The times., 1898-06-12

bination OF four leading lights organized
TO preserve his sway fell to pieces only a
short time ago. 1t offered his wares in
their most attractive form. but there
was none present to swell the treasury
The gross receipts of a weeks work were
SOU. A few miles away "Erminie' was
appearing as a pretender to the throne
II made war-not with shield and sword
sock and buckskin, but with Delighted
heralds and gay music During the same
period the usurper found men focking
to his standard with the greatest ra-
pidity, and his returns aggregated over
$1,000.
The king had no more devoted follower
than Augustin Daily. This courtier draped
his throne in costly silks and employed
men and women of worldwide reputation
TO deliver his words. Never was the work
of royal man more sumptuously offered
During the season Mr.. Daily succeeded in
presenting 'As You Like It" for ten per-
formances; Tanning of the Shrew' for
fifteen; Merry Wives of Windsor for
sixteen and Twelfth Night for eight.
| In the same building Number Nine" a
contemporary German farce was enacted
/ Tor twenty nights: "Lilli Use" a light op-
| era, was sung thirty times THE Geisha''
/ was given at fifty-tive performances and
| The Circus Girl was rendered ninety
seven times. The work of the king received
/ the recognition of forty-nine nights lauda-
/ ton while that of the pretender was heard
! over two hundred times. Were the receipts
| OF each performance given more might be
\ known
Besides this proof let It be cited that
/ Otis Skinner. an able follower, tried a
| Shakespearian repertoire and abandoned
| ii. The public want modern plays" he
said. Julia Marlowe. too. is deserving her
| sovereign and a dozen more are follow
| ing in her footsteps
/ Booth and Barrett failed financially at
| the Broadway Theater in New York.
! Truly, even then the king was dead
] AS has been said. the demise has been
/ long delayed. The critical who have
placed themselves upon a pedestal have
/ feared a fall did they cease to worship
He understands what we do not-there-
J fore, we must pretend to understand what
! he does was what the subjects said and
their half-hearted support kept his mai
| esty alive Even now there are hundreds
who dare not face the truth. When they
; realize that the end has come il will be
/ 10 mourn over the degenerate impulses
! that allowed a royal parsonage to die.
Those who will say that all men must
J go the same way in time, whatever their
: worth, will be laughed at and jeered al
/ and scoffed at immoderately. And yet all
/ men must
The day of abiect and studious worship
| has ended. People go to the theater TO
| be amused after their days labor. They
| neither care to study out nor study over
what they SEQ To quote very modern
classic, 1T is to laugh" and even those
| who admire most must yield readily. This
is busy world and men have no time TO
worry over what they have seen before
| The tendency is not degenerate, a hum
| dred years from now this age will have
its own kings and emperors. and they
too. viii live and die as, has the late
| potentate. There have been good actors
| since Edwin BOoth-there have been ca
pable playwrights since William Shake
| speare. Times change and change
| with them. Dramas are altered and styles
are done over.
Today we might call Booth ranter and
| ar clocutionst. We would probably
| laugh at the makeshifts that were then
used in excellent productions. An age
! ago Edmund Keene saw nothing strange
| III st"pp'nS III he middle of mis- part to
| consult the prompter-today he would
| have been ruined by such an act Twen-
ty years back there, was nothing more
| natural than the use Of knickerbockers.
trunks, riding boots. red stockings and
| an unkempt wig in a classic ToLa-nOw
even q Mansfield is scored for wearing
shoes the soles of which ape soiled.
For dramatic use there have been bet
ter plays constructed Of late than the
! king ever wrote. Methods and modes
| is so no longer. For the practical use of
| everyday stage work ''Trilby'' was as
good a Noduct as Hamlet" Ridicule
and laughter and jeering will not down
the truth.
From a literary standpoint the king
| still lives. Shakespeare will be read and
admired by countless generations for
ages TO come. The plays for which pub
lie demand was too little to bring forth
| actors to present them viii be studied in
| the privacy of the library. Their beau
tiful wording and wonderful philosophy
| will be enjoyed, and the quaint language
and phrasing will be looked up at leisure.
| Shakespeare will be read centuries after
| the stage knows him no more.
But still the abdication OF the theatre
| cal throne is complete. The fact that
! those who prOphesied the fall could not
| take the vacant place does not alter the
! matter. Cant about the ignorance of the
| times and the frivolity of the modern
| play will not change things. One might
as well accept what comes without de-
mur. The king is dead-long live the
king!'