"LOUIS XI."

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1357, 7 February 1912, Page 6

"LOUIS XI."

Ml!, If. 15. IKYJXO AND COMPANY. "Louis XT," a. drama, in five acts, by •Casimir Delavigiio, adapted by Dion 'Boiicieuillt. Cast:— I.ouis XI. King of France...Dr. 11. I). Irving The Dauphin .Mr. Stanley Jlowlßtt Due de Nemnurs Mr. r'.ric Mason Philip de ComiTics Mr. Jtoland Pertiiis .Tacrine.*) Coitior Mr Arthur Wliilby Tristan L'Krmitc Mr .Frank Tyar.; Oliver le Dain Mr. Arthur Curtis Francois tie Paule Mr. Jlanry Vibart Cardinal d'Alby Mr. John Cass Count de Dreux Mj\ C. Trevor Itoper Mon.scigneur do Lude Mr. lionald Ilyrum Count (Is Jhmois Mr. Frederick Whitlow Muntjoie Mr. Claude ncerbohra Toii-on D'Or Mr. Percy Wnldcr Marcel , Mr. Tom Reynolds llichiird Mr. Ernest Hush Officer of the Royal Guard Mr. W. 11. Graham King's Attendant Mr Walter (iibbs Martlu Miss Irene Browne Marie de Corafnes Miss Dorothea Uaircl Casimir Dolnvigne's play, '"i/jnis XI," presented by .Mr. 11. ]!. Irving and his 'company at the Opera House last evening is rather the ingenious embodiment of a fine character study than it is a great play. Its construction does not include a sot plot, and it displays a plentiful lack of invention on the part of the playwright, but" that iloes not by any means deprive the effort of" consideration as a work of dramatic importance, inasmuch as it serves as the framework of a stage portrait of an historical character, who by his consummate statecraft no less than by tho?e objectionable traits which have given the historians so much matter for comment left his impress upon tho history of medieval France. In limning tho portrait, the plavwright and maybe the adaptor (the late .Mr. Dion Bonr'eanlt) have taken the full measure of theatrical license, heaping horror on horror until" they have drawn a Louis XI that is tho quintessence of a fiend incarnate, and they certainly have provided the material for an astonishingly impressive and thrillingly repellent character study at which no actor could cavil. Sir Walter Scott, in his introduction to "Qucntin Durward" says that Louis "was of a character so purely selfish, so guiltless of entertaining any purpose unconnected with his ambition, covetousness and dosire of selfish enjoyment, that he almost seems the incarnation of the devil >.imseli, permitted to do his utmost to corrupt our ideas of honour in its very source. Xor is it to be forgotten that Louis possessed .to a great extent that caustic wit which can turn into ridicule all that a man (bes for any other per- • soil's advantage but his own, and was, therefore, peculiarly qualified (o play the part of a cold-hearted and sneering fiend." Surely Delavign? must have had such a man in his mind when he wrote the play, and Mr. H. B. Irving, who has succeeded his father as a great opponent of tho role, beloved of Charles Kean, makes no attempt to relent one jot in giving the fullest emphasis to tho sinblackened wretch who left an indelible .smirch on theJltoyal escutcheon of France. Opinions may differ as to the. degree of jnorit one may find in Mr. Irving's "FTainlet," but there is no room for such differences in the case of his Louis XI, which is a masterly impersonation from beginning to end. Aided by a flawless technique, he slipped into tho shabby robes of the decrepit French King, and, losing his identity in the act, kept tho largo audience enthralled with tho vivid and gripping sketch he presented of this cunning, ferocious, and bigoted monarch, who never lived an honest moment in his life. Mr. Irving's ghastly make-up, his halting limp, Hie cruel malice which leapt like fire from his rheumy eyes, together with his quaint touches of ironic humour, wore all part of a character that will bite deep into the memory. Tho audience were quick to recognise the triumph of tlio actor, and the solid heartiness of the. applause, which raised the curtain four or five times after tho last three acts, was the best of tributes to as powerful ii delineator as has been seen in Wellington for many years.

As stated initially, tho play in this case is not so much the thing. It concerns the affairs of tin. , fiery young Duo do Nemours, whoso father and brothers have been beheaded by Louis. Ho returns to France under another name as Ambassador for Charles tho Bold, of Burgundy, to wreak vengeance on tho murderer, but tho wily old King is too much for him. In a finely-acted scene he wheedles the real name of Iho Ambassador from tho latter's lover, Mario do Comiue;, and, in a highlydramatic passage, reveals his knowledge. Even then he is prepared to make a treaty with Burgundy, and dispatches the samo with a flourish whilst he makes all preparation for the murder of its bearers. When about to dispatch the embassy the news arrives that Burgundy has been defeated, and Charles is dead, whereupon do Nemours is sci&sd and thrown into prison to await the ignominious death accorded to his father. At the last moment he is assisted to escape by Jacques Coitier, the Kind's trusted physician and his frank reviler, but, instead of leaving the palace, the Due secretes himself behind curtains in the King's bed-chamber. When tho King is left alone to his horrible commimings— after disgusting his father confessor with a recital of his sin-smeared and blood-Riiilty life—young de Ncmour9 makes to finish the devilish old dotard with his paniard, but. after an impassioned scene, in which tho royal hypocrite pleads agonisingly for an extension of his wretched life, his wonld-be assassin comes to the conclusion that it would he a double revenge to allow the King to live on, racked by physical pain, and surrounded by tho terrifying suspicions which keep him iu a purgatory of his own making. In the scene with the hermit Francois de Paulo and de Nemours, Mr. Irving entirely realises tho almost inhuman character. His pleading for a miracle to the priest, and for his life to do Nemours was dramatic acting of the highest order, and the death scene, where he deceives his courtiers into the belief that the end has come by his silent impassibility, and then struggles back from the edge of the grave to feel mice more for the crown which the Dauphin has removed, and to whisper a few final words ore he stumbles forward dead. was art of thu highest order.

Miss Dorothea jinird made an interesting Mario de Gamines, si part that was nor intended to l» any more than interesting. Miss Irene Browne was quite delightful -.is Martha, a country wench, who smacked of rosy health, and a simny countryside. She was altogether pleasing in the woodland scene with thn King—the brightest in the play. Mr. Uric Maxon .strutted gallantly as the Due de Nemours, and cut a pictnresoue figure in his clanking armour. • Mr. Frank Tyars (the original de Nemours, with Sir Jfenry Irving) was capitally placed as Tristan l'Ermite (the part originally played with Sir Henry Irving by Mr. Walter Bentley). Jacques Coitier, the. outspoken nliysicinn, was nlayed with good emphasis by Mr. Wliitby. Mr. F. Clements nnde an ai!equato Philip do Comine=, and Mr. Stanley Itowlct was commonplace as the ]>u]n]iin vho should really be a youth of 16 years "Louis XI" will 1)0 ployed again this evening, and to-morrow evening "The Lyons Mail" will bo. staged