THE ARTISTIC IDEA.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1437, 11 May 1912, Page 6

THE ARTISTIC IDEA.

"OMAR" AND W. B. YEATB. Theatrical managers will tell you that there is no money in tho artistic idea, and they will quoto you chapter and verse to prove it, winding up with that hardy old poser-"Look what happened to the Broughs!" Still tho idea to attempt the purely artistic is too strong in some people to be repressed , at all times. In past years wo have had to thank Mrs. James 'Hannah (nee Miss Sybil Johnson) for the rendering of many works of great artistic interest. At the Concert Chamber-last evening this gifted lady, in association with Mr. J. M. Clark and other helpers, gave an entertainment of an uncommon character and distinct charm. The Bubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, that sonorous cynicism on life of the old Persian poet, hae been pictured in many forms. It has been acted in play form, Eet to music, and, if memory serves, formed the subject of a big ballet , at a London theatre a few years ago. Mrs. Hannah presented it in pantomime form last evening, much as was done last year, with Mr. i. M. Clark as Chorus beside, tho reading lamp. On this occasion the Eastern garb of the "symbols" was changed. Pierrot and Columbine were tho central figures, representing love, and laughtor, good times, and the gay aspect of life generally, and these characters were really admirably plnyed by Miss Vera Pe"g and Miss Coralie Stanley, two clever iittlo girls with a natural aptitude for pantomime expression. With them was a whole caveranserai of people, representing elements in Omar's scheme of things, and very brightly and effectively did they "suit tho action to tho word." Sometimes it eecmed that the action hardly illustrated tho meaning of the lines, but on the whole the interpretations were clover. A daTk veiled figure was Destiny (Mrs. Hannah), who, with silver sword, dispatches tho gay band in the end. The death of Pierrot, the grief of Columbine, and the inexorable rclentlessnesa of Destiny in tho final scene was a roally splendid bit of acting. Omar is old to most of us, but W. B. Yeats is new except to a very few. His "Land of Heart's De9tr«," tho playlet produced last evening-, is the first work to bo seen in Wellington of a poet and playwright who is enjoying quite a voguo at Home. This one-act piny, written in blank verse, is a quaint and rather eerie Irish fairy story. ' The poetry is very beautiful—too beautiful to bo grasped at a fleeting performance. Mairo Bruin, the ncir wife of Shawn Bruin, is a wistful, ethereal creature, with- inexplicable and inexplainablo yearnings for a life not of tho earth. Sho is tired of tongues that are grave, crafty, and bitter, and longs to rush round on the winds or ride on a saddle of foam on a "dishevelled tide." In her discomfort sho calls on tile faiTy host to come to her rescue—on May Eye, of all the nights in the year. The fairy folk havo special privileges on that eye, and so it happens, that the Fairy Child blows into the cottage of old Maurteon Bruin, when he and his Bridget, Shawn, and Father Hart are at supper. It is a 6weet cajoling little creature, with pretty ways, and sho beguiles everyone — even Father Hart — into removing the crucifix from the room. That preserver of the godly out of the way, the little pix fastens subtly on rn the bewitched Maire, whom she would win away to the "Land of Heart's Desire." In vain the husband pleads and caresses, in vain the priest protests. "Come, my little white bird with the golden crest" wheedles the fairy enchantress. "Come, silver feot!" ilaire, torn between two worlds, struggles vainly, and finally falls dead, while the Fairy Child vanishes, laughing to her own world with a new soul. The playlet is. not an ensy one to perform. So much is left to tho imagination, so much must be taken for granted as understood, yot even to thoso to whom Yeats is a stranger some of tho witchery of bis nocsy was admirably conveyed. The acting honours of the playlet fell to Miss Vera Pegg as tho Fairy Child, who lent to the character, behind all her smiles end pretty wiles, something Puck-like and elfin. She was oharmingly spontaneous in her gestures and movements, and spoke tho lines with tho liveliest intelligence. Maire is a very difficult role indeed, and Mrs. Hannah-d' wonders with it. Perhaps she rather overdid tho attitucHsing and the whispered voice in the endeavour to convey tli npirituclla in the character, but there yno questioning the intelligence which governed tho interpretation. She lonkH Mnire, and sustained that distrait aloofness of manner very cleverly. Mr. J. M. Clark spoke the lines of Father Hart with fine elocutionary effect, and Dr. Purdy, save for a hitch here and there in tlio lines, was quite Rood as Maurteon Bruin. Mr. Vivian Rhind was well v the picture as Shawn, and Mrs. Martyn Williams was bitter-tongued and crabby enough as Bridget Bruin. The programme included the recitation of the speech of Henry V before Harflucr from Shakespeare's "Henry V," bv Dr. Pnrdy, a clever humoroiia recital, "The Novel Writer." by Mr. J. T. Jlontiguo (of Auckland), and one of 'Mμpnerito" (Whlttier)), by Mrs. Martyn ■Williams. ■