The record-union., 1898-04-01
DECADENCE OF THE DRAMA.
Experience of the Landlord and He
Knew All About 1t.

Actin amt what it uSt to be re-
gretfully remarked the landlord of the
Pettyville tavern; Il guess likely
know pretty near as much about the
drama as the next man; at least. in
these parts. bein' as / have entertained
al Kinds of troupers here, one time and
another, from toga-tragedians to ladv
minstrels, and, in my opinion, actin
has been steadily goin' down hill for the
last twenty years. In their struggles
FOR what they call realism the play
writer's have taken about all the
strength and sap out of the drama, and
the actors have followed suit Years ago
actors acted-now they jest talk.
1t ust to be that when there was a
company here in the hotel it was kick,
KICK, KICK, all the time, from mornin'
Till night. They'd want everything ,1n-
der the sun that mind could think of;
they demand ice water with the most
elegeant gestures. and condemn the Wit
ties with scorn fit for use in spurnin' a
large bribe. They borrowed the sheets
to make togas of, and tore 'em to pieces.
they took us right into their confidence.
and told us that each other couldn't
act a lick. They always referred to
the provinces, and spoke OF the public
as the guys They mashed tn. dinin'-
room girls, f1attered mother till she was
completely f1ustered, and borrowed
money from me. We was on the inside
hand-and-glove with 'em, tell you,
And when the time for the perform
ance came. me and mother an the din
III room girls always had front seats in
the opery house. Mother and the girls
ust to weep a good deal over the woes
| OF the beautiful but prosecuted hero
Inc, with her hair as yeller as scrambled
eggs, and her di'monds as big as hazel
nuts, starvin' and perishin' all alone in
the snow, and sometimes I'd git to
kinder sniffiin', too, although knew all
the time 1t was only actin Mother an
the girls would always take a dislike
right at the start to the polished viii
lain, who hissed through his clenched
teeth, and hate him like a snake. and
Ia most generally think to myself that
Ia charge him dollar higher for his
BOARD than any of the rest of the com
pany on account of his meanness But
then I'd remember that he was hired
10 persecute innocence. and had to be
real bad in order to hold his job. And
IN them days the comedian was always
corker-he never looked like anybody
you ever saw in your life, and was So
1unny we'd laugh ourselves sore over
his comical cuttin' up. They don't have
sech comedians any more Actin was
actin then.
But now-shueks! When a company
comes here they gener'ly set around
the house and read and write letters,
and at night they go to the stage, and
jest talk like common folks. There is
precious little actin about it: YOU might
about as we'll set down and read a
story book, for all the thrill you git out
OF 1T. It's got so that we skurcely ever
see any real good actin nowadays. ex-
cept when an Uncle Toms Cabin COM
pany comes along with pack of four
teen-count them--fourteen genuine
man-eatin' Siberian bloodhounds: and
mebby, three on four weary-l -lool1in
Deputy Sheriffs taggin' along. Then we
see some actin. and that's about the
only time we do see it any more. Tile
drama amt what it ust to be. not by a
long shot!"-Puck.