Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-12-03
A "WORLD POET" AND HIS WORK
Edmond Roand Won the applause of the International Stage
Without Compromising a Single Artistic Ideal

translations of the work had been secured
in France, and strange variety of English
versions appeared and were acted. Mr..
Mansfield, emphasizing the tragic, passion.
ate and sentimental aspects Of the long.
nosed hero rather than his fantastic Gallo
Qualities, scored a triumph with his crea-
tion at the Walnut Street Theatre.
His performance had been anticipated,
however. with condensed and distorted
rendition of the work by Augustin Dalys
company at the Chestnut Street Opera
House. In that presentation Charles Rich
man was the Cyrano and Ada Rehar the
Roxane. Still less representative of the
original was "shoestring" production by
Henry Lee.
Some years later the play with it's native
who caught the fantasy which Mansfield
had missed in the title part. Sarah
Bernhard assumed the comparatively
minor role Of the heroine.
pEFORE that visit of the distinguished
- French stars, "L'Aiglon," that appeal
ing and pathetic exhibit of patriotic am.
billion, unrealized by Napoeons son,
stifed in the oppressive air of Schoen-
brunn, had been offered by Maude Adams.
The part was clearly beyond her, but the
imaginative power Of the play won we'll
warranted approval. When Bernhardt
came. the work went for it's full value.
Unforgettable were the scenes with Met
ternich and the Hugoesque vision ON the
field of Wagram.
rNt.
CORY Of htffnan life expressed in terms Of
the farmyard, exhibited certain strain
in Rostands genius. PERHAPS with a con-
summate actor such as Coquelin, who died
before the first public performance in
Paris, the suggestion of effort would have
been less obvious. Lucien Guitry Is said to
have irradiated its rhapsodic verse with
dazzling authority, but the American thea.
tire was denied his performance. Miss
Adams's attempt to embody the ambitious
herald Of the dawn, quintessentially SYM
bolc of France, was lamentable mistake.
Philadelphians saw the birdplay under the
worst possible auspices
La Princesse Lointaine" C'The Faraway
Princess'D where Rostend once only took a
leaf from the volume of the mystical Mae
play OF a somewhat palid type. were both
Bernhard vehicles. They were good liter
ature. but foreign public interest was not
spurred by them. Les Romanesques," a
delicious extravaganza, is, however, we'll
worth reviving provided the proper inter-
prefers can be procured. 1t has been given
In this city by the Browning Society.
d oSTANp, so far as plays were con.
~ cerned, was silent during the war, but
his muse sounded impassoned patriotic
notes which augured well for noble dramatic
expression in q happier future. OF these
products in verse perhaps the finest were
| his Heart of Chopin" pulsating with the
| pathos of enslayed Poland, and 'The Song
| of the Star" which exaltingly disclosed
his feeling for American idealish The
| poem was written long before we embraced
the Allies cause Americans may recall
with pride the rectitude of his interpreta-
ton of people who knew the pulse-feel.
| ing Rostand better than they did the un.
matched Moliere. From his ivory
| tower" at Cambo les Bains in the French
Basque country Rostand had hidden indeed
the whole world listen when he invoked
his vibrant dramatic muse, "He held his
pen in trust for art" 1t win be cherished.