Mackaye, Percy Wallace. Fenris, the wolf: a tragedy. [**]$1.25. Macmillan.
“Fenris the wolf, son of Odin, troubles the serenity of Heaven with his barkings of defiance, and with his wolfish desires for Freyja, the betrothed of his brother Baldur. In the prologue, Odin ordains that Fenris, Baldur, Freyja and himself shall leave their heavenly estate and become four mortals. The action of the play consists in the conversion of Fenris to charity and human love.... The action passes before rune-stones in the northern forest at daybreak or twilight, in prison chambers and by deep forest pools.”—Nation.
| + | Critic. 47: 288. S. ‘05. 100w. |
“There is much beauty in Mr. Mackaye’s work, beauty of poetry and thought; he is strong, tender and imaginative, and the more we study his play, the more we wish either that it were not a play at all or that we might see it acted.”
| + — | Lond. Times. 4: 283. S. 8, ‘05. 340w. |
“As a whole the play fails a little of tragic impressiveness precisely because of a certain forcing of the note. It is, nevertheless, a poetic venture, of a sincerity and magnitude for which there can be nothing but admiration.”
| + | Nation. 81: 18. Jl. 6, ‘05. 460w. |
McKean, Thomas. Vortex. [†]$1.50. Lippincott.
The serenity of two lives—Anna of the Titian red hair, and her artist husband Paul—is jeopardized by a scheming Jesuit who plots to get possession of the wife’s fortune for the Church. He uses as a foil Elena, an actress, who serves as a model for Paul’s masterpiece Spring. In the swirl of complications Father Lamian’s real relations to Elena come to light, showing a misspent youth and a deeply designing nature.
| N. Y. Times. 10: 631. S. 23, ‘05. 270w. |