A ure u e Wel dhe bieer
aspecis of social life. The charncters are more or
less tarred with tho aame brush; they are entirely
unmoral and frankir bonstful of the fact. One might
speak of them as degencrates, were it not that they
take such a healthy pride in their own misdoings.
You havo, for instance, Prince Ravenstein, who has
seduced the daughter of his friend, Count Pazmandy,
the Countess Mizzi. The result oftheir intrigue is a
son. Philip whom his mother has not even cared to
recoguse, and who, although little more than a youth,
has developed tastes very much on a par with those
indulged in by his father. Count Pazmandy is him¬
self a viveur of the first order. For many years he
has lived on a basis of intimacy with a notorious
dancer called Lolo, who in the end calmly throws
him over in order to marry a well-to-do livery-stable
proprietor.
The play is littie more than a serics of conversa¬
tions, carried on with a most perfect and unblushing
candour by these and other charcters, and would
be intolerable werc it handled in a less witty fashion.
When the serions things of life are presented in so
frivolous a spirit they sccm, however, to lose some¬
thing of their importance, and Schnitzler plays the
Jester so airily that he well-nigh tempts us to forget
the gravitv of the cnormities he unmasks. It is,
of course, essential to the well-being of such a piece,
that theoriginal atmosphereand surroundings should
bepreserved. Norcanitbeexpected that Englishartists
Ishould quite succeed in giving the requisite form
and substance to ideas so entirely beyond their ken.
Mr. Athol Stowart, nevertheless, is to be congratu¬
lated on his clever rendering of the part of Princo
Ravenstein; while Mr. Robert Horton as Count
Pazmandy, Miss Katherine Polo as Mizzi, and Miss
Margaret Busse as Lolo gavc a very fair acconnt of
thomselves. Although merely a thumbnail sketch,
Mr. Rupert Lumley’s performance of Wasner, the
livery-stable keeper, was thoroughly in the picture.
THE GREEN COCKATOO.“
The Green Cockatoo is a work of very diffe¬
rent fibre. It is hardly an exaggeration to describe
it as a masterpiece of its kind. The elements of
humour, observation, dramatic effect, and sensation¬
alism are blended in it with the happiest results.
At one moment you are thrilled to the marrow; an
instant later responsive laughter greets the grotesque¬
ness of the situation. It is the period of the Terror
in Paris. To the Green Cockatoo, an undergwund
tavern kept by Prosper, formerly a theatrical
manager, aristocrats are flocking to enjoy a new
experience. Prosper has engaged a company of
needy actors and actresses. Their business is to
relate to his wealthy but dissolute clientele incidents
which may or may not have occurred. The place,
for cxample, is suddenly invaded by a weird figure,
wilo tells with intense realism how he is flying from
justice because ho has taken his rival's life; à man
seizes his wife by the throat and endeavours to
strangle her because she has been unfaithful. The
situation ends in a laugh or a taunt by the host that
it is not a bit like the real thing.
That comes later in an episode which stirs the
Tandience both on the stage and in front of the cur¬
toin to a manifestation of unusual excitement.
Henri, a young actor, has just married Loocadie, an
aetress, whose reputation is admittedly not of thef
best. To that, however, he is fairly indifferent.
The two take their departure from the Cabaret. A
quarter of an hour later Henri reappears. He is
evidently a prey to profound emotion. With a
wealth of gesture and in broken accents he relates
how he had surprised his wife with the Duc de
Cadignan in a situation which left no doubt as to
their guilt. Just then a turbulent crow, surges
in with the news that the Bastille has been taken,
that the people are triumphant. Momentarily we
are led to imagine that the wholo affair has veen
clevorly stage-managed by Prosper. But the fruch
is quickly out. Henri, meanwhile, has succceded
by his acting in deceiving even his friends, ahr
crowd round congratulating him on having dis¬
covcred Lcocadie’s perfidy, which has been knowa
to them for long. The statement falls like a thunder¬
#
bolt upon him. Just then tho Duc enters. The
infuriated Henri springs upon him and plunges a
dagger into his hoart. The comedy is finished, and
the curtain falls.
In all this there is just a suspicion of theatricality.
But the story swings along at such a paco and the
characterisation is so varied and excellent that
nothing else is heeded. Mr. Leon Quartermaine did
splendid work as Henri, while Mr. Luke Forster as
Frosper, Mr. Norr ian Page as a youthful ruffian,
diss Caroline Bayley as Leocadie, and their numo¬
rous companions carried the piece to immediate
success. A word also should be spared to Mr. Norman
Page for his extremely effective production of thel
play.