Evening journal., 1897-01-11
EUpNINS AWAKENED.
rHz ONLY PLAY EVER WRITTEN py
WILLIAM MORRIS.

10 sFa4 n sastfc on tlc 'ti'iico AsAeptuhtn
hy G;-Peter EdIin-The roet Artist Tool,
east IIinseif-A Gscial;ls I;eac-t rcr-
for.aanoe.
ca tho subjcct of tho thoator, an en-
lueiasic young rrat nightcr would
ro0a5ly have given Morris up after the
.rst Gttcnpt to gather las opinion OF
Che Second Mrs. Tanqueray" as an
nary citizen w.o had never formed |
se habit OF rlaycone, and neither knew |
nur crcd anything GAout tho thcater /
except asa treat for children onco year /
during tho panionino season. But Nor /
as would hayo written for the stage if /
thore had been any stage that poet and /
artist could writo for. When the Social
ist leagae onco proposed to raise the
wind 10y a dramatic entertainments and
suggested that he should provide the
play, he set TO at once and provided it.
Ana what kind of play was it? Was
it a miracle play on the lines of those
scenes in the Towneley mysteries be-
tween tho shepherds abiding in the
field" which he used 10 quote with
great relish as his idea Of good bit Of
comedy? Not at all. 1t was a topical ex
travaganza, entitled "Nuplins Awak
ened, A" the chief character parts" be-
ing Sir Peter Edlin, Tennyson and ON
imaginary archbishop of Canterbury
Sir Potter owed the compliment TO his
activity at that timo in sending social
lists to prison On charges of 'obstruc-
tion, " which was always proved by get
ting q policeman to swear thnt If any
pesserby or vehicle had wished to pass
over tho particular spot in q thorough
fare on which tho speaker or his audi
ence happened TO he standing their pres
encc would havo distracted him.
This contention, which was regarded
as quite sensible and unanswerable by
the newspapers of the day, was put into
q nutshell in tho course Of Sir Peters
summing Up in tho play. "In fact, gen.
tlemen, it is matter Of grave doubt
whether we arc not ~ Of Us continually
committing this offenso from our cradles
TO our graves. " This speech, which tho
real Sir Peter Of course never made,
though 10 certainly would have done SO
had ho bad wit enough TO see the abb
surdity Of solomnly sending a man TO
prison for two months because another
man could not walk through him, es-
pecially when it would have been so
easy 80 lock him Up for threo months on
some respectable prote-t, Will probably
keep Sir Pator's memory green whom all
his actual judicial utterances arc forgot
ten.
Az to Tcnnyson, Norris took a social
ist who happened 20 combine tho right
sort Of beard with o melancholy temper
ament and drilled him in a certain por-
tentous incivility of speech which, taken
from tho quality of his remarks, threw
o light on Norris opinion oil Tcnnyson
which was all the more instructive be.
cause he delighted in Tonnyson's versC
as kcenly as Wagner delighted in thg
music Of Mcndolsschn, whose credit foi
qualities of larger scope lie nevertheless
, wroto down ard destroyed.
{ Morris played tho ideal Archbishop
himself. Ho mudo no attempt 20 make
uD the part in tho ordinary stage fash
ion. He always contended that no more
was necessary for stage illusion thar
somo indistinct conventional symbol
! such as a halo for saint, a crook for 0
bishop, or, if you liked, cloak ant
dagger for the villain and a red wig fol
the comedian. A pair Of clerical bands
and black stockings proclaimed theArch
: bishop. The rest he did by obliteratinl
his humor and intelligence and present
|. ing his own person to the audience like
! a lantern with the light blown out, Will
{ a dull absorption in his own dignity
e which several minutes Of the wildes
screaming laughter at him when he en-
2 tered could not disturb. laughed i'm
e moderately myself, and I can still SEE
quite clearly the long top floor Of tha
warehouse in the harrington road as
+ saw it in glimpses between my parox
I. ysms, with Morris gravely on the stag
in his bands at one end Mrs. Stillman
y tall and beautiful figure, rising like
g delicate spire above sky line Of cit.
y chimney pots, at tho other, and a mot
. ley sea Of rolling wallowing, guffawini
. socialists between.
{, There has been no other such success
' full first night within living memory,
believe, but remember only one dra
= matic critic who took care TO be presen
II William Archer. Morris was so inter
z osted by his experiment in this sort o
o composition that he for some time talk
l. ed Of trying mis- hand at q serious drami
l. and would no doubt have done it ha'
u there been any practical occasion for
. or any means Of consummating it b.
stage representation under proper condi
tions without spending more time ol
the Job than it was worth. Later, at On
8e Of tho annual festivities Of the Hammer
d smith Socialist society, no played tn
t. old gentleman in the bath chair in
a short piece called '"s'he Duchess Of Bays
II water" (not by himselD, which ono
served its turn ut the Haymarket as
e curtain raiser. Il was impossible 70
II such born teller and devourer Of ste
ries as howas to be Indifferent TO an al
which is nothing more than the mos
vivid and real Of all ways Of story tel
u ing. No man Toald more willingl
r have seen his fgurea move and hear
"a their voices than he. Saturday Review