The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-12-06
Plays and Players.

The manager OF the queens Theatre,
London, has introduced a system Of e!cc.
ton by the audience of the play they de-
sire to 10 next performed. Dallot-hoXes
arc placed In different parts Of the house,
and veting.slips are attached to the pro.
grammes, and The auditor is requested to
dctach from the programme the slip on
which is printed the name Of that QUO Of
the plays he prefers and place it 10 the box.
The play having the majority is performed.
This is quite novel, but we suppose rather
mpracticable and not likely to last long.
The players will no doubt have, as hereto.
fore, to govern themselves by the popular
disposition as manifested at The perform
auce- running the popular play and aban-
douing that which is unpopular. They
would rather play 10 good hou'es than to
empty boxes, and their plays will DC good
or bad just a5 the public taste directs.
There is, however, smart embarrassment
felt in your EN- iller towns, each with theif
one theatre. They have not enough OF play
goers to sustain more than one theatre !;
aud 1t is hard 10 fad support for two wide
" different styles OF dramatic representa-.
tion-or, that If, two So les differing widely
in moral and literary merit. New York,
the great nursery of theatrcals, ha, great
var ETY. of theatres each pursuing Its GAe
OF performances. So there the vulgar aud
the refined, The iutell:gei4t and The iilterate,
the orderly aud the disorderly, the sober
and The absolute, the decorous and the vi.
cious, may I'LL tint plays and players to their
taste. But when these players take stroll
through the country they find communities
not containing these distinct classes III SUI.
io!eut numbers to give support TO any the
strical display radically distinct from tho
old drama, which had it's prosperity, it's lit
erary MORT, rs portrayal OF human pas
sions. and its good moral, So that in this
age Of sxtravagapzas and vapid theatrical
iuhumanities not only do the inhabitants
of the towns find themselves embarrassed
upon the theatrical question, but tue play
crs themselves often run aground 10 ell.
deayoring to force upon the public some
monstroSity OF vulgar play wrighls which
could find its sengCicss supporters only in
the great Gotham.
1t is not unfrequently that manages de-
eide that it is impossible to maintain a
theatre In n town Where such bills OF fare
AS they offer are rejected. That manager
is wise who attempts not too great an out
rage upon the model of the English play
established by the greatest men that ever
wrote tor, or p.tronized. or played upon,
the stage-i. e., not TO depart too far from
this middle, golden lipe in towns not large
enough to give two or more full aud lcncrs
! to support that Fort of dramatic variety to
which this day of strange taste hes given
rise. The attempt to folce the outrC re pre-.
sensations we could ulme down the threats
| OF decent people in tho smaller towns has
been seriously detrimental TO the players
and the towns. i part Of the play.goers
!. have been yiciously educated. The intel!i-
! gent people of good taste will not join that
part IN supporting the sort of Representa-.
ton which tas vitiated their taste, and that
part Is not strong enough alone to sustain
it well. So when the effort is made TO r.cur
to good principles, and give something
which ls food for the mind us well as plea.
sure to the heart, the people whose tasto.
have been perverted absent Themselves
and the players suffer from q divided au
dience, neither one of the two divisions OF
OF the three into which the population may
be cut up being strong enough to sustain
the theatre.
| The manager who Is wise enough to avoit
the Scylla and Charybdis OF his profes, iol
In the lesser towns will DO well. We hcsi
tate not to say that the Richmona audieuc,
thirty years siuce was the most critical ant
just III the Union. The most distinguished
players we have ever known awarded then
that credit. The great BooTH declared thu
the endorsement Of the Richmond audience
was q passport to any city in the Union
There has been change, from force OF cir
cumstances, which IL Is unnecessary to re
| cite +; but still the perfume OF the old vase
| ascends with delightful fragrance. A geuu
inc play, performed by good players, wht
! know how to sst piece upon the stage, sns