Omaha daily bee., 1891-04-05
THE ESTATE or THE STAGE.

| dramatic critics Of the country says
| I'm the condition of the contemporary
| theater there are not many hopeful
| signs No doubt there will be bright
days in the future, as there have been
in the past They go and they return.
| The stage declines and the stage ad-
vances. At present its estate is low
This was suggested by the deatlof Bar
| rctt, and following hard upon that un-
timely taking Off another shadow is
thrown upon the English drama by the
| retirement of Edwin Booth, for al
though it is said his withdrawal is only
Tor period Of needed rest and recuper-
alton. 1t is not at all probable that the
great actor will ever again take up reg
ularly the work of his profession. His
| closest friends, who would be most in
dulgent in noting his declining powers,
do not hesitate to say that, while still
the consummate artist, Mr.. Booth has no
longer the physical vigor to produce the
effects which characterized his prime,
and doubtless none appreciate this
moro fully than himself. He is
undoubtedly proud OF his fame,
rs he has the greatest right to be, and
he will not let 1t be impaired as some of
his predecessors did theirs, by permit
ting himself to flag superb uous, - but
following the wise example of Macready
and few others, will leave the field Of
his triumphs while yet his laurels are
green and the impression he has made
upon his generation is free from disp par
agement. A few may be 50 fortunate rs
to again see him in some of tn ose incom-
parable impersonations with which his
name will always be associated, but it is
altogether probable that he has made
his last tour and that the general public
will SEQ him no more. 1t was said Of
the death of the great English actor,
Garricle, that it eclipsed the gayety of
nations and reduced the world s stock of
innocent amusement. 1t may be said Of
the distinguished American actors, Bar
rctt and Booth, that their loss to the
English speaking stage has left it almost
a desert waste Of mediocrity Not only
have they no successors, but there is no
promise that they will have. Nowh ere is
there to he found any encouragement for
the hopeful view of the critic whom we
have quoted, that there will be bright
days for the stage in the future as there
nave been in the past. The tendency is
not upward even if it be not absolutely
toward lower estate, and the public
taste and the conditions into which the
stage has fallen conspire against eleva-
iS bn
small minority of play goers who want
the poetic and tragic drama, and they
will accept it only from those who
have established an unquestion-
able claim to recognition. 1t is
field OF hazardous and improbable
venture for any other, and therefore
gifted actors are deferred from entering
it and employ their talents where the
rewards are surer though the sphere be
more limited 1t cost Barrett long
years of labor and sacrifice to reach the
position he attained and such an ex-
perience is most discouraging to an am
bitiOn and zeal less virile and vigorous
than his, The present conditions of the
stage are not favorable to the develop
mont of great actors. The travelling
combination, even when it has "a
repcrtory, cannot be good school for
giving scope and versatility to dra-
matte talent. They may make Smooth
and easy" actors but men and women
long accustomed to fitting themselves
into certain places and to travel in rats
must inevlta bly, become mech anical the
effect of which in most cases is to destroy
for higher and broader effort,
and when this is not the case, to make
loftier attainment more difficult. There
is no inspiration or incentive in acting
of this sort, and the actor who has been
long confined to II must be greatly
gifted If the result does not unfit him for
the higher walks of his art.
1t is not necessary, however, to
quite despair of the drama or
the stage. 1t is to be re-
membered that all through their his
tory they have had periods of decadence
and Of revival. Let it rather be thought
that the immortal works of the great
masters Of dramatic literature cannot be
lost while popular intelligence continues
to advance, and that while the demand |
for them now is discouragingiy small it
will grow in time, and with it will come
the genius necessary to their worthy in
terpretation.