Daily gazette and comet., 1860-12-05
The Modern Drama.

most utterly deserted It, Their
amusement they find in the opera
not, as some have hastily sup.
posed, because the opera ia fash
ionsble. bot simply because upon
the lyric stage there ia u complete
npss. an allluenee of resources. an
evidence of managerial taste, and
y display Of artistic excellence,
such as are not to be met with in
any establishment where English
plays are represented. IT Drury
Lane could produce Macbeth" OF
the "School for Scandal" as Oovcnt
Garden can produce the prophet"
or the "Barbiere," its programme
might be stereotyped for weeks.
aud not q private box would he
obtainable for love or money until
the requirements of Belgravis had
been fully satisfied. Nothing in
deed can be more pitiable and crest
fallen than the stage under its pre-
sent aspect. II was once full OF
life and energy, revelling in n pow
erful Influence. which is certainly
abused. but which nevertheless
showed Of what things IL was cap.
able. Now the furious beast which
Puritanism hunted aud struggled
with. and which it momentarily
overcame. walks abroad, uulcafed,
unheedcd. IN the public way. The
lion has had its claws cut, its teeth
have been extracted, even its roar
has been tempered TO whisper,
and the formidable animal has he.
come IA harmless an lap.dog, and
il held in much about the same ca.
timstion. The stage has lost its
confidence in itself, all courage, all
capacity. The broken.down mer.
chant who becomes a messenger IN
the establishment OF which he was
once the chief. is not more humble
in tone. OF mote obsequious in
mannet, than the theatre of the pre-.
sent day. There is scarcely u sub
ieot lying out of the beaten drama
tic track which IL dares to handle
IL is afraid to meddle with politics;
IL shuns all allussions TO the great
questions which may be agitating
the public mind it shrinks from
religion IA a poor man sbrinks from
the elegant and well furnished
church, which he fooliehly imsgiues
he ia not worthy to enter II rare.
~ over touches upon history. ex.
cept with timid nervousness even
the manners Of the day, the passing
follies of the hour. the airy trtles
floating in the social atmosphere,
aud against which the polished
shaft of wit and ridicule have ever
been directed-even these fail 20
arouse its slumberiug energies -
IL goes at q job.trot pace. the en-.
bodiment of commonplace res
peotability, which. in its eagerness
TO offend no susceptibilities. to ava.
ken no antsgonism, TO pass beyond
no established formula OF thought
aud speech, becomes pre.emineutly
tame, servile. hundrum, harmless,
and contemplate. True, the stage
az though still in its teens, has
guardian, strange anomalous
protector, called a censor, whose
mission il is to look after the little
boy. aud ace that he does not use
any bad language. throw stones,
get into evil company, or read Tom
Paine; and this fact, doubtless. &C.
counts TO some extent for the tim
idity and tameness to which we
have made allusion. But how ia
il such an absurd officer is allowed
TO exist a day in free England p
Why, if the stage had any spirit.
he would turn round upon the pro.
tector by whom he is followed, hit
ont at that well.dressed incubator
Of propriciy. and serve the official
Mentor exactly as Tom Brown SER
we'd Slogger Williams. Aftera tit
tic sparing. and very few rounds,
we should hear no more Of the dra-
matte censor, depend upon it. Full
ly nine tentbs of the works now
brought out upon the English stage
are utterly colorless and conven.
tional. They produce conventional
characters, they employ conven'
tional phraseology, they embody
conventional ideas, they depend
for the interest they excite upon
conventional incidents, developed