The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-03-11
THE STAGE OF TO-DAY.
Steadily Advancing Except in Respect
to Mechanical Accessories.
(Contvfobf 1881

NtOpBftUhB lbobD
NEW YORK, March 9.-"It Is q common
thing" said Augustin DAILY the other night,
"for writers on dramatic matters to COM
plain that NOWADAYS we have no Shake
speareau actors. 1t is not by any means
clear to me what they mean by this, and
am exceedingly doubtful whether they
know exactly what they mean
themselves, but like many other
things which they put in their writings, it
has fine sound, and, indeed, sounds as If it
ought to mean something Whether 1t does
is questionable. The natural inference when
the sentence occurs is that the writer means
to convey the idea that the theater Of to-day
compares unfavorably with that of Shake
speare's time but this is all rubbish. 1t
does not, and 1t is really a mark Of shallow
scholarshipito say so.
"The writers on dramatic matters of the
present day are very few of them critics.
do not mean that we have no critics, but
that nearly all of those who comment on
the theater are either incompeteut to criti-
else, or that they allow their feelings,
friendships and prejudices to influence their
writings. This Is the case at times,
with some OF our best critics, and
is always the case with the
mere writer's. So, when they complain that
we have no Shakespearean actors, they are
betraying ignorance. The public OF to-day
wonld not tolerate for day the actor of a
hundred or two hundred years ago, with
his mouthing and ranting, and stilted.
measured gestures. If Garrick himself
should come back and do what he did In his
day he would not be favorite, or ever sue
cessful In his calling.
1.-THE actor is not, IL successful, in ad-
vance Of his audience, nor in any way be-
yond or above them, excepting in the mat
ter and art of expression. or course no is
in that respect. / can go on my stage at
rehearsal, and tell my actors what
TO do and direct them in the per
formance of parts that l could by
no means perform myself, but that
implies merely expression or exposition of
an authors thoughts. The public demands
that the actor shall do this with complete
intelligence, and the fact that it is done is
demonstration sufficient that the actor Of
to-day Is In advance of the actor Of Shakes
peares day. He has to keep up with the
public and the public has advanced.
"Ihe verdict of the public is the one we
have to look to, and not that OF the writer's.
When we brought out An International
Match here, the writers and critics con-
demned it with one accord, but the public
likes it and supports it handsomely. The
public knows what it wants, and the writer's
are generally some distance behind. As an
example, IL was considerable time before
Pinero was accepted as a capable dramatist,
but now he is acknowledged to be one Of
the most graceful and delightful Of
authors
"What do you say. then, concerning the
mass of rubbish that is put on the stagep
asked. sit is commonly said that the sue
GERS of trash is an indication Of the de-
cadence Of the drama"
"How eau it be any indication Of de-
cadencep asked Mr.. DAILY. "Such plays as
you allude to, if they are to be called plays,
belong to grade entirely distinct from the
better class. There is no comparison be-
tween them and the dramas Of to-day, any
more than is betwoen them aud the MASTER
pieces of the Elizabethan era But
on the other hand they are fully equal,
If not superior, TO the plays OF the
same grade that wore successful a century
or two ago. IL ju will hunt up some of
the pantomimes II former generations
some that had successful runs--you will
find that they are Ju as ruobishy as the
plays we desDise today, regardless Of how
they succeed There is no intellectual
decadence shown in this class OF work GER
tainly, for & public, or portion Of IL, al
ways demanded, and probably always will
something Of this kind, aud as
long as the demand continues there will
probably bs a supply of it,"
"There is one particular, at least, in
which the modern theater is superior 10 that
Of former centuries" / said "It is not
likely that anything like the scenic effects
that are now common were ever seen by
former generations Whether the actor or
the author has degenera cd or advanced,
the stage carpenter has certainly made
great strides ahead"
Mr.. DAILY smiled. He has peculiar smile,
at least when he is isdscussing theatrical mat
ters IN his private Office. Socially or CON
vivially IL may be very different, but as
have seen him occasionally on matters OF
business journalistic, he Is epigrammAtic,
quick and somewhat given to a caustic, sar-
sastic manner OF spe sch. He smiled, and
his smile was distinctly lofty.
Probably the theater has made less pro-
yress in that particular than Ia any other,"
ne said. "The stage effects that we pro-
luce as novelties all seem 30 have been
Known aud practiced long ago. | remem-
Der a striking instance Of this. Only few
years ago the theatrical managers in France
as a novelty the spectacle OF
'hip under full sail moving across
.he stage. We thought 1t was a novelty,
md regarded IL as one Of the modern
triumphs Of stage effects Now the truth
5 that this very thing was dole 80
Years ago. | came across an old book the
,ther day which described the very Same
'ulHk h7 ~ Wha hpuo IA Athiyy ohu lho uih
,rans OF the stage carpenters work were
III published, making the whole thing plain
md feasible to any good master workman.
rhe truth is that all the effects we use now
we're known aud used more than a century
lgo IL may DO that their work was ruder
han ours, AID that our work Is more fla
shed and polished, but the general scope Of
he work Is the same.n FALEs CURTIS.
DIR. MARY WALKER expects place under the
lew administration. She wants fat clerkship
n one OF the departments. She will urge n