Le martyre de Saint Étienne - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

The play, which is carefully treated, gives a sharply incised picture of Stephen. He is represented as traveling to Jerusalem, at the bidding of Peter, to preach there in the streets But freedom of speech is not permitted in Jerusalem, and...See moreThe play, which is carefully treated, gives a sharply incised picture of Stephen. He is represented as traveling to Jerusalem, at the bidding of Peter, to preach there in the streets But freedom of speech is not permitted in Jerusalem, and Stephen is soon arraigned before the judges of the city to answer a charge of contravention of one of the Jewish laws. He has succored an ailing man, it is declared by the hypocritical Pharisees, on the Sabbath. The crime is less to them than the newcomer's teaching, but it is sufficient for the preacher's condemnation, and he is given to the people, who. influenced by the impassioned words of their leaders, shriek out their hatred of him. He is dragged by the populace beyond the precincts of the city, and there, without one friendly word to sound in his ears as he passes over the borderland of life, he suffers the supreme martyrdom. He is stoned to death by the howling, infuriated mob, who, as they crash the life out of him, have no pity nor admiration for a man who could not only die alone, but who could do the braver thing of living and working alone. Written by Cinema News and Property Gazette (June, 1912) See less