The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-03
THE THEArER OF TODAY
CHURCH CAN UPLIFT
TT.
Destined to Some Day Take It's Place
Beside the Church as
Power.

day morning. He spoke Of and in de-
tense of the stage as a handmade of
the church in the advancement and
uplifting of the world; of it's limitations
and shortcomings, and of the duty Of
the better elements of every commun-
ity to lend their aid in making the
stage better, by encouraging it's laud-
able efforts toward higher ideal.
Dr. Shutter introduced Mr.. Hearne
with a graceful allusion to the incident
in ancient Greek history, when 1t was
decided that every land should be At
tica where the vine and olive grew.
So everything in the kingdom of God
which was useful or beneficial to man
kind; anything doing any sort Of work
for his uplifting, in it's own way and
place, should be honored. Music and
art, like religion, had their places; so,
also, the stage. 1t was no new thing
to hear from his lips the stage defend
ed; now was the first time that an
actor had stood in that pulpit. In pre-
senting him to the CONGREGATION the
author-actor was represented as a
member of the theatrical PROFESSION
who in his way was trying to do good,
and that he was succeeding was shown
by the testimony of one of the fore
most preachers in New York, who
characterized Mr. Hearne's production
as the embodiment of the old gospel
of unselfishness.
Mr.. Hearne is as graceful and self
possessed in a pulpit as when he lives
over the scenes in ''Shore Acres" in the
theater He started what he character
lied as his talk" with the quotation
from LAS You Like It."
All the world is stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts.
He conceded that the atmosphere or
a church was different from that of
theater, in which so much OF MS time
was spent, but he held that the bene-
fit of just such talks as he was called
upon to make could not be overestimat-
ed. Under such circumstances, when
people gathered to calmly and dispas-
sionately discuss public questions, they
were living at their highest and best.
Men could not always be at their best,
they were bound to slip back into the
slough, but for the time and the day
they were out of it, and the influence
was as elevating to him as 1t could be
to any of his hearers.
ct shall not try to discuss all the
problems that affect the theater," said
the actor in his new role. ut is too
boundless; all I shall attempt is to
gracefully skim the surface and make
such suggestions as may seem proper
IT hold that the theater is an instru-
e. T.. ~ ~. IL
was the scene Of the rehearsal of the
sacred chant and the religious dane
ing. Art in it's very nature is spiritual;
and that is not art which does not come
as the expression of the soul. Or as
some writer has put it: Art is the ex-
preston Of mans whole nature and
life'
1.-The supreme characterization of the
play was that of the Passion by
James O'Neill. There has never been
a grander influence upon a man than
that of the representation of the Christ
upon this gifted actor. The contempla-
ton of the character of Jesus wrought
within the actor the divine influence
which made him live the part And the
AWE-INsPIRING SUBLIMITY
Of that production was such that no
audience could come away without
carrying spark of the divinity blazing
in the breast. But the orthodox church
called it blasphemy and appealed to
the law. And the law and the ortho-
dox church stopped it. The author of
the play, Mr.. Morse, made several at
tempts to overcome the prejudice of
the canting world and, failing, commit
ted suicide.
1.-THE theater of today is just what
the people make 1t; just as a church is
just what the people want it to be, and
what it must be to meet the tastes and
needs of the people. The trend and
endeavor Of those who are on the stage
is to make it productive. of good, but
greed and selfishness step in and cor
rupt it's life. The actor would indeed
be glad to feel that his work is not
Only winning him bread and butter
but that his work has an influence for
good; but few are the men who are
brave enough to persist in attempting
to present what the public does not
want; they must give the people what
they will have and pay for or starva-
ton stares them in the face.
There is no vicious art without
vicious patrons, there is no vicious
theater without a demand for vicious
playing on the part of vicious theater-
SCeTS IL CctII QO IlO IIlOI6 Cudn RESPOND
to the public demand. And yet, I say
that the theater Is destined some day
| to take it's stand
BY THE SIDE OF THE CHURCH
in its influence for good It has come
| into the world to stay and its influence
! has often been more potent than the
church. These Observation-Disclosures have
too long stood apart; their true field is
| as handmaidens in the same great
! effort to elevate the race.
Nor am I without hope in this d.
| rection. Among my most ardent adj
mirers as an actor have been ministers
of the gospel who have been broad
minded enough to come to the theater,
analyze my work and judge for them
| selves it's tendency. / am in constant
receipt of letters from these churchmen
| who have seen my way of teaching a
! lesson, and to whom it has appealed
most strongly. A Methodist minister
Of Toronto recently told me that he
realized that many of us are bound by
ties Of conventionality that are out
| side of the pale of reason. This was
| true in his case. His congregation did
not want him to go to the theater, so
| he refrained from going, but he said he
| sent his family. and he realized that
the theater was a source of great good
| to them when they returned home after
the play, their faces aglow with healthy
! inspiration and enthusiasm, and ex-
| pressing only one wish, that he, too,
| might have been there.
But to the man who remains away
| from the theater simply because he
| does not wish to run counter to some
| ill-founded but strong prejudice, there
| is still another view which should be
considered. The theater Of today is a
commercial institution. It is not al
ways most pleasant to present what the