FOREIGN DRAMA ON ENGLISH AND AMERICAN STAGE 153 



dened the entire musical world. It mattered little that the story of 

 the Druid priestess Norma, the Scotch Lucy of Lammermoor and the 

 Spanish Barber of Seville were sung to us in Italian, a language that 

 we did not understand. 



Toward the close of the nineteenth century, a revival of the 

 Italian theater is to be noted. In 1884, Giovanni Verga (1840-), 

 wrote a one-act tragedy, Cavalleria Rusticana, which was played by 

 Eleanora Duse. It is better known, however, as an opera, having 

 served as the story to the music drama of Pietro Mascagni, a work 

 which, in 1890, won him a prize and which, translated into all the 

 modern languages, has maintained its place in the modern grand opera 

 repertory. The original drama of Verga has never been given in 

 English. At about the same time, the name of Gabriele D'Annunzio 

 (1862-) began to attract attention outside of Italy. His dramas, 

 deemed morbid and daring, are not intended for the great healthy- 

 minded public, but with Eleanora Duse as interpreter of his passionate 

 and imaginative muse, a new drama from his pen has been, and still 

 is, a literary event of importance. Two of his plays, La Gioconda and 

 The Dead City, have been given throughout the United States by 

 Miss Florence Roberts. 



Another modern Italian author whose work is beginning to be 

 known on the English and American stage is Roberto Bracco. His 

 bright and graceful comedy, L'Infidele, under the title of Countess 

 Coquette, is in the repertory of Madame Alia Nazimova. Another of 

 his comedies entitled Three is promised an early production in London 

 by Miss Gertrude Kingston. In the fall of 191 1 Mrs. Leslie Carter 

 produced an effective play from the Italian, Two Women, by T. Cic- 

 coni, adapted by Rupert Hughes. In the spring of 19 13 at the Irving 

 Palace Theater in New York, there was a production in German of 

 Giannotta's Tears by Francesco Postonchi, which may or may not be 

 given later in English. In the summer of 191 2, Mr. Arnold Daly 

 returned from Europe with a play by the Italian poet, Sembenelli, 

 bearing the imposing title, Lorenzo the Magnificent. The play has 

 not been produced, but we can at least see that there is such a play 

 and author. Italy is coming to the fore. 



