OPERA HOUSE.-"Fedora."

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 202, 30 August 1887, Page 5

OPERA HOUSE.-" Fedora."

Can it be that the public of Auckland have no taste for serious and emotional drama ? We are loth to entertain even the bare supposition of such a thing, and yet to what strange phantasy are we to attribute the anomaly of crowded houses to witness a succession of minstrel entertainments, while dramatic performances of the highest excellence are indifferently patronised? It must surely be that the people have failed to realise the fact that artists of the very first rank are in their midst, and that the plays which are presented are mounted on a scale of elegance and completeness hitherto unknown in Auckland. Such performances must prove a revelation to the youthful mind, and can have no other tendency than that of ennobling the mind and refining the feelings. Their effect is distinctly beneficial and educative. Last night Victorien Sardou's great work, " Fedora," with which Sara Bernhardt produced a perfect furore four or five yeara ago, was enacted for the first time in New Zealand. It was staged in first-class style, the whole of the parts were well sustained, and Signor and Signora Majeroni impersonated magnificently the leading r6les. In describing the lady's portraiture of Fedora, the Russian Princess, who is the central figure of the story, one runs the risk of being charged with extravagant eulogy. And yet, in truth, it would be hard indeed to exaggerate the transcendent merits of this remarkable artistic effort. It will challenge comparison with the best models of the histrionic art. Finer acting has never been seen in this colony. It is a performance worthy of the illustrious Sara herself. Critical analysis fails to discover any flaw in its symmetrical proportions. The author's ideal ia embodied to the life both mentally and physically. It is a character that draws very largely upon the artiste's resources of emotional expression, and which also calls for the subtlest psychological study and treatment. Tne conception is a curious compound of passionate love and hatred, of womanly tenderness and revengeful implacability, of Oriental treachery and unselfish heroism. There is nothing conventional about Fedora, and nothing conventional about Signora Majeroni's delineation of her. In less able hands the part would be commonplace and hysterical, but in hers it possesses a weird fascination, and impresses the beholder most powerfully. It would be impossible to carry realism any further without infringing the canons of art than is done in the first act with the representation of the sorrowful circumstance attendant upon the death of the assassinated Vladimir, Fedora's unworthy fianc6. The unaffected awe and grief of the assembled retainers, the respectful bearing of the police in the house of mourning, and the wild and ungovemablo anguish of Fedora work up the feelings to such a tension that the descent of the curtain is hailed with a sigh of relief, and the audience look around them with the sensations of a sleeper rudely aroused from troubled dreams. In the second act Fedora is at Paris ruthlessly tracking Count Ipanoff, the supposed murderer of her lover. It is in the affected graciousness of manner with which the Princess with consummate art veils her deadly purpose toward her victim that Signora Majeroni affords convincing display of her great histrionic talent, and this display attains its natural climax in the horror and loathing which fill her soul when Ipanoff is led to unsuspectingly confess that he killed Vladimir. \V hile her emotions of passion and revenge are so strongly excited Fedora has to play out her game of dissimulation bo that Ipanofl's suspicions may not be alarmed. And this the actress accomplishes with' splendid effect of impersonation. In the third act Ipanoff comes by night to Fedora's residence to explain the whole story of Vladimir's death, to the recital of which Fedora prepares to listen with the grim satisfaction that at the close her waiting emissaries will seize upon her victim and bear him off to tragic execution in Russia. As Ipanoff tells how he discovered the disgraceful intrigue between his wife and Vladimir, and surprised them in their place of assignation, shooting down the man who had foully wronged him, Fedora's feelings undergo a terrible revulsion, which is hastened by the production of the epistolary proofs of her base lover's duplicity. Indignation at Vladimir's vileneea is mingled with love and admiration for Ipanoff, and anxiety to protect him from the snare which she has set for him and cannot divulge. It is a situation of the utmost power and intensity, and in it Signora Majeroui gave signal exhibition of her artistic capabilities for any emergency, however exacting. Acting is a poor term with which to designate such realism of effect. The artiste must have merged her individuality for the time in the character she pourtrays, and must feel all that she is called upon to simulate before she could produce such a realisation. The action culminates in the last act. Fedora's despatches to Russia before the eclairdssemtnt took place have resulted in the imprisonment and death of Ipanoffs brother, and the consequent death of his mother. The news arrives to interrupt the matrimonial felicity of Fedora and Ipanoff. His grief and rage-are terrible. While he threatens vengeance upon the unknown female spy who has brought such desolation upon him, Fedora, in eloquent despair, pleads for the extension of forgiveness to the unfortunate woman whose identity with herself she shrinks from acknowledging. Ipanoff is inexorable, and then as the fearful truth suggests itself to his bewildered mind Fedora completes the tragedy by hastily swallowing a poison concealed in her jewellery. The death scene was terribly real, every stage in the rapid effect of the deadly poison being marked with a distinctness and fidelity that weighed heavily upon the feelings of the audience. Signor Majeroni's impersonation of Count Ipanoff was a fitting' companion picture to his wife's. It was distinguished by the same cultured artistic finesse, and the like freedom from anything in the nature of rant, self • consciousness, and superficiality. It was a display of sterling art. Ipanoff 8 horror and agony of grief on learning, the death of his relatives were depicted with an eloquence, which must have gone, straight to every heart. The suffering was too natural in its manifestation not to evoke sympathy from the most callous. So, too, his self-repression in a preceding act in detailing to Fedora the discovery of the guilty amours of his wife and Vladimir was thrilling in its effect. The forced calmneesof the voice, the nervous play of the hands, and the averted face as the tale of shame was rehearsed did more to impress the audience than any amount of declamation could possibly have done. Everyone instinctively felt the naturalness of the entire scene. As the Countess Soukareff Miss Harwood was becomingly vivacious, and Mr Jewett played the part of De Siriex, the French attache', with his customary care and ability. Miss Appleton sustained the small part of Demetri with much credit, and the other characters were all represented in a highly satisfactory manner. The scenery, costumes, and properties were all in keeping with the Russian character of the play, and Signora Majeroni's own costumes, viz., two superb evening dresses, a tea gown, and a peignoir were the wonder and delight of the ladies. " Fedora " will be repeated to-night for the last time, and " Wanda" is underlined for to-morrow.