FOREIGN DRAMA ON ENGLISH AND AMERICAN STAGE 297 



Henri Lavedan is the author of The Duel (1905), produced in this 

 country by Mr. Otis Skinner. Octave Mirbeau is the author of Les 

 affaires sont les affaires (1903), played by Mr. W. H. Crane. Henri 

 Bernstein has two recent successes to his credit, The Thief (1906), 

 played by Mr. Kyrle Bellew and Miss Margaret Illington, and Samson 

 (1907), the feature of Mr. William Gillette's present season. 



Doubtless in the foregoing pages, many plays have not been men- 

 tioned which in their day may have been put before the American 

 public, and have achieved a temporary success, owing to temporary 

 conditions or the popularity of the players. Such, for instance, was 

 The Daughter of Roland (1875) °f Henri de Bornier (1825-1901), 

 as interpreted thirty years ago by the stately Mary Anderson or 

 Fanchon the Cricket, adapted from George Sand's La petite Fadelte 

 (1849) and played for years by the sprightly Maggie Mitchell. This 

 last play is still to be met with in the repertory of the more remote stock 

 companies, and it must be admitted that it does have a charm of its 

 own apart from that which must have been lent to it by the acting 

 of Maggie Mitchell. It is hardly possible to say as much for the latest 

 successful French play adapted for the American stage, V amour veille 

 (1907), which, under the title, Love Watches, has been one of the great 

 successes of the present season in New York. This comedy by R. de 

 Flers and A. Caillavet furnishes a pleasant evening's diversion, it is 

 true, but this is chiefly owing to the rare personality and piquant acting 

 of Miss Billie Burke as the heroine. 



On the whole, then, if every French play that makes its way across 

 the Atlantic does not prove to be a masterpiece with enduring life, we 

 must admit that we owe to France a great debt for the many that we 

 have received. Certain it is that English and American managers are 

 watching the Parisian stage with eagerness in the present, as they have 

 done in the past, and we may confidently expect to receive in the future 

 the good things which are undoubtedly in store for us. 



