The herald., 1898-01-16

Whenever an attempt Is made to call
attention to the moral atmosphere OF
the stage. an attempt that maybe has
been provoked by some more than usual
ly glaring case Of infringement of the
laws Of society and the provisions Of the
decalogue. the cry goes up that such a
discussion is stale. worn-out, thread
bare and effete.
And yet the question recurs with per-
gistency. sometimes on account Of some
1iscreditable facts in the life of stage
oeople becoming public through the
medium of newspapers that have fond
ness for any scandal that may be con-
nected with theatrical life, sometimes
through the exploitation of unsavory
plays by certain managers who are
ready to wade through filth If by so doing
they may increase the receipts at the
box office.
Every now and again the cry goes
up for a clean stage. Even the people
who do not take the elevated view of
the mission of the theater as an educa-
tional institution, with powers of mold
ing opinion and shaping thought that
will influence the lives of the young and
give wholesome tonic even to the de-
praved and battered soul, even such
people, who have standard that calls
simply for a relaxation of the mind,
are found to Join In the cry for cleanli-
ness. 1t Is readily seen, and that with
out the aid Of the spectacles supplied
by bigotry and intolerance, that the
stage, to be kept alive, must be kept
free from the leprous contamination
with which 1t Is threatened.
Admitting that so far as the physical
is concerned. the utmost has been done
that may be expected in the revealment
Of charms that were formerly to be seen
In public only in the shape of marble or
on the canvas of the painter. and ad-
mittirg that the sensuous effects now
common on the stage have become by
custom such an everyday exhibition
that they are calmly discussed by col
lege girls and bald-heads alike, the
''points" Of a woman being studied like
those of race horse7-yet 1t Is not that
way that danger lies.
The farce comedy" so-called, is no.
toriously infected with a certain amount
Of coarseness; sometimes the amount is
large, and in rare instances 1t is small.
But the very name of farce comedy is
to those who are sensitive a sort Of
danger signal. and they can stay away
II so inclined. But the problem play,
the so-called society drama and the
plays dealing with ancient times, in
which the RIGHTEOUSNESS is covered with
q blaze Of brocade. a gorgeous scenic
display and brilliant array of super
Lumeraries-these are cases where the
insidiousness of the mischief that is
done is most apparent to thoughtful
mind. A fashionable boarding school
mistress would be shocked at the idea
of taking her charges to see an adver-
tised leg-show, but would feel no COM
junction at submitting them to the
contamination of Sardou's "Gismonda. 4"
with Fanny Davenport in the leading
part.
The latest offender appears to be a
play just brought out in New York
written by Paul Potter, and called 1.-THE
Conquerors." 1t has been given under
Charles Frohman's management at the
Empire theater, where Viola Allen and
William Faversham take the leading
parts. A play produced under sucn
auspices and with such people engaged
in 1t would seem to merit public patron
age. And yet it Is pronounced that the
author has executed can-can upon
the conventions and has simply sat upon
the Young Person." Further than this,
the details Of the plot appear to have
aroused even the lethargic public, which
ordinarily accepts whatever is provided
by the Frohman management. To put it
mildly, the plot Is "a case of Lucrece
and her Tarquin arrested in time"
Miss Viola Allen" we are told, ''played
the part Of the girl who wasn't quite sure
whether she was ruined or not" The
production of the piece has called forth
protest from Sydney Rosenfeld, the
weli-known dramatist, which is so Wig
orous and well-put that give it entire.
He says:
isn't 1t time that we had public censor
Tor our theaters? Where is this audacious
pruriency to end II the almost unspeakable
scenes that are nightly enacted at our
leading theaters are allowed to continue
without let or hindrance? AS one of a num-
Der OF playwrights who must look to the
theater managers to exploit his wares, L
must protest against this deliberate de-
bauching OF the theatrical market. BY
what moral right does Mr.. Charles Froh-
man, one of our foremost managers, whose
prosperous. enterprises should certainly
teach him little of the obligation of his
rank, dare to produce such piece at The
ConQuerorsT If there were some noble
truth underlying the Nth that he pre-
sents. we might pardon it. But 1t is SO bald
an attempt to folst simply the indecent
upon respectable theater-goers that It ia
time for those who love the theater to cry
out. I am not one Of those malcontents
who fight Mr.. Frohmau or his so-called