FOREIGN DRAMA ON THE ENGLISH AND AMERICAN STAGE 1 43 



the well-known authoress, who when a young woman also achieved 

 a high reputation as an actress in the stock company of the Boston 

 Museum. In the season of 1906-7, the late Richard Mansfield gave 

 a fine production of the only poetic drama of Ibsen known on our 

 stage, Peer Gynt. When Mr. Mansfield had finished with the piece, 

 it was taken up by the late Louis James and presented in the smaller 

 places the country over. 



As a contemporary of Ibsen of compelling power as a dramatist 

 must be mentioned Bjomstjerne Bjornson (1832-1910). His play. 

 Beyond Human Power, dealing with the question of faith healing, was 

 presented a few years ago by Mrs. Patrick Campbell. 



One more Scandinavian dramatist remains to be mentioned, 

 August Strindberg (1849-1912). His plays, strong, morbid, and 

 gloomy, are not likely to become popular on the stage. They have 

 for several years been accessible in English translation and have been 

 read by advanced readers. Some of them, like The Stronger and 

 Mother Love, have been given semi-public production by literary 

 clubs. In the spring of 1913 Countess Julia was presented at a series 

 of four matinees in New York. 



VI. HUNGARIAN DRAMA 



It is hard to realize, but it is nevertheless a fact that some of our 

 best recent plays are of Hungarian origin. Though Buda Pesth is one 

 of the intensely modern, up-to-date cities of twentieth-century Europe, 

 the land of Hungary suggests to us rather the wild and impassioned 

 rhapsodies and dance rhythms of Liszt and Brahms and the romantic 

 atmosphere of Franz Lehar's "Gypsy Love" than it does modern 

 drama, such as we should look for in France, Germany, or England. 

 Nevertheless, since the twentieth century came in, three plays by 

 Hungarian authors have made their way to America. They are The 

 Devil, by Franz Molnar (1878-); Seven Sisters, by Ferenz Herczegh; 

 and The Typhoon, by Menyhert Lengyel. That these plays are of 

 positive merit and quite out of the ordinary is proved by the fact that 

 they have been played all over the United States, and the first two 

 have been given by many of the stock companies; and Seven Sisters 



