SHAKESPEARE IN PARIS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 894, 13 August 1910, Page 9

SHAKESPEARE IN PARIS.

i ■-.■.'. Shakespeare , , has. taken, possession of ;. Paris' (writes- Albert vKeyzer ; hi . the ■.-•,'' Westminster "Gazette"). .The. good ;,; Parisians believe they have "discovered .. him,' and this happened in the course ." of; a few. months. , , :. . : :.,,Last year Shakespeare was still Tirtu- ;. ally unknown in France, except by' a ■ few scholars'. To-day-he is discussed in the 'cafes by that terrible' creature, the middle-class Parisian, whoso admiraiiou, somehow or other, invariably "takes a -.negative form. Thus,, of "music that ■ ; pleases him he.will 'say: "Co Vest pas ■yuesagreablol" ; "of a, fine picture: "C!o ... n'est. pas vilain!"; of a pretty woman: ■ "Elle n'est pas:piqueo des vers!'. , (Sho , is-not-moth-eaten). .You, therefore, ; jnust not expect him to launch out in laudatory terms, dear to- tho higher classes. _ But, even negative praise is praiso indeed, coming. from such undemonstrative beings as MM. Durand and Duval, who like things made easy for them. After a day of-toil in the shop or factory they do not care to break their .beads over "problem plays," , over "scientific music," or over a pic- ; ,'ture .of the "advanced i-school," of /.which.they are not certain whether it ■ represents a railway accident or a mother nursing a child. And they have ...accepted- Shakespeare,, now placed within .their "bourgeois" grasp. . . Performances in .English of. Shakespeare's works -have repeatedly been given in'.Paris. In 1822 the Theatre de fa Porte-Saint-Martin was tho first to engage an English Shakespearean company, butonly a.few years had elapsed since Waterloo, and the entente be- . tween the. two nations was tho reverse of cordial. At curtain-rise , the artists weregreeted with cat-calls, and, finally, a voice rang through the house: "Down with Shakespeare I . . r he was one of Wellington's aides-de-camp!" an announcement that burst upon the audienco like a bomb. The people in the - pit.and gallery, indignant that the author had participated-in the slaughti-, ' of Frenchmen at Waterloo, took up the cry, with 'the result that the night's entertainment came to an abrupt close. ; Five years later Abbott's company, with :a brilliant array of actors and actresses —among them Kemble and tho beautiful Miss Smithson—appeared at .tho Odeon,; in "Hamlet," Shakespeare having, in the meantime; been acquitted of tho charge of bloodshed. It was an eventful evening, for. it was there that Berlioz, the great composer, lost his heart to Miss Smithson. This clever actress also gave several: performances - at tho Salle Favart, the last one before jCbaries X., tho Duchesse do Berry, and

many members of the Court. In tho following year Hiss Smithson returned with Macready, when' they, leceived a tremendous ovation,. the critics of the day describing Maeready as "the English Talma." .Alas, tehipora mutantur! In 18-11 Macready again visited tho French capital, accompanied by Miss Helen-Faucit, but the, taste, of tho public had changed. Macready was reproached with "ranting," with laying undue stress on every syllable, and being altogether vioux jcu. Miss Faucit, oil tho other hand, was praised for her natural delivery, an example—the critics wrote —Macroady should have followed. ■■ In-1867 Sothern and young Henry Irving niado their bow to a Paris audience, in Shakespeare, 1/ut they met with/a cool reception. . The first Frenchman attracted towards Shakespeare was Cyrano do Bergerac, of whom, but for M. Rostand's famous play, the middle-class man would .probably never have heard. Cyrano's admiration even took a t-angiblo form, for in'his tragedy "Agrippine" we: lind distinct reminiscences of the great English poet. Tho list of those who translated or adapted (!) Shakespeare into French is a long one, but none of these translations render tho spirit of the original. Many of the plays have now been added to the classical repertoire,of the Comedie-Francaise and the Odeon, a fact that did not bring tho Bard of Avon in closer touch with the Durands and Duvals, who dread the word "classical" as being synonymous with "dull." '■': . - .

It is only within the last few months that our, middle-class friends have awakened-to -another conception of Shakespeare's genius, when the idea was started to give some of the least-known-of his .works in France.' The "Sallo Femiua," in the Chauips-Elysees, was hired for-these occasirinar performances, which; started with "A Winter's Tale," followed by "Cymbeline," "Midsummer Night's Dream,"' "Troilus and CressidaJ" "As-You Like It;" "Tho Merry\Wives of Windsor,"] and "Tho Tempest." Tho. , company was recruited among tho pupils of the Conservatoire, budding actors and actresses, who worked with the enthusiasm of youth, and without the- knowledge of stage traditions, . that ■ imparted .to their work a freshness .and naivete- not lacking charm. The management left them free scope to render the roles as thoso young people understood them, knowing that with the few .rehearsals .at their • command they could not blossom into a Mounet-Sully, an Irving, a Salvini, or a Booth. . .V ..:.-.

For the scholar, and English people generally—brought up,'so to speak, on Shakespeare—these performances, savoured of the "breaking-up" of a boarding school. Each play was ..only given oiice, and, as the youthful .performers did not have- time to become intimate with their parts, they added the gag they felt iudispensablo— like Bottom's "Oh! Ma tetol,.:; , Oh! la! la!" that brought Shakospeare within the reach of Montmartro. . .

..Even in tho matter of costumo tho management was at the mercy ■ of, tho actors, when Titania, having no double, ilatly refused, to wear tho dress befitting the part, alleging that it .suited neither her complexion nor her figure. And, tho strong-willed: young lady appeared in a clinging reception dress in the latest Parisian style, an amusing contrast to the sparkling beauty of.Oburon's attire. As to the unclassical audience, they accepted everything—without criticism, because- without knowledge. ■ With the same disrespect to tho spirit, of the work, Dame. Quickly,, to the delight of tho'Durands and the Duvals,. was played by the low comedian. "As YouLiko It" was perhaps the bestinterpreted of all the works produced, which is hardly surprising when wo iemember that it is written in. the pure comedy stylo, and, therefore, admirably suited to the French .temperament. ■

The modern ..translation was ho bettor than .the others.' ■"'

.And it is in this extraordinary way that William Sliakespfeare has become popular,in Paris. He is feted,.and patronised by. the people who liave -just ."discovered" him; "Co Shakespeare! . . .11. est vrainient epataivt!" in the i same way that Moliero might be "discovered,., by the.Broflns and Bobiu.sons, if. translated., and . performed a l'Anglaise! . :.'!::!;.''■ ,