MADAME MAETERLINCK.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1443, 18 May 1912, Page 11

MADAME MAETERLINCK.

Bofore ho rose to fame Maurice Maeterlinck married Georgetto Loblanc, an actress. Of tho actress-wife of tho man who gave the world "The Blue Bird' Alfred Sutro rocoutly wrote: "Slio is a woman of rare intollcct and charm, with a touch oj genius herselfyaiid.sho has been til© ideal nolpmat© to her poet husband. I hero ure traces 01 her in tho stately Aglavaine, in Vanna, Joyzolie. , Through tho pages of 'Wisdom and Destiny, a book that posterity, it may be. shall yet proclaim his masterpiece, there moves ti woman s figure that his friends do not fail to identity, even without the aid of the beautiful dedication. Madame Maeterlinck has stood between him and the jarring world, kept tho yelliug 'market' at bay, and inspired him where inspiration was needed. She, perhaps, like the exquisite figure of Light in the play, lias known where to look for tho blue bird of happiness."

Tho wife of the poet-dramatist is a woman of great talent, and has been of great assistance to Maeterlinck in staging his plays. The poet absolutely refuses to ee« them until they reach tho dress rehearsal stage.' .In fact, tho only play ho ever saw before the prcmierre was "The Blue Bird."

Madame Maeterlinck recently discussed the famous fairy play, and declared that her husband was not at nil serious when he first undertook to write it.

"We were at that time living in a picturesque little village close to tho Abbey St. Wandrille, and it was there lie began writing the play for amusement. We never saw 'The Blue Bird' presented, however, until the dress rehearsal at the Hnyniarket Theatre, London, where; Mr. "StcbcV 'whs it oti, tb\s \rv Bpite of its great success in Jftissia. It as now Vavow, tirst presented in Moscow and" St. Petersburg. ■ and after that quite generally throughout the country. 1 have given some recitals of tho play in Belgium and elsewhere, and they met n-jfch success, "When I recited the scene

In the Kingdom o( the Future, showing the child lovers kneeling at the feet of Father Time and imploring him not to part them, the emotion of my Belgian audience arose to such a height that I myself was almost moved to tears. Pelleas and Melisandfl. Early in March Madame Maeterlinck, who was visiting the United States, gavo her farewell "dramatic rc'ci!.al" fn Boston. Tho subject was her husband's "Pelleas and Melisar.de," which she analysed, recited, and sang. She described it as "a drama with a° vague atmosphere—a profound creation with a vital force which seizes each person in its grasp and stirs within his soul a passionate lire. It thus becomes absolutely personal, a study of the individual character and mind."

"Jlv hustand's characters-." she said, "are'loss human and real because they deal rather with the soul and its workings than with the body. It is delving deep into the secrets of the heart, yet Tevealing them only indirectly to the auditor. It is tremendously philosophical for the reason that it is often so vague. Maeterlinck's characters not say all that they think. They leave something to be implied, and often this implication imist come to the hearer more througli the interpretation which the actor gives it than through the words themselves.

"The underlying, plot of the story rests upon the idea of destiny, of fate, upon tho conception of life as a struggle between two forces, one of which is a terrible, hopeless power that drags the individual to a predestined end. This sets the character off as victims of fate, and enwraps the whole drama in a haze of gloom.

"In Pelleas there aro certainly two such forces, the one which guides us along in fipifcc of ourselves, and the other, dull and heavy, yet intrepid, which drags in the direction. "To'work out such a plot it is essential to have each individual stand for some abtsracfc quality. Thus Pelleas represents the force of destiny, Melisande innocence, Yguolde the force of destiny, and flolaud strength. The actors in playing it must £e very intense. When I had finished the first production I felt as if I had just awnkened from a bad dream."