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Show II I; Ng Francesco, Da Rimini. jKf I 9 Mr. Warde and Mr. James, in their respective Hfj 1 ft Voles of Lanciotto and Pepo, the jester, in Fran- Hi 1 I cesca da Remlni, gave us a most finished piece of jB jf acting. There is nothing in the long repertoire of jBf 1 these two men, within the recollection, that they Hl j i , have done so well, and certainly nothing that will Bij 'i remain so distinctly in the mind of the student Bjf 111 play-goer. HI I I . The story of Francesca is one of deep passion, Hl : I I with scarcely a thought that is not full of sadness BI i and pity, and Mr. "Warde draws such intense in- H I k 1 terest and sympathy around himself in his per- Bl I J1 I feet interpretation of the deformed Lanciotto, as Bl I to make his work that of a real star, to be rec- Bi I I ognized in the front rank of the few men on the BI ; " stage who can handle such a part with keen re- Bi s I gard to detail and artistic finish. B i ; I Mishapen, and ugly, and sonsative to a degree, B ' 1 f when he saw Francesca he loved hr with all his B ft f soul, and the tragic pity in his words, and action, B S r when she shrinks from him, makes all his hearers B L W his. Never, has his acting been so strong. May- B I be his apportunities were more than ever before, If, S, but he made the most of them, and not for one i I" second while he was on the stage did the tension Y ii fl slack. K " ij j Mr. James, as Pepe, filled his jests with irony m f f I and hate and malice. There is no other just such iBl Ii a jester in anything ever played, and the force in L iK I the work of Mr. James was the subject of rare B : y ml praise. H n I Hackett is young, posey, and vealy. He did one B q jj f thing well, however. His love scenes were beau- K il ft I tifully acted, and terribly in earnest. So much so B i IS 1 in fact, that lo those who have heard the story, it B 1 looked as though Miss Kidder must look to this B If! -Paolo unless she wishes to lose him. He died B 2 f beautifully, but not quite soon enough. Hackett ft has the making of a clever actor, but a little flat .& I I tery has proved a dangerous thing. A year or :i ' I two from now is a better time to judge of bis 'l SJ 1 worth on the stage. f Miss Maxwell was an adorable Francesca. In ij I every trying situation, she acted naturally and 11 admirable, and whether her lines made her love HI, I i , or hate, or whetlier they called for courage or m J I ; sympathy, there was nothing to mar her work in B f j f! her clever interpretation. H i ! ' Duse, with her Italian company, is playing H I ! , ; ; i D'Annunzio's version of the play in St Louis at M i fj the present time, and Francis House has written I r ?B I a story of ifc in The Mirror of t && extracts of which are particularly Interesting at the present pres-ent time. D'Annunzio's version is more horrible with torture, but is practically the same story of love and death, is told in the version recently presented here. y ,? 3 This is the story: The tragedy is in Ave acts. The scenes of the first are laid in the house of the Polentani at Ravenna. Ra-venna. We are introduced to the brothers of Francesca, Ostasio and Bannino. The latter is a coward, has allowed himself to be defeated by the forces of the enemy, and thereby arouses the deep indignation of Ostasio, a daring, energetic warrior. After a violent quarrel, Ostasio inflicts a slight wound upon Bannino, who swoons away and is carried off by his followers. Ostasio is bitterly bit-terly opposed to Gianciotto, the deformed Mala-testa Mala-testa of Rimini, and deeply resents his tricky scheme of introducing himself to Francesca in the form of his handsome brother, Paolo il Bello. However, the marriage has been arranged; Francesca Fran-cesca meets Paola, whom she imagines to be .her suitor, and hands him a rose that grows on a sarcophagus. sar-cophagus. The second act is full of tumult, "excursions and alarums." We are in the house of the Mala-testi, Mala-testi, who are at war with the Parcitade. Francesca Fran-cesca plays a heroic part in the battle, and, incidentally, inci-dentally, learns that she loves, and is loved by, Paolo, her manly, noble brother-in-law. She has forgiven him the part he played in the deception practised upon her at Ravenna. This act ends with the appearance of Gianciotto and of Mal-atestino Mal-atestino the youngest brother of the Malatesti, who has been wounded and deprived of the use of one of his eyes by a projectile hurled during the battle. Francesca's room is presented to us in the third act. She is surrounded by several young girls in attendance upon her, and appears preoccupied pre-occupied with secret thoughts and longings. After all have retired, Paolo suddenly enters the room; he declares his passionate love for her; speaks of a certain poet, by the name of Dante Alighieri, whom he met and heard praised at Florence. The two lovers bend over a book of poetry, they read and are finally carried away by the raging impulses of their passion. Their lips meet in a long, searching kiss. In the fourth act, in the hall of the house of the Malatestl, we learn to know the cruel, treach- I erous, pitiless character of Malatestino. This B younger brother (who, by the way, is imperson- II ated with demoniacal art and marvelous effec-II effec-II tiveness by Guglielma M. Galliani) has also suc- I cumbed to the personal charms of Francesca. He I is endeavoring to win her favor with implorations fi and threats. While he begs and storms and in- sinuates, the agonizing shrieks of Montagna Par-I Par-I citade, who is imprisoned in a subterranean apart-I apart-I ment, are distinctly heard and make Francesca i sick at heart. She asks for a cessation of the B torture of the prisoner, but in vain. Malatestino, B full of rage and spite, seizes an axe, and disap-B disap-B pears in the corridor, leading to the prison, where B he cuts off the enemy's head with his own hand. At this juncture, Gianciotto enters. He listens to Francesca's complaints of Malatestino's cruelty, but is evidently not in an amiable mood. Francesca Fran-cesca leaves the hall, and, presently, Malatestino re-enters, with a bundle in his hand containing tne unfortunate Parcitade's head. The two brothers broth-ers enter into conversation. Malatestino has planned his revenge upon the two lovers. He makes plain insinuations and finally succeeds in arousing Gianciotto's jealous rage. The two agree upon a plan, which is based upon a pretended necessity of going away from Rimini and leaving Francesca under the protection of Paolo. Paolo enters, and Gianciotto reveals his intention to him to leave Rimini for some days, accompanied by Malatestino. Francesca is recalled; Gianciotto embraces both her and his brother, and Malatestino Malates-tino gives the signal for departure. The concluding act is overshadowed by the aw-fulness aw-fulness of brooding fate. Francesca and Paolo are together; kissing and caressing each other, oblivious of duty and dangers. And then comes the terrifying knock at the door, and Gianciotto's metallic voice rings out clearly, demanding entrance en-trance and an unlocking of the door. "Apre, apre!" he thunders. Paolo tries to escape through the trap-door, but his flowing mantle is caught by an obstacle. Francesca meanwhile has opened the door, and Gianciotto's eyes promptly fall upon the struggling Paolo. He draws his sword, rushes upon him, but his vicious thrust encounters the breast of Francesca, She is caught In the arms of Paolo. Gianciotto, besides himself with grief and fury, strikes again, and Paolo and Francesca fall to the floor, dying in each other's arms. The curtain falls, with the avenged and yet sorrow-overwhelmed sorrow-overwhelmed Gianciotto breaking his sword over his knee. |