The times., 1898-06-19

i At DuDilC Is uHly CSliy
terested in the schooling of the men
whose work it either approves or dis
approves. II they are not able to please
they are per force kept in the cheaper
organizations until they are developed
and meritorious. when they advance IN
order of worth. 1t is well enough to have
training places and some actors need
them sadly enough, but theater-goers are
not interested in paying for the privilege
| of watching the process 10y which raw
recruit becomes a fuil-iedged star with
hackers worth thousands Of dollars and
picturs Of himself with fac smile sig
natures beneath.
| Whatever the pains or money expended
| stock presentations must always be rough
and poor when compared TO those of
| regular road companies. The former COM
blnes do not and viii not. in the first
place, engage the class of players sign
ed with the latter, and If they did Ii
would be quite impossible for them to at
| tain the finish and neatness of their COM
petitors. 't''''--t" 4--''f ret'
An actor who learns and rehearses a
new part every week, while appearing in
still another one. can hardly attempt the
| performance given by his rival, who has
| been an entire. year. 3or perhaps more,
achieving the full opportunities of his role
! and fitting himself into sthe general pict-
! ure. AT best productions made in that
a fortnights time is scarcely to better
/ advantage. A full three weeks is required
| for an easy and enjoyable entertainment,
/ and then a little more work does not in
! jure chances of success. a road company
! that appeared in the condition and with
4 the makeshifts of stock combination
/ would be numerically condemned by
press and public.
/ Nor is il possible that plays staged in
/ such a manner can be properly produced.
1 Washington has been lucky this year in
/ the possession of two aggregations, both
of which use with each Offering a con-
! siderable amount of special stuff, but as
/ a general thing the house scenery is
brought into requisition over and over
again. One simply has to grow used TO
finding that the room introduced to him
as being the interior of a besieged house
! during the Civil War a week ago has in
! the interval become the garret of an
| East Side tenement and that by some
! revolution in geography q road that led
to Richmond at that time has taken an
! opposite direction and quietly proceeded
( toward some PENNSYLVANIA factory town,
] over Sunday. Nor is it at all unusual 10
( find green trees growing on the sides
! of a snow-clad view. the wings to match
having been burned in the last fire or
never painted at all. This sort of busi-
ness is highly beneficial training for the
imagination but is hardly consistent with
I ones ideas of the fitness of things.
1t is simply Impossible for any manager
to stage properly a reasonable production
in a week or for him to eXpend a suffi-
1 cient amount upon il. A costly presenta-
tion or an adequate one can hardly be
! made under S. 050, and the returns of a
/ six-night presentation could not by any
chance repay half of that sum. De-
/ tails in properties and effects need time
! and consideration, too, and altogether
makeshift offerings under such condi-
tions would shortly become the rule rath-
er than the exception If in road
| company an out-Of-date quill pen may
/ bring down the censure of the critics
how can few days time suffice for the
staging of a piece
The elaborate -spectacles of today, the
big musical comedies. sensational melo-
! dramas and effective productions Of his
tOric plays could not by any chance be
given by stock companies Dramas with
long casts or with especially requiring
ones would simply have to be banned and
barred. There are very few comedies in
existence really suitable for stock pre-
sentation even after due alteration. and
those written TO order would have to
be fitted into the narrowest limits.
Nothing could have worse effect up
on the art of the playwright than the
| prevalence of the "palny day" system.
As has been said, new productions would
become so difficult as to be practically i'm
possible and the use of new matter would
be correspondingly less. Permanent COM
panies seldom do a piece in which some
member of their cast has not appeared
and for the acting of which he cannot
give detailed accounts. obtained by ex-
perience with the original organization
Suitable business and meanings must be
carefully thought out and in unlimited
time. Productions of original offerings
hastily made would lack in so many es-
sentials that their success would be i'm
probable if not impossible
Again, at present almost every travelling
company must have one or more plays
a year. Home aggregations would be at
perfect liberty to rent from each other
and an immediate decrease in the demand
would ensue. Today an author places
his work and has done with it, In case
of revival of the old plan a weeks run
would be the general order of the piece
and at the end of that period it would
have to be again placed with another
organization. It's worth would have to
be proven, negotiations made, contracts
signed and a dozen things done that would
require the services of a well paid agent
Works would constantly be changing
hands and the detection of play pirates
would be correspondingly difficult Alto
gether nothing worse could happen to an
author or to a public that would soon
grow weary of being fed on the same old
literary and dramatic material.
Worst of ALL the plan confined certain
people to certain localities While VISIT
ing stars might and probably would soon
be going from place to place they would
neither receive the eaBgenial support nor
the pleasant surroundings vouchsafed
them at present. while the minor people
would be confined to one place and lost
completely to their admirers in other
cities. The PUBLIC is. .lkely.to grew.vcry
weary of seeing the same supporting
casts over and over again in totally differ
ent roles and TO long for favorites quar-
tered in some remote part of the coun-
try with another home combination Prom
erlyr considered, this is probably the most
glaring fault of the plan, and it is. fur
ther. almost totally without remedy.
The stock system OF -tha-olde days was
successful for many contemporary rea-
sons. The standard ef, exeelfefrre- wa {. not
then nearly so high as now. and perhaps
people were less fickle At any rae they
asked but little in return for their sup
port, and generally got it. Travelling was
then frightful problem, Involving both
time and money. and the limited amount
of competition made Is necessary for men
and women to take what they could get
almost inevitably al Strong star assisted
by fair company and a makeshift pro-
duction. It is only natural that the pub
/ lie should demand a change. now and
then, but brief experience will prove
that the present system is the better one.
! Those who cry for the old days back
! again do not realize that Improvement is
the order of the age and that the grant
ing of their wishes would be a severe
blow to the cause of art. --
Stock companies can only be desirable