Page:EB1922 - Volume 30.djvu/910

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860
DRESDEN—DUBAIL

with more practicability, from Gordon Craig. Prior to the war he was known in England as the producer of The Miracle, Oedipus Rex (with Sir John Martin Harvey and Lillah McCarthy in the principal parts) and Sumurun. His taste is for spectacular pieces of an ambitious nature. He was in 1921 in charge of Das Grosse Schauspielhaus (the Great Arena theatre), which was opened in 1919 and has seating capacity for 3,000 persons.

FRANCE

In 1910, the theatre in France gave less occasion for satisfaction than the theatre either in England or in Germany. The traditions of decent drama were, of course, maintained at the Comedie Fran- caise, the Antoine and the Odeon, but, broadly speaking, plays of quality were few in number and " revues " of a very vulgar character were growing in popularity. That bad state of affairs could not last, and after 1910 until the outbreak of the World War, when the French theatre for obvious reasons completely collapsed, there was a revival of quality in French drama. The French theatre, too, which had not previously offered much hospitality to foreign plays, began to open its doors, not widely, indeed, but slightly to plays written by foreigners. Shakespeare suddenly came into fashion. Hamlet was produced at the Comedie Francaise, King Lear at the Antoine, Julius Caesar at the Orange Fetes, and Romeo and Juliet at the Odeon. Camille de Saint-Croix organized single performances of many Shakespearean plays which were highly praised. One of Shaw's plays was performed in Paris, but without much favour. English musical comedy, produced on a more extravagant scale than is customary in France, became popular, and George Grossmith set the Parisians to singing " Ip-i-addy-i-ay-i-ay."

The most interesting play produced in Paris during the first five years of the decade was undoubtedly Edmond Rostand's Chanteder, which had been anticipated for seven years before it was performed for the first time at the Porte-Saint-Martin in 1910. It had not the great success of Cyrano de Bergerac, but it caused much discussion. Lucien Guitry played the part originally intended for the late Constant Coquelin, which part was played in New York by Maude Adams. Rostand, who was born in 1868, died in 1918. Another death of great importance to the French theatre was that of Jules Claretie, who, after controlling the Comedie Francaise for 28 years, died in 1913. Claretie conducted the difficult affairs of the national theatre with very great skill and diplomacy, and showed clearly that while a national theatre is not a forcing-house for genius, it is certainly a place in which the level of honourable drama is highly maintained. He was succeeded by Albert Carre, who re- mained in charge of the theatre until he was called up for military service during the war, when he was succeeded by Emile Fabre, a dramatist. Paul Hervieu, the dramatist, died Oct. 25 1915, and Mme. Rejane, the famous actress, June 14 1920.

Much useful, if not particularly significant, work was done by French dramatists from 1910 to 1915, but none of the disintegrating and insurgent influences detectable both in the English and the German theatres appeared to affect the French theatre. Stage decor, for example, is singularly poor in France, where, on the other hand, the standard of acting is very high. In addition to Rostand's play, notable pieces were produced by Henry Bataille (Le Songe d'un Soir d' Amour and La Vierge Folle the first of which, done at the Comedie Francaise, was hardly so successful as the second, done at the Gymnase), by Pierre Wolff (Ruisseau and Marionettes), Henri Bernstein (L Assaut and Le Secret), George Duhamel (La Lumiere), Brieux (La Femme Seule, done in England under the title of Woman on Her Own), Maurice Donnay (Les Eclaireuses), Sacha Guitry (Le Beau Mariage and La Prise de Berg-op-Zoom) , De Flers and de Caillavet (Habit Vert) and Tristran Bernard (Jeanne Dore with Sarah Bernhardt in the cast).

After the outbreak of war, the French theatre for a considerable period practically ceased to exist. Conscription and war regulations, together with enemy air-raids and proximity to the front, made theatrical enterprise in Paris either impossible or exceedingly difficult. Some companies of French players came to London. There were only two new plays produced in Paris in 1915 Les Deux Vestals, a farce of an old-fashioned broad character, done at the Gymnase, and a translation, made by W. B. Perier, of the English play, The Man Who Stayed at Home by J. E. Harold Terry and Lechmere Worrall, which was done at the Theatre des'Bouffes Parisiens under the title of Kit, with Max Dearly in the cast. Several war plays, not particularly meritable, were done in Paris towards the end of the war or immediately after the signing of the Armistice, and Sacha Guitry's play Debureau was also produced. A translation of this play, done into rhymed couplets, has been made by H. Granville-Barker and was produced in New York in 1921 with great success. Edmond See's Saison d' Amour was produced in 1919, and Sacha Guitry, rapidly acquiring a high place in France as a dramatist and an actor, was responsible for Pasteur, a farce entitled Le Mari, La Femme el L'Amant (a title which sufficiently indicates the character of the piece), and a comedy called Man Pere avail Raison. The Guitrys, father, son and daughter-in-law, gave a season of their plays in London in 1920 which was exceedingly successful. (ST. J. E.)

DRESDEN, Saxony (see 8.574). The pop. of Dresden, according to the census of 1919, was 529,326; in 1910, without some suburbs since incorporated, it was 548,308. Dresden was perhaps harder hit by the World War than most other towns in Germany. The whole structure of its economic life had been dependent upon visitors, especially foreigners, and the outbreak of the war brought this to a sudden stop. In addition, the shortage of food, serious everywhere, was more especially felt in Saxony and her capital, which were dependent mainly upon industry. Lastly, the revolution swept away the life of the Court, which meant a great deal for Dresden. With the revolution came the develop- ment of extreme political tendencies among the working classes of Dresden, which led to constant disturbances, strikes, etc., although the violent and sanguinary encounters associated with the insurrectionary movement in western Saxony, were less widespread in Dresden. But the assassination of Neuring, the majority Socialist Minister of War, on April 12 1919, and the sanguinary street fighting of Jan. 9 and 10 of the same year, are sufficient proof that the capital of Saxony was not immune from scenes of violence. After 1914 the expansion of the city came to a complete standstill, and in 1921 Dresden, like other towns, was suffering severely from lack of housing accommodation. After the revolution there was a majority of extremists in the Municipal Council, and the financial position of the city had become very precarious.

The collections and museums will doubtless maintain the reputation of Dresden as a centre of art. The Royal Opera, which enjoyed a world-wide reputation before the World War, has not been able as a State Opera to maintain its high artistic level. Industry came to a complete standstill during the war the manufacture of cigarettes, for instance, which was very flourishing, had to be cut down owing to lack of raw material but by 1921, some recovery had taken place and Dresden showed signs of returning prosperity as a resort for visitors. (C. K.*)

DRINKWATER, JOHN (1882- ), English poet, play- wright and critic, was born at Leytonstone, Essex, June i 1882 and educated at the Oxford high school. After twelve years' work as an insurance clerk he began to devote himself to theatrical enterprise, and became manager and producer to the Pilgrim Players, who developed into the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company. His first volume of poems appeared in 1908 and his first play Cophetua (in verse) in 1911. He subsequently published several volumes of verse, critical studies on William Morris (1912), Swinburne (1913) and others, and several plays, of which Abraham Lincoln (1918) was produced with great success both in London and in America.

DRIVER, SAMUEL ROLLES (1846-1914), English divine and Hebrew scholar (see 8.585), died at Oxford Feb. 26 1914. His later works include Four Papers on the Higher Criticism (with F. Kirkpatrick, 1912).

DROYSEN, GUSTAV (1838-1908), German historian (see 8.596), died at Halle in 1908.

DUBAIL, AUGUSTIN YVON EDMOND (1851- ), French general, was born at Belfort April 1851. At the age of 17 he entered the military academy at St. Cyr, and on July 15 1870 was appointed a sub-lieutenant of infantry, having passed seventh out of 310 candidates. He took part in the Franco-German War and was captured at Metz in Oct. 1870. Released in April 1871 he rejoined his regiment, and served with the army of Versailles in the operations against the Commune. He was appointed captain and transferred to the 8ist Inf. Regt. in Nov. 1878. From Oct. 1880 to Feb. 1883, and again from Nov. 1883 to Jan. 1886, he had an appointment as professor at the Ecole Speciale Militaire St. Cyr. In June 1886 he was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honour. In Nov., while serving in Algeria, he was promoted lieutenant-colonel; and in Oct. 1901, while still in Algeria, was made a colonel and given command of the ist Regt. of Zouaves. On returning to France he took over the Alpine Brigade at Grenoble. In 1906 he became commandant of St. Cyr an appointment which he held for three years. He was made a divisional commander on Dec. 25 1908, being appointed to the I4th Div. at Belfort. He later commanded the IX. Army Corps. In 1911 he was made chief of the general staff and a member of the Superior War Council. On the