The New York Times from New York, New York • Page 60

8 "'Jf- li'l'ilV'WV 1 1 1 MA.tr FROM' FRENCH DRAMA MADE OVER FOR THE NEW YORK STAGE. The Process of Adaptation as Illustrated in Bern-steins "Samson" Mr. Gillette's Misdirected Effort The Acting of Constance Collier. HENRI BERNSTEIN has the Instinct for the drama. As they nay In Paris has It In his blood.

It Is part and parcel of his He has a feeling-for the situation, a sure, dsllberate, conscious way of building up suspense. When he arrlTes at a denouement it takes you by surprise. It is not -what you hare expecteo. it is not wtwn tlonaj climax. Tou may reason about 1 afterwards, fake lue wiUt it.

perhaps, hut for the time being- you are enthralled It holds you captive. 8Jke the veteran Sardou he Is not particularly Interested In his characters xcept as they serve the purpose of his Wltuatlon. lie Is not essentially the totM.lwtAif TT. rf I frt nil the.3ramatlnt la opposition to all else. ifThe theatre he eeema to regard as a place where you are to be eurprised, If need be.

and before the plan of producing; that all other thing give way. Tou have come to see that la what1 he alms to rive you. "Which! a not to say that he does net know life, that he cannot and Idoes not write characters that bring Jwith them a sense of reality. SNctbinr would be further from the truth. In measure there is where he Ifliff ergvfrom Sardou.

His characters lie nearer to the actual. They bring; with them more of the real atmosphere of JIfe. They may be unusual types, but they are generally possible types; and (they are reasonable, plausible tof the environment in which they move; Intelligent and understandable, active rm bo Is of the motives for which they tand. That Is one reason why they win not Stand the rehabilitating process of adaptation. Sterilize them and they cease to have real identity.

They become lay figures In a theatrical contrivance. They lose their power, which, when all Is-said and-done, comes from the something wtthln them which we recognize as part of their own fibre. The situation Is Important, but it is they who make the situation possible. Change them and their motives the situation becomes strained, not to say Impossible. Something like this has happened to Sanin." In the original "Samson" waa not a sweet play.

In fact, even Paris, which likes its strong meat on occasion, found a little too' strong. Brutal, la the word, perhaps. But for all that it meant something to a community which was in a position tp understand its types, which could get at the intent of its exposition, and which was not wholly dependent upon the big situation for all the satisfaction the rlay might hold. This situation. In all probability, was the chief rcaaon for the.

play; but such plausibility as It holds was dependent upon the nature of the characters. Even then, though Its power was evident. It was open to the objections of improbability. As it stands in the English version it is an alm-t absurd impossibility. It Is conceivable that' the great masculine animal, represented In Brach-ard the multi-millionaire, would go to any lengths 'to revenge himself upon the wcrthleas belnr who, in M.

Bernstein's play, has robbed him of hli mate, but see how emasculation for the purpose of purification has distorted the whole theme. The wife returns from the orgte to which her lover has introduced her shocked and humiliated by the disclosure of the man's base hessu But It la apparent that she la still In a position where she may look for forgiveness, where, in fact, the husband Is morally obliged to give It. She admits her fault as far as It has gone. She has married him without love, and her husband's nature revolts her. The 'ill i -H! A Oi I WIS 'fc-Swa 1 polished man of the world appeals to her.

She listens, to- his advances. Ul tlmately she loves him. "When the hus band appears to be starting on a Journey to London, she seizes the opportunity to accompany her lover. She returns home not in penitence, not yet ready to accept her husband's evident devotion, but at any rate cured ot the opposing; Infatuation. And her husband will ruin himself on the Bourse In order to avenge himself upon the man who has attempted to encroach upon his rights.

It is pitifully weak. The motives find the characters have been diluted. Even taking the -situation at its full strength as presented in the original premises, how does It happen that a capitalist of M. Bra-chard's enormous holdings must make this sacrifice in order to overthrow a rival whose fortune must be trifling compared to his own? Jerome lis Go-valn was a poor man until he became M. Brachard's friend, and was wisely advised how to Invest his -funds in order to win a fortune for himself.

But is it conceivable under the circumstances that his wealth has so aggregated that It will need all of the multi-millionaire's capital to overcome it? Leaving this out of consideration, it is yet possible to realize the original power of the exposition, with the characters developing along the lines of the author's intention, with Brachard reverting to the of primitive masculinity, and fighting with all of the original animal propensity for what' he holds to be his own. It is in such a revelation as this, or in the study of decadency illustrated In the other figures, that M. Bernstein in this play of Samson may be regarded as a playwright whose whole aim has not been the eventual springing of a sensational melodramatic climax. There is no crying need for a play of this character, but if we are to have it at all. let it be presented at least in its full strength, even at the risk of offending our sensibilities.

So, at least, it will preserve whatever it has of artistic pretense. So much, at any is due the author. Better still, let us not have it at alL For it is a thing wholly foreign to our temperament and inclination, and could at best represent here only a success of sordid sensationalism. For Samson." from whatever point you view it, does not reveal the bjgst of M. Bernstein.

9 How Mr. Gillette could have conceived himself in the role of M. Brachard is one of those inexplicable problems to which there is never an answer. Here, is an actor whose best qualities have always resided in a certain reposeful force, who, through a process of repression," real or 'seeming, has generally been able to create a sense of latent force, more particularly mental force. Now, If there is one thing that M.

Brachard is not. it is the slow-moving mental giant. He has been a laborer on the docks, he has fought his way to supremacy through sheer brute and when his activities have been transferred to the arena of a less patent physical activity, you may be sure that the brute force has dominated every effort. The type is not so rare as to seem enigmatical. Moreover, it is this rough, domineering insistent masculinity that has debarred him from the enjoyment of his wife's esteem.

Surely an actor of Mr, Gillette's experience knows that in the casting of a role the organism of the actor must be taken into account. We may declaim against the worship of personality In the theatre as ntuch as we please, and the thicg is certainly overdone, but for certain parts certain personalities are THE NEW YORK FROMISED; FOR. 1 ON 14 TiMnm or XHaV absolutely essential. It is hardly pos- slble that Mr. Gillette In the capacity or manager, rather than actor, would have selected a man of his own pattern, granting that there is a.

duplicate, to play M. Brachard had he been casting the play without himself in mind. Miss Constance Collier's opportunities are not abundant in the play as it falls from the adapter's hand. This is unfortunate. For she is undoubtedly' an actress of large experience and ability of a more than common order.

Temperamentally there can be no doubt of her suitability the rSle, and she avails herself completely of all its opportunities. Nothing more genuinely impressive has been delivered recently in a New Tortc theatre than her acting in the scene of the wife's return to her home, where the husband stands ready to confront her with her guilt. The mingling of disillusionment, resentment, and shame are conveyed with graphic realism. Looks, voice, and even the long pauses of pregnant silence convey the impression of an actual experience. Her acting placed you face to face with a genuine human crisis.

Mr. Byron's performance, too, though obviously different in character from that of the author's creation, is intelligently reproductive of the figure as it must have qualified in the pages of the rnr The Week's iiu.8ftLU! in "The Great Theatre, to-morrow evening. St th9 0' NLY two plays will onJn it, tc, York this week. The Great Question." bv Frederick Pai.Minc be een to-morrow evening at" the Majestic with Jessie Bonstelle In the leading rale. Tuesday evening a comedy with the queer title of "2x25," will be produced at the new German theatre.

Madison Avenue and Fifty-ninth Street, for the first time In this country. The play Is by Gustav Wled. a Danish writer, and It was played last season In Germany. ACE HAkZASS fas TIMES. SUNDAY.

jT adaptation. In Judging the workmanship in -such cases it is unjust to lose sight of the materials and the tools. Tou cannot judge an Anglo-Saxon Offerings a drama, by Frederick Majestic XCW Av-u. and The Great Question has been seen for the past four weeks In Washington. Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Rochester.

The play was first presented to the public by Jessie Bonstelle during a Summer engagement In Buffalo last year. The production is made under the direction L. Wilbur and is staged under the direction of the author. Frederick Paulding. Miscegenation forms the basis of the story of the play.

The plot has to do with the attempt of a gang of land grabbers to force a favorable decision from a Judge of the United, States Supreme Court. Alicia Savernex, the role played by Miss is the daughter of Judge -Savernex, upon whose vote the decision of the Court depends. -As the Justice remains firm to his trust, the story of his early life is dug up. In his youth he loved an octoroon and -his daughter was born from the illegitimate union. This fact Is revealed to the land grabbers by an old Southerner who once loved the octoroon himself and who an enemy of the Judge, Confronted by the threatened exposure, the Judge Is about to consent to the demands of the land grabbers when his daughter learns the history of her birth.

She insists that her father remain true to his original resolve to prevent the steal of the Government lands. Alicia Is engaged to Philip field, the Government attorney Vho has prosecuted the case against the land grabbers, and, despite the history of her birth, he insists that the girl shall marry him. Alicia, however. Is firm In ber refusal, insisting that the curse, shall die with hsr. The cast includes J.

Malcolm Dunn, Alice Donovan. Julius McVIcker, Bessie' Lea Leg Una, and Mark Kent. Gustav Wled. th author of 2x25, is known as the Bernard Shaw of Denmark. The play depicts the 1 domestic vicissitudes and final reformation of a m---.

-r JIM radical writer. Paul Abel is the idealist, and. although his wife, has no particular faith in his dreams, tils op- OCTOBER 25. 1C08. NEM KlPPOPBOMft mm mm; characterization from the Gallic viewpoint unless the English author baa rets tied the integrity of the character as it originally existed.

timism helps him over many annoyances. The only member of the family who sym pathizes with him is Frederick, his broth er-in-law, a frivolous young fellow who Is constantly getting into trouble. When Esther learns that her husband has been sentenced to prison she leaves him and goes to -live with her-parents. After serving his sentence Abel returns to his former bachelor apartments. The old conservative Government has been replaced by a more liberal one.

and Abel, rather than accept employment as an editor of a conservative newspaper, goes to prison again. Wen he returns oncf more to his home his brother-in-law; who is engaged to marry a- wealthy widow, renounces him." When i his wife appears Paul's old affection for -jer breaks forth, and to win back her iove V. AMO XMSS D-. vVOfRKvrxxas at A 1 r. he is willing to make the sacrifice of accepting the lucrative position editor of the conservative newspaper.

The cast comprises Eugen Burg, Carl Bauermann. Heinrich Marlow. Harry Lfedtke, Martha Spier. Hanne -Proft. Mme.

Neuendprff, and Trude Volgt. VAUDEVILLE. At Haitimemteln's Victoria this week Mike Donlin of the Giants and his wife. Mabel Hite. will appear in a musical skit entitled Stealing Home." The remainder of the programme will include Charley Vmc, black-face comedian; "My Wife Won't Me," a comedy by, Wilson Franklin aa acrobatic act by B.

Reno a Co. Countess Rossi. In a novelty main specialty: Daisy Harcourt; Holdings Manikins; the Five Musical spiuers. coiorea singers, dancers, and musicians; Chalk Saun-ders, and new VlfVgrapb views. At Keith A Proctor's Fifth Avenue Theatre this week Miss Alice Lloyd, the English comedienne, will appear In vaudeville.

Other attractions are The McXaushtons. English comedian. Marcel'. Living Wormwood's Animals. Nlta Allen and Company in the skit "Stateroom I.

Car 3 Harry MeAillster. Geiger and Walton, and Carbrey Brothers. At Keith Proctor's One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street Theatre Rock and Fulton will bead the Mil for the week. Julius Sieger and Company will appear In The Fifth Commandment." and other features, will be 1 Petite Adelaide and Girls, the EUls -JJowlln Troupe. HIU and Whltaker.

Bam Watson's Farmyard, Billy Beard, and Conlln and Steele. 'Arnold Daly. In Mark Twain's playlet "Becoming aa Editor will head the programme at the Colonial this week. Mayne. The Elsie Janls of England." will continue for another week.

Mabel Banison and Joseph E. Howard will give a comedy skit entitled My Big Sister's CarUn and Otto wiU.be heard in their new comedy production. The Battle of Bay Matthews and, Ashley have a new-act entitled Held Harry la-he's company has a one-act comedy entitled "Books." Others will be John and Bertha Gletsoa and the Belleclaire Brothers. Nat Mrwills'wm head the bill at the-Al- hambra this week. Frank Moulan and Maude Lillian Berri.

late of The Sultan of 8ulu ul nraaant a one-act aklt 'called VWIlliaiu aw- rh. Hair-and the Heiress." Others, are Winaor McCay. Al. late of Fields and Ward, in a skit entitled "Too Much -Devil Carrie Mar, Tom Nawn and company in Pat and the Genii. the Sharp Brothers, and Howard's" Fonees.

At the American Amelia Bingham will continue for another week In Big Moments from Great Plays." Mile. Fatima Miriam "The Female FregoU." will 'be seen in "impersonations. Other features are Cliff Gordon. Tim McMahon's Sunflower Glrla WUllam Dillon. Caron and Herbert Emilia FraaslnesL and the 'r Harry Lauder will be seen one week longer at the Lincoln Square, as will Gracs In Five Feet of Comic Opera." and the Three Rohra.

Newcomers are Junle McCrea a In Tk-TMan from Oswald Wilirama, IlJtiby Winifred La Barts; the Romaaos. wileon. and Pierce and Malsee, i In Mincer and the Sheath" Gown GlrL' Tender will appear at both Sunday per- forroances 'At Huber's Museum Lentlni. the human freak with" thr perfectly formed wlU.be; the Geraldine's troupe of wild animals and "the rat-catching Hon Nemo are also eotbebiiLi AtV the Olympic Theatre for the week Fred Wyoorf. the comedian, heads the unmakert In "GesWhia'-a two-act comeay.

'kt the Murray HIU an extravagansa will be given WUlUm 8. Clark's Jersey Lilies. Many ovKles will be introduced. AT; OJHER THEATRE GRANp OPERA HOUSE." Folly of wlt Mabel Taliaferro la the leading role, will the attraction for the coming week. Miss Taliaferro appease for the first time since her recent lUnees.

The company Is the same aa in the erijirii production, and matinees will be givwn Wednesday and Saturday. f- TOrWvILLS tH EATRE. Cecil 8pooner' in the dots.ia American comedy drama, Gtrt andV.e pe active." will be the attraction this wsV. In this play she will have the sup-, sort of same cast that has been wRh her for the past twoyeare. Miss spooner uaes the' pari of a 4 of the streeU.

THEATRE." In the Nick of Time" wl 1 be attraction-, The play. Is yTho nas irrria, and FVorenoe Bindley take the 'loz -role at the bead of forty playen. i HCTTIDf rr AM0NB MUSIC HALL Al RMni rieau-y tw will held forth here this week. Tk off--'- consist ef a satirical. review, ef aucceeees la dramatic and SBttslo i 1st the name of A spedalUee are interspersed.

th is wr The oy White. was at the Casino last PLAYGOERS season, is the attraction here for the week, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday. Jefferson Ie Angelis. Camille rrArrlUe, and Emma Carus head the production. The play includes a travesty on The Devil." MUs Carus has' severs! new sons.

Including Tou've Got to Do' That Salome Dance." OoVna and hats Illustrating the fashions of 1809 will be used. ACADEMY OF MUSIC Denman Thompson, in The Old Homestead." remains the attraction for one week more. Next week ft wUl be succeeded by The Red MllL" CONCERTS AT THE NEW YORK. Among the soloists who will appear at ts third series of Sunday, night concerts at the New Tork Theatre by Maurice Levi and bis band will be Herbert Clarke. corn tat, who has been with Sousa for several years.

The programme wiy consist exclusively light and popular music. (Contlnsed es Page lO.) CARNEGIE HALL. nun uinnnmn rlllklinillUUIIIU New f7rk. 108... Seaeea.

Els-ht Afternoon and Elaht Evening Coacerta. CONDUCTOR. SAFONOFF SOLOISTS: Arthur Mme. Josef Leo Schulz Violoncello FJIischa iVioiia Cermaine Rno and ethers. General Sale of Subscriptions now tm Peats IS to $t4.

Boxes $HO and 10J. FELIX F. LEIFELS. Secretary. Carneste HaTk METROPOLITAN OPERA-HOUSE ISADORA DUNCAN The N.

Y. Symphony Orchestra iiiAiTCD nuMDncnu If HLI L(l UHUIUUUUll Friday Matinee, Nov. 6th. A revival of the Greek ax el UUs DUNCAN WILL DANTE AND INTER-PRCT IN PANTOMIME THREE MOVEMENTS FROM BEETHOVEN STMPHONT NO T. WALTZEs! PRELUDES.

ANr jMAZOVRatAB OF CHOPIN THE ENTIRE MUSIU will ai JtERA.BJnDES AeVeNAL DIRECT TION OF MR. DAMROSCH. Jrces gt.OO 13.0e and ItB-SS-Orders-for seats NOW received by Hamnr K. m. JOHNSTON.

St. James Building. Tele--Dhone Madison Sauare. CARNEGIE HAIL. A symphonyN SOCIETY.

Walter Damrosch OPENING CONCERT Next Sunday Afternoon, November 1st, at so cioca. Byrophony No. 1. Op. Concerto No.

i. In flat, for plenwUh 21 Orchestra Prelud ude to r'apres i mldl d'on fanne 'ncBCSsT rso from 8trln- atlona on an Original Bcherso irli TkU.80c.to 1.60. 1 W-34 St. Box Office LiMENDORF CARNEGIE HALL BEGINNING SUNDAY EVE. NOV.

15 11TH ANNl'AL SERIES I1XIHIU1 til -TRAKL LKCTtRES. Course this season Is entitled From the Polar Sea to the Garden ef Alia, NOV 15.. Kn Ax NOV. Jl r. .7.7.

HOLLAl Nov SIS COURSE TICKETS tale opens at box er. flee 9 A.M. OV-- Mali orders sow Vi -CAKXEGIE SYMPH0J.Y ORCHESTRA Assisting Artlsta Reciter. Three Subaerlptloa CONCERTS. Thursday Evenlnss.

NOVEMBER IS. i -f JANl-ABV SI MARCH 1. Subscription Tickets. S4, si. Now being received by Louden -Charlten.

i sir carnesie Hall. SPALDIX3, 800DSCJ, -pianist. VOLP.