The New York herald., 1874-12-06
The American Drama.

The American Drama.
The decline of the American stage from
what are called its palmy days is one Of the
popular delusions of the time The aged
critic firmly believes that the theatre is going
down, down, not quite so far down as Mr..
Talmage supposes but still painfully low. It
is the custom of these gray haired men to
mourn over the faded glories Of the old Park
and the great stock companies Of the past,
and-to make the present hang its blushing
head-to quote ancient and splendid casts,
illuminated with the names Of Ham,
blin, Burton, Placide, Blake, Cushman,
Murdoch, Wheatley and others fa-
nous in dramatic annals. That those
exceptional stock companies have disap-
peared must be conceded, and for reasons we
shall explain; but the lover Of the drama
who remembers it thirty or forty years ago,
should remember, in contrasting its past with
its present. the effect that age has had upon
himself The illusions of the stage are not
always behind the footlights, but in our own
imaginations. It was youth that made the
Fotheringay such divinity to Pendennis
When Fanny Ellsler first danced Margaret
Fuller turned to Emerson and exclaimed,
1T is poetry!" ''No," replied Emerson, sit
is religion" We doubt that far greater dane
ing than Ellsler's would appear religious
exercise to the philosopher of Con-
cord now. The art which seemed
SO beautiful to youthful eyes is
dimmed when years after they look at it
through spectacles. There is always golden
age to the drama, and it always exists in the
dreamy past We regret the days of Kean
and Booth and Cooke but in their time
people regretted the times of Garrick and
Siddons, and when Garrick and Siddons were
living the people grieved over the departed
glories Of Betterton.
But there is no evidence that the stage has
retrograded. In reality its advance has been
wonderful within our generation. Theatres
now are incontestably superior to those of
twenty years ago in all their appointments
and conveniences Wallack's would then
have been q dream and an impossibility.
The whole standard Of the dramatic
profession has been elevated Nor has the
standard of acting been lowered. It is true
that it is difficult now to combine in one COM
pany many great actors; yet that difficulty
is direct result of the improvement of the
stage. Our theatres are no longer closely
grouped along the Atlantic coast, but dot the
Continent from ocean to ocean. Thus the
dramatic ability which was formerly concen-
trated in few principal cities is now dis
tributed throughout the country. These are
facts frequently overlooked by those who mourn
over the decline Of the American stage, when
they have far more reason to exult in its mar
vellous development and prosperity. Nor do
we think that individual instances of genius
are rarer than Of old. The names of Jeffer-
son, Wallack, Gilbert, Warren and Clarke
will be remembered in years to come as we
now remember those of Munden, Liston, Bur-
ton or Placide. Mr.. J. S. Clarke, who is now
playing in this city for the first time in four
years, may be especially cited as evidence
that the spirit of true comedy has not disap-
peared from this generation. Where should
we look for finer comedy than his2 1t is
genuine humor and thorough art united.
We refer to this admirable artist with
the more pleasure because he has sustained
SO long and SO well the credit of the American
stage abroad, and has revived in his own per-
formances the standard characters Of English
comedy. Wallack and Jefferson and Mr..
Clarke have done nothing to lessen the estima-
ton Of the stage, but, on the contrary, have
done everything to improve and refine it The
decline Of the drama is not illustrated in the
careers of those who are now SO earnestly and
faithfully shaping its more brilliant future.
Our stage is not without faults, we admit, but
its merits were never so many or so great.