The herald., 1898-09-18

Leander Richa rdson, a dramatic critic OF
long standing, devotes two columns of pre-
sumably valuable space In an eastern Jour-
nal to an argument intended to prove that
dramatic criticism as now conducted Is
all wrong.
He takes as his text the contradictory
Criticisms upon the recently produced
America nized version Of a salacous French
farce given in New York under the name OF
THE Turtle He quotes two leading
dramatic critics. one writing in the New
York Sun and the other in the New York
Herald. The Sun man finds that Sadie
Martinot "lent herself to a pit!ful exploit of
irdecency" at 'the sacrifice of her woman
liness," and that 1t will 'prove a disaster
to her professional standing" The play
had long life In Paris, owing 10 the lik-
Ing there for lascivious stnge sights" 1.-The
piece Is devoid of wit, humor, or any trace
of cleverness. Even Its meretrcious quail
ity is crude. coarse, vulgar and repulsive."
On the other hand the Herald man de-
tails with much particularly how Miss
Martinot undressed herself in sight of the
audience; he describes the various articles
of underc,othirg that were excessively
displayed, and laments the absence of the
famous Martinez carriers. He winds up by
describing the act as 'charming and poeti-
cal. not vulgar and sensational"
Mr.. Richardson comments as follows:
'Now, II Is not 30 be presumed for nome mt
that either of these gentlemen wrote any
thing but what he actually believed con-
corning the newest adaptation from the
French. Both are conscientious men, as
well able writers. Yet one of them said
i; was dirty, while the other thought 1t
smart. One declared it coarse, vulgar and
repulsve-the particular scene, at least.
around which the principal in5erest of the
piece centers-while the other said 1t was
charming and poe;ical and not vulgar or
sensational at all.
what would the ordinary reader think"
asks Mr.. Richardson. "of Brady Zieg-
fields new offering after carefully digest
ing uhese two notices? There Is certainly
no reason why he should place confidence
in the Herald. to the ddtriment of his faith
in the Sun, or vice versa. The plain fact
Is that criticisms appearing In these
Two publications, as In all others, are mere
~ The expression Of individual opinions, TO
which mistaken weight is given on the
ground that they are the utterances OF
great newspapers. When men ike MI
Fyles and Mr.. Ste.nberg. who have devoted
wears Oh tnelT lives ~ tIe SAuuS VA Pios -
cannot possibly unite upon the value of an
Anglcized French farce then the profess
sion TO which they have applied them
selves during all this time Is worthless,
empty, meaningless, and a mass Of sound
without sense"
To this extent, and with much more YER
b,age, does Mr.. Richa rdson lay down the
tote I "a haltaVa how
ever. that he Is otherwise than conscious
shat hts own argument Is mass of sound
without sense The very instances he
quotes tend TO prove This suppos.tion. The
fact around which both the critics wrote
was the same and ahere is no disagreement
between them az 20 wha. occurred. A wo-
man undresses herself upon the stage
while taking part in an adapted French
farce. 1t is this undressing act that IS re-
lied upon to draw the crowd. and the per-
Torrance Is done in a manner calculated
to induce the crowd 10 come again. The
public in reading this account in either pa
per is in no perplexity whatever. 1t Is n
formed % hat IS being done. and lis not az
an surpl. :. 20 find that the Sun critic, rep
resemting a respectable paper, should con-
denim a vulgar exhibition. On the other
hand it is not matter Of wonder that the
representative of a sensa: tonal paper
should gloat over the very same show.
l, is all a question of taste, and the public
will make It's election to 30 or stay away
without any difficulty.
As a matter of fact critic hs not needed
TO decide whet her studied exhibition of
a plump woman undressing herself IS
"lasc.vious" or "poeucal." Those who Ike
such sights will go, so long as the police
does not interfere: the others will stay
away
Mr.. Rioha rdson suggests that the So
called critics should be confined to reporting
just what happens on the stage, without
expressing any Of their opinions. That
thea aers should be reported Nike horse races
and kindred sport. But the public dema nds
an opinion; /; wants to have its own praise
or blame voiced for 1t; It desires to read Is
own ideas, often only half formed, framed
in adequate language, and the critic who
does not succeed in expressing the opinion,
not of mere numerical majority, but of
majority of The intelligent thea :er-gloers
had better pursue some other calling.
1t ds often contended that criticism Is
only the expression of one mans opinion, |
and therefore entitled to no more weight
than is represented in the proportion of |
numbers. IL tIllS WeNe true, LIE CT.UCS DC |
cupa tior would be sTperfluous indeed. Some |
writer's give color to the idea by indulg.ng
constantly their individual tastes, praising |
what they like and condemning what does |
not please them. 1t Is not upon such mar
row platform that criticism can be made |
servceable.
1t appears to me that the abihty to sense
the public taste, to be able to discriminate |
the demands of refined audiences and yet
to recognize the right of the people to revel |
In nonsense, are among the indispe ms able |
RECURRENCE nts for just critic. Whether It
be Legitimate play or a vaudeville
buffoonery, each has its place in the round
of omusements, and one should not be
Judged by the standard applied TO the 9TH
er. Criticism Performs It's hes. office when
X stays, Il ever SO Mtte, the const amt ten
demcy to the degrade ton Of the stage. which /
Is being brought about by the mere prepon-
deTnnce OF numbers and the supreme pres
sure OF the commercial Instinct among
managers. Those who compose the INTEL
ligent minority have some rights which
just criticism helps to conserve
LNN o o
Mr. Frohman's first present to Los An
EsAss otter the recopsideratton of lds hasti.