St. Paul daily globe., 1886-01-18
OUR PUBLIC PLAYS.
Their Merits and Dement'S Dis
cussed i'm the Pulpit.

The Present w OTIn OIL the Drama was
the subject of Rev. Clay MacCauley's dis
course yesterday. In order TO decide upon
this. the speaker said, it was necessary first
to have a standard by which to Judge Such
standard is neither the asceticism which
denies qualification to the fundamental i'm
pulses of human nature nor the prohigaey
which abuses them. He would make a
healthful. developing. refining natllralsm
his criterion of excellence Whenever the
drama is so conducted that it ministers To
a healthful growth of mans nature. either
directly or indirectly, it has real worth and
may be patronized. A simple rule, but how
shall it be applied? The speaker then de-
scribed the differing effects which several
kinds of dramatic display would have
upon as many separate audiences which
should assemble, possessed by the same
mood. Commencing the evening with COM
plete identity Of feeling they end it-one
group elevated with noble emotion and pur-
pose, another charmed by the influence of
pure music and beauty, third excited,
tempted by unusual passion, fourth ready
at the slightest prOvOcation TO struggle with
one another like brutes, and the last band
of merry, genial fellows well met, among
whom the jest and laugh would 90 easily
and lightly around. Whatever, then. en-
mobiles and beautifies, or makes life really
happier and easier to bear in the drama,
gives it worth. while whatever in it de-
grades. sensuallzes and brutalizes deprives
it of any worth and should prevent it from
being allowed even an opportunity for
public patronage. With this standard be-
fore us, what is the present worth of
THE AMERICAN DRAMA?
As a whole II is worth great deal Our
L inf oh Nntra
S4S. 600. 600 for their theaters. For the
larger part. this enormous sum is being ex-
pended for healthful, diverting entertain
lnent. And yet, with this. a considerable
mass of inflated, morbid sentiment, of eX-
travigant and pernicious displays of crime
and passion and of contact with grOssneSs
and sensuality, which should not be allowed
to fiaunt itself in public, is obtained. The
American drama now reaches from the
loftiest heights to the lowest depths. In
the legitimate drama, so-called. there never
was as much excellence in the style, i'm both
plays and actors, as now. The tragic stage
never was so nobly occupied as i'm these
days of Salvini, Booth, Barrett and Irving,
and Of Rstori, Janauschek and Miss An
dersOn. Besides, among American authors
signs of the growing excellence of the
drama are seen i'm the increasing desire
among them to embOdy exalted thought
in dramatic form. But, situated as we are
distant from the great metropolitan centers
our interest in the drama, as well as that of
the most of our countrymen. is most affected
by what is sent from place to place through
the system of itinerant dramatic supply
now so widely used. In large part this
secondary drama is harmless. in some meas
ure helpful. but, L am forced 10 say, that,
judging from what has been offered to ST.
Paul this winter, it contains a great deal
that Is beneath the attention of intelligent
men and women. having had in it neither
good acting, real amusement, nor whole
some influence, and some of it being really
teacher of vice and crime, and. therefore,
not fit to be offered to the community. A
persistent Quality of this drama is mere
fun, making good quality i'm that which
the Woodworking. anxious man of business
of modern times may entertain
himself with. 1t gives excellent do
mestic pOrtraitures also. and helpful
representatives of adventure of unusual
forms OF social life and of the manners and
customs of strange nations. 1t offers some
spectacular plays which do not violate any
standard of dramatic worth. But the
present
POPULAR DRAMA Is MUCH AT FAULT
in its many plays, based on such things as
are seen in naked grossness in police re-
ports which turn on criminal plots and
cOunterplots, which make the gambling
hall, the burglars den, the brothel, the
slums of society, not only visible, but fas-
cinating. These depend for their popular
ity upon their appeal to the morbid, sensual,
criminal impulses in man. But. as a whole
the American drama is at present worth
great deal, and if the better elements of So
ciety at large should so choose they could
make it an exceedingly useful aid to the best
social progress Yet. even if the condition
OF the drama were not so good, the theater
is permanent institution in our civiliZa-
ton, and has so decided an effect upon the
public that good people are not wise in ig-
noring or opposing it as such. Opposi-
ton will not destroy it, but only stop
its improvement and make it worse. 1t
were well if our people were ready to deal
with the drama as they deal with schools.
make it an object of public support of
oversight and even of censorship. If the
American church would only withdraw the
opposition, which really does more harm
than good, if good men and women would
but see to it that in the theater whatever
tends to develop and refine human nature.
should meet with their approval, if what is
really degrading in the drama were nnder
civil as well as social ban, il the commu-
nifty could but be induced to set premium
upon dramatic excellence, we should. as a
nation. be full as prosperous materially as
we are, and doubtless our life would be far
more enjoy able and probably better than it
now is.
SUNDAY THE PALACE