Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-07-22
OLD PLAYS AS NEW.
REVEALS TO BE THE FEATURE OF
THE COMING SEASON.
uiar-Locai stage Topics-New
Works and Actors.

uisr-Lecal stage Topics-New
Works and Actors.
Next season the stage In this country
viii go through a course Of what In our
dramatic terminolcgy. we call revivals
Well-known pieces are in process Of pro-
dnction by various representative COM
panies. Seeing that the tendencies OF the
general dramatic thought Of the day are
not very favorable to the revival OF plays.
and that the conditions OF modern cater
ing are decidedly adverse, we are con-
fronted with list that Is OF extraordinary
dimensions In these circumstances what
1t Implies is not OF the most reassuring
KIND. and what II seems to portend not
or so lively a sort as all will hope may
turn out TO be the case The falling back
on former successes points to a certain
absence OF satisfactory original work.
That, In view Of the fact THAI the bad
business OF recent seasons was largely due
10 the dearth OF attractive pieces, Is
rather disturbing consideration. Nor Is
there much comfort in the thought that
the adoption of the same expedient at
those times did not mend the bad busi-
ness. | have said that feeling and
method are against revivals. The new play
Is, rightly or wrongly. the end-of-the-
century message, and the long run Is the
mot d'ordre OF the management OF the
period. Change Is written large on the
face OF tie theatre I'm this last decade
or two: the most impressionable OF arts
has naturally yielded TO the external
pressure OF the age, which Is all In the
direction of the new. The spirit of the
times has called for the new play, as IL
has called for all else new--for new
forces. new systems. new laws, new
styles. To say that the theatre has met
the demand by means OF the long run
may I'm the circumstances, seem a con-
tradiction In terms. but the internal me-
cessities OF commercial management must
be borne In mind. Were there incessant
variation OF bill, the opportunities and
the prospects of REVEALS would not be
quite what they are. Did the manager
at the close OF the performance still
dutifully step forward in the eighteenth
century manner to announce the title OF
the piece for the morrow, doubtless there
would be ransacking of the old play
archives TO the Utmost recesses In order to
get together a sufficient repertory.
But other times, other manners. Theat-
rical production I'm metropolitan cities Is
set about that an alteration of programme
may be made not next evening, or next
month. but rather next year. The test OF
success now Is the proof or continuous
endurance. without the power or the
play To hold out, the manager possessing
only modest amount OF capital IL
translated from Broadway To queer
street, so To speak. in the most expeditous
manner imaginable Very much, some
times all, Is staked on the career OF
single piece. 1t IS as though each sue
ceeding play had TO cover longer course.
for which purpose ii required proper
tiOnately greater momentum There Is
no sparing OF labor, there is no fiinching
from expense The play has 10 be run
on and on until exhaustion sets in where
upon the vacant place Is taken py an
other That is the long-run system III Is
in many respects n bad system. Against
ii the original drama, coming under II
IN the fulness of vitality. can only strug'
Gle with difficulty. The revived drama,
belonging TO another day. can fortlorl,
scarcely make any struggle at all.
Must then the bulk or the dramauc
writing OF the past go for nothing? THINK
of the tragedies that terrified, the Ora
mas that stirred, the comedies That de-
lighted the farces that made sides acne
I'm the DAYS that are gone, Is this litera-
tura so much waste stock? AS far as 1t
does not harmonize with our zeit-gelst-
more subtle and sensitive in the play
house. perhaps than anywhere eise-i
fear IL is The great demand. leSitimateIy
enough is for the modern rather than the
old the virile rather than the eHete, the
fresh born rather than the long burien'
The major number OF plays that at an
ferent periods attracted playgoers by the
qualities then approved in dramatic writ
ing seem TO our eyes and ears false or
strained I'm spirit, outliyed in purpose
antiauated. or otherwise unsuitable in de-
sqn our theatrical evolution is far more
real than is generally thought. one turns
over, for instance. the pages OF tne las.
issued volume OF the Mermaid series
those Of the works OF Sir Richard steele
himself regarded as a reiormer oi inc
etace Of t7o0-'25-one turns over these pages
ON TO realize how great are the guns
Gx. between the different dramatic eras
and schools And one needs not look 50
far back. Robertson, in his well-wrough'
SlmDllCliltN, VI 10y NAOA N''
stills. tells in degree the same ruth'
The plavs of all time are very few.
There are certain of the poetic pays
,hough-apart from the groups that have
within them the inexhaustible youth OF
Shakespeare-which of them VIII bear a
long-run revival? There are again. the
comedy classics. There are. finally, what
might be called plays Of the heart, Ike
"The Two Orphans" What may, ana
unfortunately, what may not. be accom-
plished with the two former classes Is
sufficiently well-known Shakespeare III
his serene domain must be taken as ne Is
or left alone; and. coming lower uo"h'
the old masters of comedy. Illustrating
periods OF life I'm which they move are
only the worse for any modern mahipu-
lation. whether in dealing with the text
or I'm varying the period OF action. They
must be taken for what they were. Inc
hand of the emendator, indeed, OF 'he
playwright, however. surely might move
freely in the third class. very many
of these Old plays. there can be no doubt,
might he iudiciously reconstructed and
rewritten for present-day audiences. But
in a general way there can he little
chance for the bulk Of past pieces with
things az they are. The immense theatri-
cal repository might be more freely
drawn upon for pieces, were 1t possible
TO revive them as plays OF the periods
brought out for few nights. which many
OF them would bear. But under so I'M
wleldly, costly, and exhaustive plan
as the Ions run, nothing Of this sort
can be attempted with any frequency
The fact is no doubt to be regretted
especially, inter alia-out OF regard for
literature and for histrionic capacity; but
50 II it.
1t Is probable that this city Will shortly
boast a full-hedged entertainment bureau.
Mr. Horace +. Smith, who Is so wen
known as Mr.. Polk Miller's business rep
resentatiye, has already secured four
attractions that will tour next season