The New York herald., 1922-04-16

| Syssi1l CorvespoHdewce Of TIE NEW YoBK
HxEALD.
New York Herald Bureau,
Paris. April Q.
x = EARS before tho vogue OF the
little theaters began in Anglo
Saxondom. the Grand Guignol
was busily setting fashion which had
come to stay. 1t is true that It was
not the first OF It's kind. Years pre-
vtously the actor and the dramatist,
despairing of being heard and seen.
had set up for themselves In little
theaters--in the real sense OF the
word-in the purlieus of Montparnasse
and Montmartre. and had there shown
their little plays and little produc-
tionS before little audiences which. IL
they were small in numbers, wero at
least capable OF appreciatins them.
But the Grand Guignol was the first
experiment OF the kind which had any
appeal to the wider public that pays
and from and through It the move
ment spread to Liverpool and Chicago
and Chelmsford and Kalamazoo until
to-day IL the drama has not actually
broken away from the sway OF COM
merciallsm there Is very definite
section OF II which may once moro
regard itself as an art instead Of q
business.
| Tho Grand Guignoi still keeps its
place fairly close to tho head Of the pro-
cession. 1t is true that II sometimes
shows certain signs OF faitering In the
direction Of the box ONCE. The newest
program, for instance. shows one very
definite blot In the character OF an
American officer There Is no reason
why an American officer should be a
bot on any program whatever. He
would himself. however. probably object
to being dragged into q program for
tho purpose of attracting American vis-
itors to Paris And that is unfortu-
nately the suggestion of the American
officer on leave from Coblenz no doubt
before the fateful decision to retire the
American Army from the Rhineland.
who In the "Maison des Hommes vi
wants." the three act drama adapted by
M. Pierre REIN from the novel by M.
Claude Farrere. recently produced at
the Grand Guignol, finds himself pushed
willy-nilly into the hero's part
Plenty of Thrills.
1t is true that he is seeking to rescue
covers her held prisoner In the noun
tains by miscreants who have discov-
cred the elixir of life. one Of them be-
ing at least zoo years old. which Is
to say more than old enough to know
better. Incidentally he, or his double,
for II IS q little difficult to know which
is which, either dies painfully or lives
happily ever afterward, according to
taste-and there Is sufficiency of ap-
propriate thrills. But one cannot help
wondering whether. Ii there were no
American visitors to Paris nowadays.
that officer would have been an Amer
lean, or, let us say, a Chasseur-a-
Cheval.
The remainder OF the program, which
has undeniably scored a success. con-
sists OF 'L'Ombre dune Fleur," by MN.
Laumann and Duthuit opening with a
poetic setting OF q Chinese love scene
and ending. with appropriate thrills. In
the tragic revenge of a jealous man
DARN. Then we have "Kama Soutra,"
by M. Regis Gignaux. which shows in
humorous vein the danger OF playing
with fire in the form OF erotic literature
and the program Is closed with COM
edy, Madame dc Rhodes--yivante." by
the two chansonriers. NM. Dononique
Bonnaud and Leon Michel.
At the Theater des Capucines we arc
now given the opportunity of compar-
ing the old type OF musical comedy, as
shown, I'm for instance Gilbert and Sui
iivan's "Gondolers." with the new. The
now takes the form of "Norette,"
three act operetta by NJ. Andre Barde.
with music by M. Charles Cuvillier. and
It provides us with a Grand Inquisitor.
who does not, however, recall to any
considerable extent the virtuous (speak-
ing broadly, IL eccentric person who
"stoie the Infant Prince away" Actually
| M. Barde's Inquisitor II lees interested
| in politics than love. Tie is entangled.