The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-03-12

rich old hulk for thea sake of her wild
owed mother, in the expectation that ne
viii soon die and leave her rich and at
liberty to wed thel man she really loves
The old husband lives for ten years.
years of torment for her. and when at
last he does die, her lover has ceased
to care for her, and she has no longer
any notion of any happiness but luxury.
As a. second husband she takes a youth
who squanders the fortune for which
she had bartered her happiness. Mr..
Antoine is said to have acted very fine
ly as the discarded lover.
John Hare was entertained by the
London Players Club recently and de-
livered a speech, Of which some parts
are worth quoting:
He had always held, he said. that the
greatest enemies to the old name of the
drama-thosa who fed and engendered
the anita gonisms towards it existing in
the minds of the prejudiced and the
vulgar-sprang too often from the
ranks of the stage itself. The play
wright who wrote filthy play, the
actor who prostituted his ability to base
uses, did much to tarnish the good name
and fame of the drama and the stage.
The very prosperity of the English
stage had its dangers for those who
were of it. The actor was apt to come
outside Of his art, to fancy himself
much greater object of interest to the
world than he really was and fool
ishly enough to forget that his doings
his sayings, his spendings and his saw
ings are of no earthly interest to any
save himself. This was a danger to
the dignity Of their calling which actors
should bear in mind. Let them be
content that their name should rest
upon their work and avoid mistaking
notoriety for reputation. No speech
on the subject of the drama would be
complete without a reference to Ibsen.
but the subject was one which he ap
preached with the greatest diffidence.
Personally, he had no belief in those
faddists and cranks who from time to
time sprang up in every art to disturb
the existing state of things by sheer
audacity and eccentricity. His expert
ence taught him that such monstrous
artistic upheavals generally subsidized
forever into obscurity. He was not
presumptious enough to proheSy such
q. fate for the MASTER" whose realis
tic method. indeed, had done much to
revolutionize what was artificial and
false in the drama of the day. His
influence on the younger school of dra-
matists might prove of incalculable
value in making them go to truth and
nature for their models. But there
were pleasant and unpleasant truths,
and it was with the former that the
stage should most concern itself. The
odor of asafetida might be agreeable
to some, but it was apt to blunt the
senses to the perfume of the rose. As
an original genius he admired Ibsen;
as an acting playwright he frankly de-
tested him. Ibsen was like that very
precious and costly form of green tea
unpalatable to drink by itself, but in
valuable for mixing purposes. One
drop of Ibsen in a wineglassful of
Pinero, in his more serious and aca-
demic mood, was delightful and in
MIGRATING mixture.
Dramatic Mirror: Those sapient per-
sons that insist that the Shakespearean
drama is dead must indeed have broad
horizons And the local manager who
recently announced his purpose to pro
duce" a Shakespearean play must have
eovery. or that his action would resur-
rect name defunct and bestow upon
it long deserved and long neglected
honors.
There are "a dozen stars in this coun-
try playing Shakespeare all the time.
If it be urged that these actors are
minor actors, greater is the testimony
to the power of Shakespeare; for if
,Tt NV -irf, Of
Shakespeare appear as stars, they
might be forced into subordinate posi-
lions in the companies that devote
themselves to contemporary drama.
Their experience proves the eagerness
of the public to witness Shakespeare
even when he is indifferently inter-
preted. 1t goes without saying that
this testimony is from time to time sup
plemented by that afforded by the peri
odical reversion of great players to
Shakespeare. who draws when every
other device Of art and management
fails to find public response.
Something relevant to this is fur
nished in a statement of the repertoire
of the Royal Theater of Berlin during
1898 OF the eighty odd plays acted
at that theater during the period, twelve
were Shakespeare's. The Shakespear-
can representations numbered thirty
three, while there were but twenty
seven representations of Schiller, and
but eleven of Goethe. In theaters
throughout Germany and in ether Eu-
ropean countries. Shakespeare is more
frequently represented than any other
author, living or dead. A glance at
the Mirrors pages of record from
week to week will reveal the facts as
to Shakespeare in this country.
San Francisco Music and Drama:
State legislators have some peculiar
ideas about constitutional rights and
the privilege of discriminating against