The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-01-13

INTERESTING NOTES OF THE MOD
ERN STAGE BY FREDERIC FEBvRE.
0dison Held Responsible for Hnsten-
ing the Evolution-Local Play
Hills This Week.

That epigrammatic Frenchman, Frederic
Febvre, has been telling the truth about
the evolution of the stage. and particularly
the American stage. In the New York
! Herald. recently, he had the following
series Of bright reflections:
You have doubtless heard repeated that
set and stereotyped phrase, art is dying
Art Is dead" This is all nonsense. 1t Is
true that at the present time the stage is
passing through a transitory phase which 1t
5 most interesting to watch. 1t is not at
he point of death; it is simply striving TO
enew its existence-that is the truth of the
matter. 1t would take a great deal OF clev-
erness to foresee at present the new style
that 1T will assume. l once asked NJ. Auber
what would be the music of the future.
1T will be- replied the witty composer
of the Domino Noir,' the music that is
"ff we do not possess the brilliant plead
of poets, authors and artists who fourished
word has been said and that it only re-
mains to utter the last prayers over the
passing crisis depends upon several consid-
erations, which / ask permission to study
In the readers company: The period of
1880, composed wholly of a romanticism
which laid Antony's dagger. side by side
with Werther's pistol. on soft cushions, In
a rich showcase, does not admit of COM
parison with 1895, when science and posi-
tivism hold full sway. We belong TO an
age of chemistry, steam and electricity.
bas unconsciously fastened the troubled
crisis through which dramatic art is now
passing Ing Al is completely 8 ogdsdeE t enang reach p the
theater about 3. and then how can you ex-
pect the spectator to take the slightest m
terest or pleasure in what he sees? You
might as well begin to read a novel in the
middle of the volume.
III remember one evening at the Coincide
Francaise, when I was off duty, they were
giving the 'Supplice dune Femme. / was
in the orchestra stalls. MY next. neighbor,
who had already several lines given signs
OF impatience because the curtain did not
go up, suddenly drew forth his watch and
'Ah, with their long waits they will
make me miss my train. / have no time.
nave Just come from Rouen; ana nc ! Leave
II is a case of adultery is it not? Regnier
IL the deceived husband, Lafontaine the
lover and Nine. Savart the guilty wife. !
wish they would begin and be quick about
with such a listener as this, with a gen.
tleman who has a train to catch at mid
might, who travels express, who has, prob
ably. q telephone and even a photograph
at his house. a table covered with, cable
dispatches, and / know not what beside,
how on earth are you to go, in for devel-
has this gentleman Edison forever, and
the deuce take aesthetics!
Dumas was right, therefore, when he
said to me. one day:
"e'when my first play was produced, two
gentlemen. just before the curtain rose,
slapped each others faces, and they wait
ed till the third act before they asked for
explanations
yet another point. People are fond of
saying that the contemporary stage is worn
out. Formulas wear out, but not the stage.
If the original theme is not always en-
tirely fresh-and it is very difficult nova
days to discover a subject that has not
been made use of-an author of talent can
always as a last resource depict passions
and manners. So it is and so it will be In
nl oncc Tho nh ~ rfarc lra NV hy Cha1y
speare and Moliere are as fresh in their
~coloring as when they were first seen. Is
not the gendarme that Guignol trashed
alar1ningly and unquestionably actual?
Othello. Tartuffe, vice and crime struggling
with justice. good striving against evil, be-
than-they do to yesterday and to-day.
Love. ambition and jealousy defy annihi-
"FinaIly-and this is one of the last argu-
ments to explain the situation which is en-
gaging our attention-it must be said that
there exists a sort of Indifference in re-
spect of art. Formerly the theater was a
passion with the public, now it is at most
public to a more or less numerous gather
Ing OF spectators, but to a small number
Of fastidlous critics, serious amateurs. en-
l~ightened connoisseurs, whose right and
whose dirty 1t is to show themselves Sc
we're; These alone could form a class that
would direct the artistic movement by
maintaining the high level of art, and thus
promoting good production by authors and
~. I1QI, dldS. WitIntr OF HOT III Is
that they feel themselves overwhelmed and
powerless. in face of the ever rising tide
the helm and suffer the ship to go quietly
adrift.
And allow me to remark respectfully
that criticism itself has felt the influence
of the same inauspicious tendency. Form
srly the press gave reports of first per-
formances on Mondays only. The critics
then had time TN "a fha NAV "a oaa ~
over again. and to take note of the effect
1t produced AN effect varying with the au-
dience. Now, owing to the necessity Of
giving news up to the last minute, the re-
ports must appear the very day after the
performance.
How can you expect a writer who is
careful or the dignity of his pen to give
you a serious. studied. well written analy-
sis, not OF the subject of the play, but of
the procedure and tendencies of the author.
Of his style. Of his acting. Of the artists
engaged interpreting him? Criticism, in the
true sense, is instruction, not information.
What advantage, what useful lesson, can
author or artist derive from an article
dashed of at the corner. of ala EDITORS
anH--in other words, between a fatigue and
2 ,yawn? Buerger. in his celebrated bal
lad. says:
THE dead go fast
or the whole. Il seems to me that the
living are quite their equals In that re-
spect. Our French newspapers themselves
are antedated. Life from day. to day no
longer suffices this devouring activity OF
ours. To-day is. already old; this evening
IS outworn and doting; the present moment
is used up and finished, and SO we draw at
nigh interest upon tomorrow. Steam and
electricity are here, and while / write
these lines Edison Is continuing his wonder-
ful iabors and preparing for our descend
ants surprises of which 1 cannot think
without a certain feeling of terror!
Every form of violence inevitably brings
about an equally violent reaction. Every
drama that is somewhat brutal in form
causes the subsequent birth OF a gentle and
temperate work. From allspice one passes
TO sugar with astonishing ease. And since
] was speaking just now OF violent reac-
lions, have we not recently seen all the
learned algebra of our modern musicians
disappear before a modest revival of the
Domino NoirT Ii il easier to make
phrases than to write works for the stage.
and so musicians who confuse notes with
figures call their new productions 'sensa-
items -
Painters who are ignorant of drawing
the integrity of painting as Ingres used
to call it--have invented 'impressionism.'
and even 'neo-impressionism.' Our young
poets. who are 'neo' in every style and on
all grounds. have baptized the very latest
literature slices of life