The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-04-22

-. lake theatre goerS hau qui ="
e. during the past week. When
s'' 20. announced that a production
u We a Vadis" would come to the
o. theatre. people shrugged their
'Ta -l,5.re and smiled. And indeed II
siio '5,'ie,,1t to imagine a serious, dlgnl-
Wa uu-Ii,,;o,1z drama on the stage Whlch
neG Ili,o7con,nodated so many roar
Hau go and minstrel exhibitions.
IL ,-l,o had not read the DOCK tx
IHoa q Iurid melOdrama-and
De- This is practically what they
tIu,i, nrly This melOdrama, owing TO
cel' g.--,',qi7Iis element, appeared to nave
the '-,.-,.rsrfty than those of the Ken
nor a-5 tennessee variety. Those
tuCAS I'd read the book could form no
WIZ --r.irD of the drama to be present
COM, t5,,,.re.aus was impossible. and as
e. I'D. -orr OF adequate representa-
loI Iii The company came from no
uoN 80 where. the actors were I'M
one d. and the whole thing seemed
hr ..b an unauthorized, irresponsible
SUI" ~ an affair. as we all know, IL
80 ant 10 he a very palataDle pro
.,l.l+fap for the price, and those VINO
dug'i 80 .r4 book had very much the
pau lr tpa bargain. Those familiar
Dtst %. situations and descriptions OF
WIN ,- ,.r.ob has been dramatiZed,
. ~, aver frvoiuntarily. all the DIS
D--7,lfas and see a more complete
-.tar Those who hear only the lines
p"!L -tare version. and see only its
Ol...,ati5rs II one wishes to judge &C
l.,.-o.olv of the play, il is better not to
cue ~ea tf. book. For enjoyment,
-. ,tbar u'au is the wiser.
Il n5,rbfrasq many Of these acapters de-
"a mon the familiarity of the public
~ The book. and the bridging over
WV" We caves the day. In Children
ro.t- ca-ffn" the opposite was true.
ga ,T hal, Was too fragmentary to form
l Il- so-t of bridge for the equally frag-
rentary play W., ---o-o
I,,ed I'M New York a couple of
Isre ago Coming after 'Ben-hur,
va tba Ghetto drama, they have
oli,,d q storm of discussion concerning
!gI i,gIarce Of tn, religious drama.
:. noe noticed long aSc that QUO
It.I,s" was yerv mucn like The Sign
~. Gross which was seen in Salt
T.ta last wear. The Sign of the
cross was a we'll staged, well-acted
,,slodrama with a religious element
rss5 to make palatable some scenes
~ .r.rbaflcallv would not edify a
e.rdav school class. These scenes in
e.bsr nlays would bring down a storm
~ reformation. In our little produc-
g. ~ como VaGis" the other night,
similar scenes lost significance by
rsgsor of a lack of temDeramental fire
~, tps mart of the actors. But they
,rsra there and in the hands Of the
"sion of the Cross company, for IN
sta1ce could have been made equally
suggestive In this way the religious
drama" IS made TO appeal to curiosity
and other base characteristics, just as
Trrrb as that class of society plays
which profess to do nothing else. If
there is anyone so deluded as TO think
that The religious play rivals the
church in spiritual influence, he is
varv greatly mistaken. At the same
time there is no denying that the
religious element in play gives 1t i'm
pressiveness. dignity. and strength
which no other theme can impart- /
Therefore it gains az a theatrical enter
tafnment. Writing on this same sub
iect in last Sundays New York
Journal. Alan Dale says:
The real religious play is a play
that has a human lesson to teach, and
has nothing whatsoever to do with
creeds. The Cody may not have
guessed that they were watching any
thing particularly holy. The char
acters were not labeled Jew Chris !
tian.' Catholic The leading roles /
did not utter prayers to heaven, or !
c5ndescendingly declaim charming de- /
lenses for the religions that didn't need |
Them But the essence of these plays |
was religious. And. after all, it s the |
essence with which thinking people are I
concerned" These observations sug /
gest another point. A play. 10 he in |
fuential for good, must influence all !
classes, Irrespective of creed, and this |
is impossible Tor the average religious |
drama. The narTOW-minded. the pre- !
JUDGED and the unchaTitable Of oppOS- |
ING ornad9 will find d point here aid /
there 70 hang objections on, and the /
hrSt thing We know. the religious |
drama breeds additional narrowness |
and hatred. Any religious lesson. to /
be holy, 10 be potent to be beneficial, |
must embody the lesson of charity. |
Without the grains Of brOtherly love |
ana consideration there can be no |
harvest for the soul. All this is not |
meant to convey the impression that |
me religious drama is not interesting,
ana even instructive in some instances. !
Inc incidents 0f early Christianity are /
me most dramatic i'm the world. and 1
are ~ great value from a stage point /
OF View. Therefore. the religious 4
drama as dramatic entertainment. is /
success as religious influence it is !
olt o' place in this modern world OF the /
aIHasHly dollar. The vitascOpe pic ]
lures of The Passion Play, given in /
churches 1r Tor Sunday entertain /
IsAlS are twice as much Of a religious |
influence