Evening star., 1923-12-22
DUSE, IN FAREWELL.
SUPREME ARTIST
Greatest Tragedienne Holds
Audience Spe|Ibound With
Marvellous Artistry.

The worlds greatest living ira
gedienne, Eleonora Duse. with her
own company from Rome, appeared
1or a single performance in Washing
ton at Polls Theater yesterday after
noon, in La Porta Chiusa," trans
lated, THE Closed Door" play in
three acts by Marco Praga.
Drama, tragic to the core; a bird
with a broken wing, too frail to
bear song and yet a song that rose
full and clear and beautifully and
faded with a smile in a broken heart
Such, perhaps, will be the flight Of
fancy in after years that paints the
farewell picture of the wonderful
Duse in her performance in Washing
ton yesterday afternoon.
And no less wonderful was the
great audience that cordially, almost
arfectionatelv, welcomed the great
actress, whom the critics have placed
on the pinnacle with Bernhardt, for
It's oft-repeated but tempered ap
Plause seemed to be pouring out
goodbye with its welcome rather
than tribute to exquisite art.
1t mattered little what the play
seemed to be just TO see Duse-Duse
alone-and to catch again a glimpse
of her Incompatible artistry. Per-
haps there may have been suppressed
regret that Henrik 1bsen's "Spettri"
("GhoStS') had to give way to a
play of less power and dramatic op-
portunlty. but a single glance at the
frail figure of the great tragedienne
offered all the explanation necessary.
Tragedy Of Mother Love.
La Porta Chiusa" is sad.
tragic story of mother love. A son
with but borrowed name has
fathomed his origin and seeks to
break away from those he loves,
saddened mother most of all, to find
a new name in a dangerous voyage
OF discovery in a new country. 1t
was presented by cast of supreme
merit, with suppressed technique,
even in its strongest scenes. which
rarely finds its way to the American
stage; and, although in Italian and
spoken with incredible speed, so we'll
were the lines delivered. with action
suiting the word, that with the brief
synopsis of the story afforded by the
rather generous program. but few
could fail to comprehend its meaning
Nine. Duse was the sorrowinG.
brok en- hearted mother who had de-
voted her life to shielding her son
from her shame, and whose pitiful
love could scarce bear him out of her
SlSnt her smile, when the door was
closed in the climax that was to shut
him off from her. perhaps forever.
was even more tragic than would
have been her death. She was the
living, breathing. suffering mother
of the story. Art could not make her
more so.
support Wonderful.
And the several characters Of that
story were faithfully and wonder
fully portrayed by the supporting
artists, Memo Benassi, the polished
actor who lived the life of the son /:
lone Morino. the girl who loved and
lost him; Lee Orlandini, the guilty
but penitent father: Giro Galvani. the
husband of the mother. and Alfredo
Robert. the gentle priest and spir-
itual adviser of them all.
1t was a finished performance. But
above and beyond 1t all. with an out
standing glory that could not be
dtmmed. was the great Duse and her
farewell and the no less imposing
tribute of affection that seemed to go
out to her from an audience that
truly represented the Capital OF the
United States in its every walk of life