A PARISIAN SCANDAL.

Auckland Star, Volume XX, Issue 58, 9 March 1889, Page 3 (Supplement)

A PARISIAN SCANDAL.

Production of "Ary Sollaw's" Play Stopped. (From Oub Special Correspondent.) London, January 26.

The exalted and mysterious personage (said to be either the morganatic wife of the late Czar 01 the Grand Duchess Serge of Russia) who writes under the norn de plume of "Ary Ecilaw," is once again the talk of tout Paris. Her first book, " Roland " came out four or five year 3 ago, and caused a sensation, principally because of the intimate knowledge it showed of the inner life of the Russian Court, and of the painful story of Princess Dolgoronki Her second novel was even more remarkable, as the Bcandal which forms its basis had been kept a dead secret, and was known only to the family, etc., intimately concerned. Its disclosure in " Uno Altesae Imperiale, with the names of the real actors and aotresse? but thinly veiled, simply dumb?ounded everyone. All sorts of endeavours were made to penetrate "Ary Ecilaw b identity, but fruitlessly. "Uno Altesse Imperiale " has now been dramatised, and was to have been produced at the Gymnase Theatre last Tuesday. The Censor, however, stepped in and forbade its production on the ground that the drama would give offence to the Czar. The Pans correspondent of the '' Telegraph says i~ P "Aiy Ecilaw "-the mysterious . writer who is said to be very highly connected, and whose last book, ' Une Altesse Imperiale,' was reviewed in your columns some Shs ago-is again before> the Pansian public with a vengeance. Her book has Len dramatised, and the play was to have been produced by M. Ivoning at . the GymnaP se next Tuesday, when the Government stepped in and averred that the drama would give offence to the Czar. It may be said without exaggeration that the affair has caused a sensation far greater than that which was engendered by t^e momentary interdiction of U, Zola's 'Germinal The Gymnase play was entitled 'LOmcier

Bleu,' and M. Koning was busily engaged with the final rehearsals when the Government ' Ukase' came upon him like a thunderbolt. The story resembles in some points M. Barby d'Aurevilly's ' Histoire Sans Norn,' in which a Capuchin monk outrages a young lady while she is in a state of lethargy. The girl's mother wants to know the name of the seducer, but the victim is, of course, utterly ignorant of it, and eventually kills herself. The heroine of ' L'Officier Bleu' is Vera Dimitrevna, daughter of the King of the Balkans, who is aboub to wed Ivan Petrovich, GrandDuke of Tartary. On the day of the, wedding Vara suddenly faints in church; a doctor is called in, and the bridegroom finds to his horror that his betrothed is enceinte. After this the lady is badly treated by the Grand-Duke, who tries to discover the name of her lover. Vera, however, does not know i 6 herself, and when her child is born the Grand-Duke orders ib to be put bo death. It is saved, however, by the Countess Xenia and a Nihilist; named Dimitri, who attends tho Grand-Duchess as a teacher of singing. In time Ivan hears that his wife is . carrying on intrigues with a Nihilist, so he has her watched by an ' officer in blue ;' that is to say, a member of the terrible Secret Police. Notwithstanding the vigilance of the ' officer in blue,' Vera's friends obtain her child, who is in the.hands of a mountebank, with the aid of the Chaplain of the Empress, who had eeduced the lady while she was in a state of lethargy. Dimitri, the Nihilist, is, however, executed. Such is the story, the dramatic intensity of which was further heightened by a realistic description of the death of the Czar Alexander the Second which was to have been delivered in the third act of the play by M. Marais. M. Koning says that the 'Officer Bleu' is Prince Oblousky, whose brother was killed at the game time as the Emperor, and who then vowed vengeance on the Nihilists, entering the ranks of the Secret Police in order bo be able to carry out his purpose more effectively. It was never intended to make any of the dra7i\atisp&r&onaz represent members of the Russian Imperial Family, the whole play being one of passion and sentiment without any political references or ramifications. M. Koning further declares that a fortnight ago he offered bo show the manuscript of the play to Baron yon Mohrenheim, the Russian Ambassador, but his Excellency said he was quite satisfied with M. Koning's sentiments and would leave everything to the manager's tact. Furthermore Baron Fredericks, Milibary Attache to the Russian Embassy, gave M. Marais, the actor who was to personate Oblousky, full information respecting his uniform. M. Koning appealed to M. Lockroy, Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, when the * Ukase ' had been issued, and he was told that the play would rise to diplomatic complications, as the Czar's Government would be annoyed. This was also the opinion of M. Goblet, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who brought the matter under the notice of a Council of Ministers. Of course, the manager of the Gymnase is furious, as, the official censors having made no objection, he had gone to heavy expenses in order to produce this piny. He roundly rates M. Lockroy and the Cabinet, and to judge from his frank utterances it is hardly probable that the Government will' bo inclined to change ita views. Nevertheless, M. Koning has hope, and, as ' Cabinet crises' are not of un'frequent occurrence in France, he will, he says, ' stow away ' the properties and the scenery of ' L'Officier Bleu' until the next Ministry comes in. He appeals from Philip drunk to Philip sober!