New-York tribune., 1867-09-04
THE DRAMA.
Rad PIAIS.

Loan
,Laf TO fool the public 30 the top of ~ nch u o !" "a"
~s.y In make money One reason Of the bOdness WIN
which this n.rndacoss theory IL pursued II tue 'ohp"
tive enty Of contemporary CRITICISM INC fress i VoiS
LhNant of medioerIty Another reah"n ~ 'he geei" "
a.ere,ce toward the stage that has tng been mani
tstod nv the educated Public. Oher reasons VIII occur
IA The thinker The fact is clear enough MediocrlV
a,,tshes and the American Drama has-due eN'epuo"
t.inr aowed-leen brought 10 very low siaie HE 10
IinAlic. That such naturally benehcent i'S"'"','"
the Drama should he craded to the level OF
~ wooden nutmegs, modelartist show IL sii"i'S ~
sraeeul TO the age and the country suoh " S"'o -
thma. ought not TO he. We have, as our Io"u'
,.dy,s,,y urotested against H. and sticnu0sy Iaooieo
tteforu it, None of the sensation s}et'a'es O"oS i''
.,eeess TO rs For good plays and goOd nchs, All" i'i
,nen only has praise been reserved more t ever
o ao e regard il 81 important that the Press should
M e,pIet that criticism should be severe and that the
me sbould he sharply drawn between good ana oao ''
That line is distinct enough to those who have eyes 10
,e and brains TO understand The gaahy of fnedocity
luaging continually in its own defense, asserts
.f course, that all critics who do not
sdn,ire and applaud its coarse and clumsy trlcKs are
the windy apostles Of high art,' who talk vaguely ana
don't know what they want, and are quite TOO aera Tor
Abe con,prchensiOn of ordinary minds. Unhapply,
however this defense has grown threadbare by long USE
and Will serve In its time, doubtless, IL mas
deceived many farDnded people. But its time is past
The eritics who object to medOcry leave nobody IN
The demand Of intelligence in the present day IS not lo
.lich art" if by "high art" is meant the Grecian
dramatic model No dramats of this generation has any
need TO nacr himself that anybody expects MN 70 emu
late Eschylus or Eurpides. much more mouesV uo
pand is made upon him. We viii dispense with genius
If ne viii give us common sense. We wiz ho.
nes him 10 draw angel from tne sAes' p"
n. will lint lift n mortal 10 the dignity OF the pass
inr age Let him use so humble matenais Ill Tue
construction Of his plays and we VIII De CONTENT "o WI"
even applaud him TO the very echo, so that he use thoe
materials with sense and taste, and that artistic sK
which he assumes possess by the very act OF present
.pe drama al all. We not difficult 10 please We
nan always fa back upon the alsuffcing Shakespeare
Bnt We do insist that the modern dralnatst snail ho
Insult our intelligence by offering mbece ruholSh' ana
claiming for il admiration that is solely due 10 goou
Art Let MS call things by their right names Let every
,raft sail under lis true III be the black nag OF
piracy nail ii the masthead iii he the sun-no"er o
psatenasm let the aspiring vegetable show It's yellow
ssc npmasked II ii he the cabbage OF mediocrty' iet
not the umstakabe plant pretend to be the rose De-
t.p,ion is altogether useless Especially is II so III
that sort of play, common nowadays which assumes
to depict hfe but in fact caricatures and mis-
scpresents all that touches. Everyday life is very
coed thing 10 demct No one would welcome more gladly
than we should a comedy that would hty illustrate
American sOciety-that would be in our literature WHAT
'Tbe School For Scandal is in the literature ol Ehgahu
4slt DO such play has been written mrs MoWa'
Fashion Out poor dtttupl W oupI'J thO '"iV
All around us are the materals-ove. ambition sorrow
asapponted schemes wasted hopes lonely age, heroic
.lfsaifce fluctuations of fortune eceentreltes OF caf
ser the universal elements OF human nature and expert
snee sIngulary varied and significant history 10 say
athuy of the world of the ideal Yet all that comes OF
be industry Of local dramatists is the sensation drama
pretending TO be natural Trash asserting itself as Liter
atare! That is what have come to! Everywhere we
recognize the Old stale pretenseperncous to the drama
offensive criticism and injurious 10 the interests OF the
rare hat supported by solid phalanN OF mediocre
1ranas-that the theatrical cabbage is the dramatic
rose This pretense it is plain duty TO reOuke 1he
value OF a play that contains a true picture OF
.oiempOrary manners is selfevident But what con
utes such apicture in dramatic form Literal photo
graphs Of streeeene would not do it, how much less do
rnde and trivial sketches that are nearly always DIS
sred from reality and sometimes are positively false
Yet this is what we. nowadays, endure. far tOo
many lramatists imagine or assume that such
tresentation Of is made by stringing loosely
together, matter how. upon any thread OF hcuoi
mat can be made available, an indefinite number o
,he Thousand trvialites of everyday life. The COLI
sion Of couple of hOrseears man running away VIII
ahandcart ferry boat accomplishing its heroic voyage
70 Brooklyn; Doot-back pursuing his vocaton gigan
~ le officer of police nOby butng small boy on the sde
walk; a company of free and independent American c
W zens devong their sustenance in city restaurant the
ascent OF balloon the OF couple of yachts; the i'll
termnable and everlasting procession Of Broadway
pedesrians-these. and countless kindred incidents be
come sufficient themes for the dramatst, while the in
discriminate grouping Of them together constitutes pic
tne OF manners in a dramatic work Of art Nor does i
appear 10 he essential in the minds OF these gifted
people either that the incidents be actually
life that rational preeXts be found for their ntroduc
tioD. So that he set representing courtroom
for instance the action that passes in IL may be alto
gether untrue and hOpelessly absurd SO that city peI
te introduced and stage effect accomplished it sgni
es nothing that the dao,os persoHo hustled about
without adequate motive and made TO behave like abso
te idiots. SO that railroad track be employed as
strkng bit Of scenery it is mmateral that the dramatic
auncts of the garing improbaoity and sick
enlng horror. The assumption is that the unthnkne
multitude will recognize scenic pictures OF objects tha
they have before and If the romantic, emotiona
agony be sufficiently piled WILL in some vague way
televe that they seeing true picture
OF contemporary manners, and excellent drami
Of everyda life No theory could well be mor'
ansoupd None could he grateful to mediOcrity
None has obtained wider practical acceptance. How
any person read the old dramatsts, without learn
fpg-even II he does know already-that the
reproduction Of actual objects, spectacles and affairs
but small part OF the artistic labor OF play writing,
cannot understand To select, from the incidents OF
everyday life and the facts OF human nature the
rails for play, is but 20 make beginning. To blend
those materials into work of art quite another
ter "Hc labor hoe opus est" shakespeares Roman
mob does the streets Of Rome merely 10
show how Roman mob appeared in
those 'streets. It is me nat IS maze o
realities that shows the artist and coBsti
tntes the genuine work OF Few such works are pro
duced for the stage in time Either the literary con
tcience wanting in the Of Mr. Boucicalt fwho
does however, and then deviae into TRUTH or the
requisite ability is wanting, in the Other
contemporary dramatsts. And, in the absence Of ability
conscience greed OF money takes precedence every
other consideration go be it but let greed
assert itself as devotion No spectacle the world
disgusting and humlliatng TO true lover OF the
than is that generally presented the tleaers