Life, 1904-11-24 · page 12 of 22
Life — November 24, 1904 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page critiques American theater's admiration for French actresses. The article praises **Madame Réjane**, a French performer, while comparing her favorably to American actresses. The author argues that while Réjane demonstrates technical mastery and emotional range, American actresses lack her training and sophistication. The satire targets American audiences' assumption that European (particularly French) talent is inherently superior. The accompanying sketch by Sir Gibson depicts Réjane in an exaggerated, theatrical pose—suggesting the very artificiality the text claims makes her great. The piece implies that American theater-goers are culturally insecure, too readily dismissing homegrown talent in favor of imported prestige.
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Imported Merit. ME. REJANE has, up to the present writings given us in this engage- ment no taste of her quality as an emotional actress. There are a few moments in | “Amoreuse where there is a slight call on that side of her art, but in GFR the stupid play men- tioned, in the one-act sketch “ Lolotte," and in the salacious “La Passerelle,” she has given us only exhibitions of her capabilities as a comedian, This she is in the highest degree. The Gallic temperament lends itself so readily to this branch of acting that to be eminent as a comedian in France is eminence indeed. By comparison the best comedians of other races seem heavy, awkward and coarse, It suggests a shudder to picture what an English, German or American actress would have made of the extremely risgué + scenes at the end of the second and beginning of the third acts of La Passerelle.” Even in the hands of Mme. Réjane their grossness could not be altogether obscured, but she tinged them with a merriment which almost threw the mantle of art over their frankness, It would be presumptuous, if not impossible, to analyze her method and her charm, She blends her individuality and her art so skil- fully that it is difficult to tell where one begins and the other ends, What she does is done with so little apparent effort that the tempta- tion is to credit it entirely to the woman and none of it to the pains and experience which Copyright by Life Publishing Co. ‘LIPFEs mean perfected work, This is ine creased by the smoothness of her transitions ia mood and expression through the whole broad range she holds at instant command, In the sight of such finish and ease, of such infinite variety and of such an apparent absolute absence of affectation, one cannot help being abit lugubrious when one calls to miod some of the so-called stars who have been foisted on the American public as exponents of the art of acting. An admirable second to Mme. Réjane is M. Dumeny. Again comes the inevitable comparison. If some of our younger actors were not so cock-sure that they knew everything, we should hesitate to suggest that they see M, Dumeny act and study his methods for fear despair might drive them to the ° nearest drugger’s to get the wherewithal to finish their hopeless existences. 4 But we have no such fear in the case of some of our would-be artists, who, with the assurance born of self-satisfaction, make RQ “ strut and pose take the place of the ease and dis- NY ‘ f tinction gained by observa 6 G NSA = tion, educa- tion, study and work, Birds of this feather MADAME REJANE. ‘A DRAWING FROM LIFE BY SR. GIBSON, PB NEN, est comicbooks.com