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Depressing hut Poweriut Diaz from ihe
German Which Is Uncommonly Well
Acted In Some of Its Roles—But Its
Final Act Has Such Great Emotional
Posslbilitles That Quly an Actressofthe
Highest Rank Could Do It Full Justlce.
The charming work of the two principa:
women—Miss Katherine Grey and Miss
Phyllis Rankin—is the principal attrac¬
tion in the production of Arthur Schnitzler’s
drama, The Reckoning,' which is now
on view at the Berkeley Lyceum. In the
first two acts of this piay Miss Grey does
the most sympathetic and heartfelt work.
that she has ever done. Her conception of
admirable
18
Weining
Christine
last,
but the
from first
10
last act of the play assumes such vast.
emotional proportions that her voice and
physical strength and technique are not¬
equal to the strain. As a matter of fact,
there is only one actress on the English¬
speaking stage who could fully and fittingly
portray the anguish and heartbreak of this
final scene, and that woman is Mrs. Leslie
Carter.
But at the same time Miss Gray accom¬
plishes so much in the earlier scenes and
her assumption of the girlish side of this
young woman’s character is so charming
that she has scored a distinct artistic,
achievement. Miss Rankin, by her delicious
comedy work as the worldly-wise young
light o’ love who helps and counsels Chris¬
tine on her road to ruin demonstrates that
for years a remarkably clever comedienne
has been wasted in musical comedy.
As the outraged husband, Mr. Alfred
Bruning has one vivid little scene which,
as he plays it, stands out as the most vivid
episode of the whole play, and Miss Sarab
MoVicker’s sketch of an old busybody is
remarkably good. Mr. Robert Conners’s
performance of the hero’s friend had many
good points, but as the hero Mr. John Dean's
work was decidedly uneven, In one point
he was successful, however. He made yon
realize that, in spite of all his previous
affairs, his love for Christine is really the
biggest thing in bis life.
Here is the story in a nutshell: Fritz
Sommer, a gay young citizen of Vienna,
(has been carrying on a love affair with
anôther man’s wife. The husband has.
discovered his lové letters, and after a
stormy scène in the young man’s apartments
he challenges him to a duel. After he has
gone Christine, his newest mistress, thei
daughter of an orchestra player in one of
the theatres, comes to his rooms with her
friend Mitzi and Fritz’s friend Theodor.
who is to be his second in the duel.
The first act ends with a jolly little supper
party. The second act is laid in Ohristine's
shabby little home, where Fritz comes to
say goodby to her. The scene in this act
where tbe girl declares her great and abid¬
ing love for him is one of the most
beautifully written scenes to be found in a.
modern play. Two days later, after the
duel has been fought and Fritg has met his
death, Theodor ccmes to the girl’s apart¬
ment to break the news to her.
After her first burst of grief the girl de¬
clares her intention of going to see her
lover’s body. Theodor tells her that he is
already dead. Then she seizes her hat to
go to his grave; but again the young man
stops her with the warning that she will
find another woman praying by his grave.
This scene, as we said before, calls for
tremendous acting. As it is played at the
Berkeley now, with all the best intentions
in the world, it becomes only harassing.
rather than harrowing.
The play is so desperately pessimistio
in all its tendencies that it will never stand
a chance of popularity here, but it is for
allthat a play of remarkablé power, one of
those plays which no real lover of the
theatre can afford to miss, It is as
unusial as it is depressing, and yet ite
theme has been handled with such splendid
skilb and all its characters are so admirably
drawn that it cannot fail to prove interest¬
ing to those theatregoers who care for
dramas which are quite out of the general
run.