New-York tribune., 1918-04-09
By Haywood Broun

~ ~ VOOd LII ouA
Ala Nazlmova brings scarlet kimonos,
long eyelashes, overhead gestures,
swaying hips. a strange accent of the
East and good many other qualities
which seem somewhat out of place to
the dramas of the austere Mr. Ibsen
But 1T would be thankless, indeed, to
confiscate this baggage, for with all
her tlamhoyance she plays Ibscn with
passion which fairly bruises the atten-
ton. She grips all within the sound of
her voice and also some Of the others.
The performance of ''Hedda Gabler"
at the Plymouth Theatre last night
was q remarkable one. For the second
production IN the Ibsen series Arthur
Hopkins has again gathered an ad-
mirable cast, but this time in spite Of
the fine playing Of Lionel Atwill Nine.
Nazimova took the CHIEF honors. 1t is
possible that more finished perform
ances of Hedda have been seen here
abouts, but certainly none so vivid and
interesting. There We're fifteen curtain
calls at the end of the second act, which
is not bad for a dramatist annually
assigned To a place on the third shelf
Of the bookcase, just between William
Archer's play making and Clayton
Hamiltons "Thecry OF the Theatre"
Some of the credit must SO to Nazi-
moZa We would also assign a measure
of praise 20 Arthur Hopkins. but then
he does no more than produce the plays
Of Ibsen as they were written. He
adds no frills, or mystery, or freak
business, and he isn't afraid to let
his actors make people laugh, as Ib
sen intended they should now and
again. So there isn't anything much
that can be said for Mr.. Hopkins. In
fact, not once during the entire per-
Torrance was it possible to eXclaim
All. there's something the producer
made them dol'
Nazimova's performance last night
was extraordinary in it's compelling
qualities. Nobody ever turns his head
very far or very often when this actress
plays, but never have we seen her
blaze as she did last night. Even
when she was all wrong In her meth
DDS, and some Of the things she did
seemed wrong TO us. there was no
slackening in the pressure OF attention.
We don't think Nazlmova is great
artist, but were sure she's great
actress.
he CHlcI lGuII w NC loulAu Will iASA
last night was that she threw away too
many lines. 1t is true that these We're
almost entirely 81 hear it," or other
bits which sne could and did indicate
sufficiently with pantomlne, but that
does not content an audience. 1t causes
that vague murmur, What dld she
say ?" which cuts the current OF play
tor moment. She also posed TOO much
III the first act, and throughout she
stressed a good many points pretty
hard.
Mr. Hopkins once wrote book in
which he SAID that the best sort OF
scenery was that which did not jar
the audience out Of sub-conscl
Certainly the handsome set OF Robert
Edmond Jones had no chance to be-
come obtrusive last night, for the cos
TUNES Of Nazimova stood between it
and the audience. They were beautl-
full costumes, too, and therefore just
shade distracting OF attention. Nazlm-
ova has never appeared to better visual
advantage than III the first act OF the
present production OF "Hedda."
Though it may be true that she
punched some Of her points little
hard last night, she at least put utterly
to rout any charge of obscurlty against
"Hedda Gabler" 1t was all as plain
as The Little Teacher" and good
deal simpler. St4lI, theic never " %
much reason for controversy about
Hedda, except for the fact that lbsen
upon u few occasions allowed one OF
his characters to use wine leaves IN
his hair" instead of drunk"
Hedda was by no means an empty
character IN the hands of Nazimova.
She indicated clearly that but for the
flare of cowardice she might have
moulded the world a little closer to
her hearts desire. AS it was, she never
succeeded in anything nearer effective
revenge than spite. Nazimova did not
make Hedda so hopelessly abnormal IN
her neurotic qualities as to be outside
the range of sympathy. She indicated
clearly and convincingly the fearful IT.
ritation which came to her through .the
inevitable, meddling sentimeAtallty
which all but swamps the woman who
is "about to become mother There
we've caught one of the phrases with
out thinking Of it.
Lionel Atwil succeeded in making
Tesman Il fool, but no bore, and he
commanded sympathy for the charac-
ter. too, in a splendidly conceived per
formance The Lovborg Of George Pro
bert was exceedingly appealing. and
Charles Bryant was satisfactory
,I<,a