THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 1910. A REMARKABLE PLAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14793, 29 March 1910, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 1910. A REMARKABLE PLAY.

Jcst as the absurdity of the stage Frenchman in the average English comedy is refreshing to a nation. that does not commonly let its feelings run riot, so off the stage the tale of Parisian extravagance evokes in indulgent Anglo-Saxon smile. However, desirable a revision of this typically English attitude may be, it is difficult to imagine that London theatre-goers could ever be so stirred to . their depths as, according to all accounts, those of Paris have been of late over the production of M. .Rostand's new • play " Chaaiticler." Many waters—fc-r Paris last month had a distinctly Venetian aspect—were not able to quench the enthusiasm and expectancy of Parisians with ' respect to this long - promised' dramatic effort. For years, indeed, tho work had been announced, and over and over again its production had been postponed, "Chanticler" is seriously stated to have for months past dominated social arrangements in Paris, and the stories of the disorganising and nerve-destroying effects of the postponements of the first night appear none the less ridiculous because they lose nothing in the telling. All this, however, was evidently to the advantage of at least one person—the author. Premature journalistic exploitation of the zealously guarded- secret- of the play has been promptly followed by law suits for malicious damage, and Rostand's new work, the exclusive Tight of publication of which lie is said to have sold to a French illustrated weekly for £40,000, advantage

of a magnificent advertisement. Rostand's 1 career has been closely interwoven with that of his two great interpreters, Sarah i Bernhardt .and Coquelin, and the death of the latter, who was to have taken the leading role in " Chanticler," was a contributing cause to the delay in the production of the work. The play had already been long a subject of curious comment and speculation, 6ome of it tinged with pessimism that was entirely foreign to the French character. People declared it was unplayable, and tha.' it was the wild dream of an unpractical poet. There were others, however, who predicts' a banquet of poetry and philosophy, dream-like beauty, and strange effects such as had never been imagined. It remains io be seen how " Chanticler" is going to stand the strain of over-advertisement and the exaggerated expectancy of which it has •been tho centre; The Times evidently thought the first performance an occasion of sufficient importance to warrant a visit to Paris of its dramatic critic at what has been described as .the greatest ■ • " first night" that Paris has seen since that of "Le Manage de Figaro." The' : critic conveys the impression that the audience found the play on- the whole disappointing. He concludes his long description of it by saying: "I believe this verdict of the first-night audieuco will be confirmed [iy the world at large. It is a work full of literary delights; of high fantasy; of extraordinary virtuosity in versification;, sometimes of genuine lyrical fervour; not seldom tending •to the showy and rhetorical; inspired by a genuine love and knowledge \of Nature even 111 her most secret places; fresh, ingenious, and amusing as a spectacle;bristling with literary satire, some of it Tatlier rcc-ondite; —altogetlnsr mi extra- , ordinary work that none other than Rostand coult 1 have imagined, but too ' plainly deficient in tho ' body,' the con- f flict of . will?, the continuous and cumu- * Wive interest of action, that are essen- 1 tial for. an acted play. We all pour out ' of the theatre into the still crowded ' boulevard shortly after 1 o'clock in. the ' rn-jniitij.'. The greatest ' first night' of ' modem, times is over." Mention of the 1 Uramatis persona in •'Chanticler" sug- ' g e «ts a- pantomime rather than a play, ' Such, an impression is 110 doubt, however, 1 to be quickly corrected. The author, ' with largely satiric impulse surely, has 1 sot aboti.t showing how a simple farm- 1 yard may-. be a- microcosm of tho "reat ' world, and ids poetic genius -has evidently : saved from ridicule, a daring dramatic c.\pc!iracnf. Tho actors and actresses taking part in (he production are all : dakeii c,lt : ' IS '.tirds or animals. They liavo tlu'ii faces uncovered, it is true, but Ihair .cstuines are described as " absolutely like the.' actual thing." Tho characters ;>i-e .150 m, number, and they include fortydifferent breeds , of cocks, hews, a hen. iMieasanr-, a peacock, and otners, tfis cost of whose feathers alone is state-! to have been £2000. The correspondent of The Tin«s hazards tho opinion that the wearing 0 f y lfe . 5 )j ov . rawed plumes must iuvolvty considerable discomfort, their weight. Vnryin<r From eleven, to thirteen pounds, , ? , n d h, e a( ]ds to tho cast twenty-one owfe, piceona, geese and swans, two dogs, rabbits, and a.'mole. The representation 01 the animals by human beings Jieoessit,ite l tho stage properties being of propGrtionoio dimensions: the dogs' kenuei wai;' nrade 10ft high and the blackbird* |.j, T enough for a marc to hop about j u a j, e-ase. However poetically treated m;.y be the story of Chanticjccr's wooing of tho coquettish Golden Pheasant and tlm rivalry of. the young Gamecock, irho J challenged by trio uarnyajd hero to 1 mortal combat and is defeated, it must, be singularly well presented to be taken seriously, or perhaps "Chanticler" is written for and really requires a French audience. No doubt its subtle thrusts at human follies will be appreciated' in Paris as they nevei could be in London, but it will bo highly interesting to see what happens when " Chanticler " crosses the* Channel, if -it ever does. Possibly Rostand's latest work is going to set a fashion, even if it be short-lived. In any case we can all realise the charming fancy worked out- in Chanticleer's delusion that it is hisMnoming clarion that forces the sun to rise,' and appreciate the artistic nature fi{ his awakening in the last a,ct, Lured into forgetfulness by the Golden Pheasant, Chanticleer oversleeps- himself and neglects t-oherald the dawn, and in the rising glory of the Star of Day his grand dream, his confidence in his marvellous power dissolves miserably. Whatever the final result the early rehearsals of " Chanticler" must- have provided Eom-e peculiarly refreshing comedy.