WORDLESS PLAYS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1336, 13 January 1912, Page 11

WORDLESS PLAYS.

There are fresh developments in the drama, says the English correspondent of tho "Argus." They come from abroad. The Russian dance ha 3 been followed by a new form of ballet plays. , There are no words, but enough of action to demonstrate the plot. What impression is to pictorial axt, these fantastic wordless plays are to the ordinary drama. Tho first of these new pieccs was "Suinuruin," the work of Frederick Freksa, brought from Berlin, and produced at the Coliseum in a shortened form. It is now running in full at the Savoy, London. Tho pieco depends largely ou the stage effects of Mr. Bernhardt, whoso solid scenery gives an impression of reality rather than the flimsy painted canvas to which we are accustomed. The Coliseum is now running another and a similar mimodrame of Freksa, entitled "The Story of Rialon," which is a gruesome reproduction of the shady side of Parisian life There are apaches, wine-shops, Montmartre, and much that is unpleasant. Here is part of the plot, which will give you some idea of this new form of attraction:—Scene—Outside a cabaret; an apache and his woman, clawing and punching, and expressing their love generally. A passing marquis is fooled to believe the woman is in danger, in order that he may be led to "rescue" her. Ho does so, and the incident leads to the marquis marrying the woman. There is tho sceno of the church, the priest, the candles, the bedroom, with the bride and the apache together—rapturous at the success of their scheme to blackmail the marquis. But the marquis saves himself in time to escape. He learns at the cabaret what the man and _ the woman really are. He poisons their wine, and they both die at his feet. The climax comes with the marquis seizing tho buoy of the woman, waltzing with it, and in his infatuation he takes it home. And this chaptor of horror attracts a crowd to the Coliseum every night. There is anothe'.' dance craze at the Hippodrome. A' woman goes mad at tho sight of her husband's death from heart disease._ Tho arresting feature of the spectacle is an extraordinary series of movements ofthe liead, by which tho actress, Jldlle. Felicia, describes sorrow, despair, and terror, etc. . These wordless dramas are taking on" so widely that a huge spectacle is promised ns lifter Christmas, to , forth at Olympia, in. which some LiOO actors of sorts are to take part. But this is not to be so gruesome as Rialon.