San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-11-27
THE DECAY OF THE DRAMA.
And How to Improve and Revive 1t.
To tie LIGHT:

far too conspicuous to have escaped the
notice of the Intelligent reader. A fine
play. well acted, is a representation OF
The scenes of actual life, and Is an excel
lent assistan In the education OF both
the mind and the heart-the latter OF
which is sadly neglected in academies
and colleges. out Of Difference to the ag-
gressive intidelity which has come to
the front with wonderful audacity.
Human beings must, eX necessltate
rel, have amusement Of some sort. Man
is the only animal in toe world that
| laughs, which Ia an evidence that he IN
! stinoIIvely Graves amusement, and that
| IL is Essential to the well being OF his in
| tellectual life In this world. God meant
his creatures to be happy in this life
| and did not create them to feed upon
gall and worm wood and to go through
| life clothed In ashes and sack-ClOth.
moaning, wailing, sObbing and weeping.
| or envelOped within the folds of grim
and unthawable austerity. The scrip
lures inculcate cheerfulness and anna
bility, and, in doing so, sanction all In
nOcent amusements.
If people are denied innocent amuse-
ment, whereby business cares are driven
from their minds, one of two things
must ensue-they will either lose the
elasticity of their minds, or seek our
amusements, which are not harmless;
for, recreation they must, and will
have. A large proportion OF the insan-
ity in the Union may be traced to the
Overstrain to which the mind Is subject
ed by unintermitted attention to bust
ness. The same cause will account for
much OF the softening Of the brain.
Recreation is promOtive OF Longevity,
because it affords rest TO the mind and
begets Cheerfulness, both Of which con-
tribute to bodily health.
For nv part, | can conceive no really
sound objection that can be urged 10 the
amusement furnished by fine play
that Is well represented on the stage.
By fine play | mean such an one ~
will not call a single blush to the cheek
Of modest woman. nor suggest las.
civiOus thought to her. EXpurgatiOn OF
Objectionable passages might, IN some
instances, have to be resOTted TO, IN or
der to make some plays come up to this
standard, but that might be done with
out marring the play In any respect
whatever.
What is the cause of the decay of the
drama? The plays acted on the stage
will be adapted to the taste OF those
who patroniZe the theatre. This Is too
plain to be disputed. Actors perform
for money, and not for empty applause.
and they make money only by choosing
what will please the taste of such as
patrOnize them. Nor is this at all
nlAmewOrthy in them. 1t IL just
what business men try to suit
their customers. The interdiOt placed on
attendance TO the theatre by some OF the
religious denominations OF course, keeps
many men aud women OF cultivated
minds and social standing, from attend
rng theatres. when they would keenly
enjoy and appreciate the performance OF
Il good play, and would attend theatres
bur for the prohibition of their church.
This anIagOnism 10 theatres seems TO
have originated with the Purituns In
England in the reign Of Charles the first,
and TO have culminatPd in the act of the
Long parliament closing the theatres IN
England. Prior TO that date, plays,
called Mosques were acted in the
churches without calling forth the faint
est protest. and attending theatres was
not treated by the church as unbecOming
christians. A play, or drama, is but the
holding of a mirror up TO nature"-but
the representation OF scenes from lite;
and, If the play be deCOrOus, ii is ifiicult
witness such representation. Church
members, and even ministers, all read
Shakespeare. Nine-tenths of them de-
YOUR every novel that they can lay their
hands on. The churches have not in
rorporGted in their rules any interdic-
tiOn of the reading of pays and novels,
and had they have done SOFT would have
been nugatOry. Human beings mus
have amusement and relaxation, or sink
into utter stagnatiUn of spirits and
ennui-a worse attliCtiOn than bodily
disease, because more inCurable as well
as more painful. Now, the point which
| desire to make is this, Is
it one whit more sinful to read plays
and novels at home than it is TO witness
the performance of plays on the stage.
If there be any difference, ii is but the
difference between tweedle dun and
tweedle dee-a distinction without a
difference, that would escape the OBJ
servatiOn of all except Thoroughbred
adopts in-casuistry and hair-splitting. A
good play performed by good actors, is
an excellent adjunct to the education of
the heart as well as capital mode of
cultivating the taste, from the fact, that
the representation Is so life-like as to
arouse the attention, enlist the sympa-
thies for the good characters IN the play,
excite our adherence for the vicious
ones, and set before us, as in a picture
the unspeakable peace OF mind conferred
by virtuous conduct and the remOrse
and misery Of those who are stepped
In vice and crime, even when
they are successful in their crooked pol
icy and dark schemes. No better lesson
can be taught than that men cannot live
no Uirfnn
falsehood, and rOguery, though crowned
with wealth, are followed by remorse
and haunted by the fear Of detection.
Every play deserving of admiration,
whether 1t be comic or tragic, teaches
this lesson in such way as TO impress
il in indelible colOrs upon the heart and
the memory. Such play, when
we'll performed, is better than sermon,
because the impression which Ii
makes on the memory and the heart is
ten times as durable. Ii Is not what w,
hear. but what we lay to heart, that puts
us out of cOnceit with vice and implants
an ardent love of virtue.
The absence of the men and women of
cultivat, d minds and social Standing
who WELD an influence on society. from
he theatre. has had a most deteriOrating
effect upon the drama In this, that il has
forced actors to cater to the tastes OF
those who patrOnize the theatres. To
this cause, We owe the multitude OF
mere spectacular plays, low farces and
caricaIures with which the stnge is now
flooded, as we as the "snide" COM
panies that scOur the country in its
length and its breadth These companies
are intent only on making money and
are stolidly indifferent MS to what plays
they perform, provided thew are sensa-