New-York tribune., 1880-09-29
THE DRAMA.
DEACON CRANKETT,

treatise noy in order would be Every Mar
His Own Dramati,t; or the Stage Made Easy
The noble army of play-wrlters Increases every
day and as each OF them is engaged-very
much al the expense of the puollc patlence-n
teaching himself how to write dramatic compost
tons a suffering community to need some
such protection as is here suggested. Five
fresh plays within week and all OF
them save one (Mr. Wo0lfs Lawn Ten
ms y the experimental efforts of amateurs.
make up fearful record. There is something al
most deadly in the incessant movement of SO much
tumid crudeness-especlay in hot weather. 1t Is
cruelty to animals. 1t is worse than crowdlng the
mourners, 1t is jostlng the hearse: and something
ought to be done about ii, without delay. If every
person in America who succeeds in attracting at
tentlon-whether by making a stump speech. or
poisoning his grandmother. or fasting for
days. walking up to Albany and
back every Sunday morning. eating n
thousand pickles In IA thousand hours-is there
upon to produce play we shall at once be a nation
of dramatists, and we must bore ourselves for lack
of an audience. At least. then, a few OF the leading
principles OF dramatic writing might humaney be
placed within easy reach of the multitude The
primer Is the thing.
Mr. Habberton, who wrote Helen's Babies y
and ho has now produced " Deacon Crankett -
visible, for WHILE at the Union Square Theatre
ought to have the first copy. The laurcls of Ion
Perdcaris aud OF Minnie Cummings are not safe. "a
long AS this remarkable person at large with
out theatrical gude-bOok. For absolute lnanity
those two writers divided the cake. Mr. Habber-
ton If ne should 60 he has begun, will take
tue entire loaf. Such powers of dulness such
massive resources of nsipIdIly, such fertile
opuence of garnered pap, as are pos
sessed by the author of Deacon Cranketto -
make him the brawny Hercules of this com
petition of folly, adamantIne and Invinclble-aud
as SUCH he must lead the field. Other plays have
been silly. Deacon Crankett." easily that is far
nore-bring smeared all over with Sunday-school
trcacle, and completely saturated with cant It
really not possible to gave an adequate idea of the
vaculty of this work, As combined with It's Insuter
able assumption 01 sei-c0mplacent morality. The
Fanatic scheme Of IT, IN ar az 1t has one has bcen
taken from The Frozen Deep" and from Mr.. Dol,,s
"Pique" Not consciously taken, we dare say fur
II would be violence To presume that person caDo
BILE Of writing " Deacon Crankett" could possibly
know anything about plays, or ever had
seen one, outside OF n church vestry; but all the
same, the motive and the central char ter of tbo.e
pieces have been hit upon by chance impulse.
Such occurrences are not at all uncommon among
the incidents of the growth OF the American drama
Mr.. Gunters Soul of An Actress is a the,,ri.
cal echo of "Adrenne Lecouvreur" Mr.. Fav
cetts "Our First Families" would bov.
seemed far more novel had nobody eyer
heard of Wanted, 900 Millners" or q! the f.rco
of The Silent Woman" Even Mr.. WoolPs "I,w,
Tennis " seems little reminiscent of the forcc or
The Broken Hearted Club" There never is ve
believe, any intention of working over these old
ideas. In Mr. Iabbertons case there does not sso,
to have been any intention OF any KIND II some
gentleman. says lhackeray. had kicked the n,ops
Nueas, III the fourth book of the .Eneid that great
poem, II is extremely probable. would never bsy,.
been inshel. II Mr. Ilabbcrton's hero had ho.,,
anything but Sunday-school noodle. If il had
but occurred to HIM " resort IN ,h.