The times., 1901-05-13
Made I'm England.

To the casual observer of the theatri-
cal season just closing, it looks very
much as if at the present time no play
would be accepted on this side of the
water without the label Made in Eng
land" or possibly Made in France"
Two or three American dramatists, it is
true. have won moderate success with
single plays, but at least one Of these,
Paul Kester. had to get his play pro-
duced in England before it had a chance
here.
This is condition of things which it
is not well to encourage, but the ques-
tion is how it can successfully be dis
couraged. 1t is certainly not well for
the art Of America to be SO permanently
under the domination Of that of another
country that nothing original can have
a chance here. A similar state Of af-
fairs existed during the Second Empire.
when French clothes, French furniture,
and French novels had so great an in
huence over American civilization that
the influence has never quite been
shaken off. It was a favorite trick
of certain would-be cosmopoIitans dur
ing that period to compliment some es-
peciaIIy superior bit Of decoration in an
American house by remarking that it
was really quite like Paris" It never
seemed 10 occur to these expatriated
Americans that TO be truly cosmopoIi-
tan one must not be devoid Of apprecia-
tion for ones own country. It is not
sign of highly cultivated taste to 20
wild over the charm Of peasant life in
Brittany or Tuscany, the patience and
beauty Of sordid lives on Russian
farms, and be totally blind to the same
qualities as they exist in the Mississip-
pi Valley. one does not gain much by
falling so in love with the Alps as 10
be unable to see beauty in the Yosemite. /
and il is not proof Of progress 10 re- /
Ject American plays, the work OF Amer /
lean playwrights, and flock to see Eng
lish buriesgues or French sfarces.
There is one thing and cnly one |
which during the present season has
tended 10 the production of plays Of |
American life. and this, though it is /
not very good thing in itself. is so |
much better than the thing which il |
counteracts that it may be called good. |
il is the dramaTization Of popular nov 1
els. Most Of the books thus dramat!zed /
have been American, and more than /
one OF them has given the character
actor chance for telling bits Of work.
which are always popular. and are rea-
son enough in themselves for the sue
cess Of the play. There Is always an
audience for the play which depicts the
man whom we see every day walking
down the street or the queer character
whom we remember seeing in the coun-
try town Of ou- childhood There is
also public for the play which carries
Some favor Of historical interest and
the dramatized novels have belonged 10
these two classes.
The principles Of art are somewhat
different from those Of commercialism,
and II f. mistake to try TO mix the
two 10 any great extent. The use Of
French silks and wallpapers, or Of Eng
lish tweeds and Sheffield knives. or Of
japanese fans. does not hurt this couu-
try IL IS best that specialization In
manufacture should be carried as far
as il can be. and If the workmen OF this
country can learn 70 make as good cloth
and silk and paper as those Of any other
country. SO much the better. But when
French or English ideals dominate our