Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-10-20
DRAMATIC OUTLOOK.
rou, Causes Of DeCadencs al the Be-
dining Of This Century.
.,,rpo,rur:Nr IN THE ART
,,. Drama, the Highest Form of
,.,.rnry EnGeavor. IN Governed by
,bc wisdom of the Mnjority-stnse
,,,c.-TIays for the Week.

r4furUTr lsNAFfA'"'s - 'oN'' ''t's ~
a.. wisdom of the Majority--stage
,o,c.-rTays for The Week.
-,e -1.clao o.; tie drama IS phrase
,......r used. aud rarely defined. 1t
,..ue tcgm. ana many IL man who
..-... .. would not find 1t easy to de-
.. exact meaning. More often
..t tic critic OF the acted drama
constant praiscr Of the past which
.... u9t see. and pert contemner OF
-. re.ont. Of which he is forced TO
t, much. To our surprise. as We
..,. Che history OF the theatre We find
- t.. has almost always been the
..! hat the drama has almost al
han Ia a decline. just on the verge
.....-. with barely strength enough 10
b.. last breath. And yet It stin
&C.,. ana il bids fair to survive 10 Il
f.. o.l asc.
i- ...asrg 10 find Il precise definition
e.- .s ptmse. decline Of the drama"
,..e begin by acknowledging that it
.-.., cate any dimnution in the
....... a. ihe theatre, It is within the
....t.n ~ even the youngest veteran
...+ t.-. f.. steady increase Of play
.....s..l r.ay-roers. Nor does it mean
...t. theatres are any less magnificent
Co., r., were. for they have never
,.. mare COZ i0usiy arranged or more
......v GRATED than they are
,, ,a. ir ike manner, II may be
.t-, t.s been no falling of in
.....- ~ theatrical spectacle: in
49,. .- ...n ID reproach 10 the mode
t..t 10 Is prone to sacriiie act
a. e.. .r the vital essence OF tneatric
.-- -. . r.uucut, which IS but external.
s..r.. aaI accidental But this
r..-... b. again. is no new thing; and 1t
4. 81. tt4u Two centuries since Dryden.
.. OIL. fr.l1gI- 10 The Rival Ladies"
Characterized the stage Of his day in
.-. c...Ict:
.l.l Row have habits. dances. scenes
aal pmes;
T-h lrl4se often-ay. and sense some
tl.-.'
There 7ro some who declare that the
C....o NJ the drama means that there IS
o dec. hence ia the art OF acting. a GER
tr s.O..oueness Ia this assertion there
NY Doe. Since the privileges OF the
,.t.., thc1tres Of London were abolished.
and lce the Introduction Of the starring
system. no longer DO we see the best
..t.ts Of a country massed in one or
ta5 compact companies in the chief
C.v They are scattered here and there
throughout the world. A great actor IS
'.f content with the local reputation
which satisfied BurbaSe and Betterton.
BIO IS ready to put n girdle round the
ecth ia forty weeks, playing now in
L.rlon. a few days after in New York,
r.1t week In San Francisco, and month
liter in Australia. But although the
leading performers cannot any more be
seen IN a single evening. there has been
sd falling off in the histrionic art Never
ias IL been finer. firmer. richer. or more
yaricd than It is now. Never have there
teen performers of greater skin than
there are to-day, either for tragedy,
comedy. history. pastoral. scene indi-
vidah,e or poem unlimited. II is Idle TO
cali the head-roll OF the foremost actors
e. our time; but even the youngest play
coe-s have seen Booth. Jefferson Irving.
mor Salvlni, Signora Ristori. Herr
Barney, Madame Sarah Bernhard ana
50 Coluehn-a galaxy not TO he matched
l,a~ Cd much and know so little. There
S. uo .-.--itv OF the best acting to-day
AL IT, critic who may choose 10 deny
IBIS -ton reminds me Of Douglass
1sr- Us definition of conservative as
2 nan who refuses - look at the new
w r org. OF respect for that ancient in
t,'-u9u. the old one.
r- r~1cees Of exclusion we are thus
si t9 declare that tho decline OF the
.rml can mean only that the dramatic
T. a. 'rre~ the leading department Of
literature. From the El.Zabethan period,
through the Restoration ana the reign
e. queen Anne, down almost TO the end
O. 'ae Jest century when Go.qsmith
f.t. LIS "<he Stops 10 Conquer and
u-f-r brought out 1.-THE Rivals" and
r-. School for Scandal"-durns these
.v. centuries the drama was the chief
,.- ~ literature in our language. 1t
a.t CD Row. and II has not been 50
o. r. -'v ID hundred years. The purpose
D. tr. article is 10 point out certain OF
1- tare.s 4 this Gccadence: and then
3. s..st certain reasons why it may
,.r o. presumed that the period Of
frna is az last complete and why
e.. rr ,YYect IN the near future
.'r. &C dramatic literature among
eakln5 peoples.
ff.a every other art. the drama mas
g., arI downs its years OF famine
srf Years q fulncss. The undulatory
r.--- is ae true Of literary progress as
D. - no Light and sound. one Of these
se periods OF depression in our
literature was cOincident rough
" rra tte beginning Of this cen
'.rr ta, about the time when the drama
,.-t O. have risen out Of this slough
20 .I.- combined to keep II down
Causes were. chiefly, fOur-the de-
f a..f ~ the newspaper in England;
h- a1ty Of the "Waverly Novels;
fe rtic revolt in France. and the
re of the mechanics Of play-mak-
tr scribe. Each Of these four causes
r.F t0 Considered briefly In turn
... .rt ana least OF these was the
.rt Of the newspaper British
u began to exert real influence
.0 an hundred years ago. and the
i". 90 expansion did not come until
,.-r in tl.s century. A newspaper Is
~ contemporary existence; il is
daily panorama OF the life or the world
r'0 .a joys lis ghefs. It's slow setting
f-N u. ne incvitable its sudden sur
'r and an its infinite tragedy. IL
.f even been suggested that shake
f..r. were he alive to-day. would be
i.t ard not a dramatist / am
r. ... NJ those who have raehly aban-
Shakespeare 20 adore Bacon, but
J ..n s.e Lord Vcrulam as the editor OF
o.. ...l-n Times more easily than
can see tae author OF Hamlet. In no
'E.., sense of the word IS the newspaper
arct.tor - the play; and yet the
r.-..1 extension Of journalism undoubt-
crpNfarla