The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-05-16
THE THEATBR OF TO-DAY,
1t is Great Power for Good or fo
In-iI

1t is Great Power for Good or for
Evil.
1t is indisputable that the great ma
Jority OF persons 60 to the theater to be
entertained, diverted, amused. Some
lew, OF more educated and critical taste,
go 10 ENJOY the art Of the acting. the dra-
matte and literary beauties of the plav.
II Is very exceptional being who gol s
Tor moral editication or instruction. But
we are often edited and instructed when
we least expect it. We often absorb a
lesson, a truth, when we are unconscious
OF DONG so at the time. And the reverse
is equally true. The power of an evil in
Huence OFTEN fastens upon US when we
are !nsenslble TO its tightening grip. The
audience of a theater from the very
motives which have brought most indi-
FlduaIs into the auditorium, is in pas
slVe, q negative attitude. People have
not come TO do anything themselves, but
10 pe acted upon; not 10 impress, but To
receive Impressions. Their state is one
OF relaNaLion. consequently one most sus-
cepnDie to whatever influences are
Drought to bear upon it. They are like
musical instruments. They will re-
spond to the notes touched by the play
ers. from their souls deep centers
can be called forth the hallowed har-
monies Oh purity, of truth, Of strength, of
IoVe' lhrobblng in each swelling bosom
lcno OF the false chords of riot and wrong.
In the theater mans nature is played
upon moro strongly than under any
otnef lmperSOnal conditions. The dram
auc art, above all others, appeals 10 and
arouses his emotions most directly and
most powerfully, for it apprOpriates and
combines all arts and it reflects human
nature most completely and obviously.
1t mas form, IL has color it has motion. it
mas sound, 1t has man for its direct eX-
posltOr, through mans personal being it
nndS expression. We look at a beautiful
picture; we are stirred by holy feelings.
we read sublime poem; we thrill with
NOBLE aspirations. We hear a sweet
voiced harmony; on the wings of the
spirit we are borne high above the dis
cords OF folly and wrong. We go to the
the2ter. We sit and watch the perform
ance OF one Of Shakespeare's immortal
works. Here are men and women before
uS-inen ana women speaking, moving
laughing, SHINING, suffering, living. low
ing, dying. And the lesson we take to
our hearts, some consciously, some I'M
consciously, some fully, some perhaps
only in part, is one that penetrates into
the most secret places of every life
This IS the influence, this is the power
OF the theater. Could we stop here be-
cause there is no other side to show, no
reverse Of shadow to darken the beauty
no need of defense on the part of the
dramas friends, for there would be no
dlSSentlent voice heard from the ranks of
the most puritanical of its few remaining
enemies. But the other side does exist.
the shadow does cast it's blackness over
The scene, and the blackness is very often
dense and very far-reaching. Men and
women, young and old, are hurrying
INTO one of the best known, most popular
and best equipped theaters in the city. A
play IS TO be acted in that house tonight.
a play respectable people will have no
shame In going to see, and yet it will APP
peal to the very lowest, most sensual
part OF their natures. Its real character
may, probably will, be disguised under a
polite dressing Of words and thin COW
erlng OF sham morality; but the fact is
that not one person who sits through it
but Will leave the theater touched by the
breath OF an impure eXhalatiOn.
Near by another theater is rapidly fill
ing. The best seats are occupied by we'll
dressed men and women, the galleries
are packed with their more lowly broth
ers and sisters. All alike-rich and poor.
elect and vulgar-unblushingly sit for
two hours and witness q performance
called a comic opera, in which perhaps
not one strain of real music, not one line
OF true wit, not one situation Of genuine
humor can be discovered, and w hose only
AO'-ooAA IOA ttiiiso GLS Dldy IL makes OF
Women'S forms for the gaze of a sensual
crowd. Can women who see such exhi-
billions keep intact the sweet modesty of
their souls? Can men who see them
still feel in their breasts the ennobling
respect for wOmanhood which, in its UNI
furnished holiness and beauty, it right
July claims and should ever receive?
we trends and lovers Of the theater must
hang our heads when such examples as
these are brought forward to condemn it.
We can make no denial of the wrong
purpose it can be forced TO serve, or OF
the wrong influence it can be made to
exert. IN ii are found good and evil, as
good and evil are found in man, who in
slltuted 1t. And upon man it reacts for
his veal or his woe, according as he ele-
Yates 1t into an art temple of purity and
truth, or degrades it into a showroom of
triviality and sensuality.-Cor Maynard,
in the Cosmopolitan.