THE TROJAN WOMEN

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2570, 18 September 1915, Page 11

THE TROJAN WOMEN

MISS DOROTHEA SPINNEY'S RECITAL Possibly , there were' some among the audience that had gathered in'the Masoniq Hall, ■in Boulcott 1 V Street, last evening to hear and see .the presentation by Miss Dorothea Spinney of the Euripidean drama, "Tho : Trojan Wo- , men," who may have rather questioned : her power to hold them : captive in these . twentieth century days with a play that came from so .misty a-past, great as was. its theme. ' If so, it jivas not long before they / were .conquered .by its nobility, its heroio, figures; 'its voicing • of the unutterable sorrow-, throughout the ages of women, upon whom war lays so cruel a~ : thrall. The''wonderful artistry' of-Miss. Spinney threw, back tho curtain" of . tho -centuries'.'and made her audience' one with tho-.gfeat figures who suffered such poignant i•; agonies, ■ and for whom all the familiarj lights of' • common- human' life were 'quenched in so black a'night of .tragedyj-'j .. Miss Spinney, previous to beginning the play, pointed out in a .few explanr ' atory . remarks, "The Trojan Women" coula hardly lie called a play; it was the concentrated .essence of''one great situation, that of the conquered wo- ■•• •• men of Troy, who were about 'to'be carried away in the conquerors' slups to Athens. It.was a;picture-of the supreme* agony of women, harrowing to the last limits and yet beautiful beyond . belief with its .dignity, and strong, acceptance of the worst that destiny could bring' upon them, and what made it all the more acute in its call to. the . audience was the'fact, that just such a parallel to tho sufferings of . . the Trojan womou were tlhoso of the ' women of Belgium and France and Poland to-day.. All the characters .in the play, with ane or two unimpoftant omissions', that were altogether left out, were taken'by Miss Spinney—Hecuba, the Queen of .Troy, wife of Priam; Cassandra, her daughter, priestess in the Templo of : Apollo; Andromache, wife of Hector ot Troy, son of Hecuba; Talthybius, herald' of the Greeks; Poseiddon and Pallas Athene, and in an almost'incredible manner , were endowed with their own separate characteristics, and individuality.. Voice, gestures, expression all changed completely, and yet without a break,, without a loosen-' jng upon the growing climax of the play. Each one'was given .their due weight, each one of. the women their lead of extreme ' suffering—Cassandra, the distraught, with her wild alternations of prophecy and sanity, Hecuba,. • who touched the ipoint where all fears of a possible worse to come could no longer be thought of; and Andromache, whose babe Astynax, son of 'the great Hector, was thrown from the walls of Troy and killed. Hecuba's mourning . oyer its little broken body later was a 1..: ..: most beyond all bearing and just when the tension had reached breaking point • came the soothing spell of .the chorus to relieve the stress and to take up the story;; These, dhoruses, intoned by . 'Miss. Spinhey, are extremely beauti- . full and have an almost mesm'erio ..effect upon : the listener , in their minor, cadences' which are sung or intoned' to rhythmio movements -of hands, arms and -body." Miss Spinney has a wk- : .derful voice ' that can express. every emotion that it is. possible to feel, and 1 she is;, at tlhe. same .time mistress , of gesture and movement. Nothing is ;un- '. necessary, but .is always expressive of pome intention, some emotion, and in :' i this,, combination of • voice and facial expression; lies .the strength and beauty, of _Miss Spinney's artistry., ~ . : The setting for the play, which ib all toldin the one act, and has been translated by Professor Gilbert Murray, was .' simple,' but most harmonious, the background being of' deep < dark blue curJains,'with cream curtains half screening the front of the stage. At either side was. a tall white pillar ending witha lighted candle, and a little to one .side was a blue cushioned seat, just' a shade lighter. than tho. curtains at the back. Clusters •of arums, with their glossy green leaves, accentuated the whiteness given by the pillars, and Miss ' , Spinney harmonised in a Greek dress ;of soft white; draperiesi, " -