The pi'c,
was designed by NJ. Michel tarrc. one
n Of the brilliant family of which the H.
. brettist OF Faust has obtained tn,
h most fame. The music is by NJ. Andre
Wormser, "A Partisan composer OF deli
cate fancy.
The first act of the sto-" IL tome.
= what similar to that of "Nanun Les
9 caut," Picrrot woos MIpmettr. the
= Mancn Of the p~autofniin". and rohS hi,
y father to deck her with diamonds,
n The second act has touches IT "!..
Dame aux Camtllias' But Phrvncti,
" has none Of Marguerite Gautier's lie
yotion. She has the frivo!!ty ~ Ma,
n non added to the hcartle ssncss Of ;
Q Mana. When Picrrot is ruined at thu
It gaming table Phrynrttc has flown.
t Then In the third act Picrrot come.
o home. His father Is stern. hut hi
.e mother pleads for him. II Is Den
70 merry unadulterated, delightful to au
4 d!ences which love simply pathos
10 touching even to the faded Parisians
A regiment passes n PicrrOf gOc
10 10 Join II and rrtricvc his honor. no
d the success IL the pai'"m,mo II !
10 essential that PcrrOt shall oc human
"r!crrot the Hrndigal' as II dram
ID without words ~epitomiscs MI humal
nature. and Its hero move specta
4. tors to laughter or to tears Mt will
Il The revival Of pantomime Of the ar