Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1902-05-13
INFLUENCE Of DRAMA
FREDERICK WARDE BEFORE
SOCIAL SCIENCE CLUB
Shakespeare and His Imprint On
Minds Of People For Three Gen.
turies Past Questions Asked
Tragedian,

The Social Science Club had the great
pleasure last night OF listening TO Fred.
erick Warde. the eminent tragedian
who spoke on The Effect of the Ora.
ma Upon Civilization" Although the
weather was bad the great desire to
hear Nj Narde. called out a large at.
tendance to the home Of Judge Frear
Punahou, where the meeting was held.
Mr.. Warie traced the influence of the
drama upon history from the earliest
times he said that the plays OF
Shakespeare have had. for three hun
dred years q powerful influence on the
literature and the thought and conduct
Of the time. They have been studied
more than any other works of poet OIL
dramatist, have been more widely quot.
ed and their impress upon the thought
| of humanity Is more visible. They have
been a text book of philosophy and OF
human nature for three centuries, and
for ages to come. they will mold the
thoughts and habits of men. In con-
Guiding this part OF his discourse, the
/
Shakespeare write these plays? would
as soou douOt the authenticity and Holt
ness Of the Lords prayer, which
learned to lisp at my mothers knee. az
! to doubt that Shakespeare was the au.
thor o. the works that bear his name"
The spea,.cr appealed to the students
of Shakespeare to seek for his spirit,
TO regard his c!earness and simplicity,
the majesty Of his teachings. the
breadth AMI humanity Of his view and
not to worry over misplaced commas
ana mlu1r anachronisms.
The next point taken up by the
| speaker va, the wOrthiness OF the
stage as p factor In civilization. Have
we high, :uded stage? II not. whose
fault Is ic?' we're questions asked b.
Mr.. Warie. he contended that it was
/ not the irlmatist's fault. for TO pro-
duce an immortal play is the natural
goal of his AIT. Nor was 1t the man.
ayers fault, because he is only too
! eager 20 meet the appreciation of the
public. No more was II the actors
I fault beraGse I: Is his ambition to win
fame Ia the noblest interpretations.
The fault was that of the public. What
II asks for and pays for, the manager
provides. Perhaps the public might be
educateN 10 better things but managers
will not do that at their own expense.
If the public would support the drama
as they do the schools. there would be
chance for playwright and the ac-
tor to mouit public taste. AS things
are nov, the must accept and follow
ii.
Mr., Wirie registered rebuko
against the plays which turn upon the
| sins of sex. saying the subject had no
place on the stage but should be left
TO each mans conscience.
| Next came a discussion of the char
acter OF the players. The speaker urg.
/ ed that as the stage was never so full
as now OF high-minded men and wo-
men who lead earnest, sincere and stu.
dious lives, there should be closer
union between 1t and other agencies OF
public good. Said Mr.. Warde In con.
clusion:
In New York We have the Actors
Church Alliance, headed by Bishop Pot.
ter, an organization which has its
| chaplaiIs IN many cities. Actors and
preachers are often brought together
at our meetings and thus many false
impressions are removed on both sides.
The preachers say: Why surely these
are not eYt! minded people. and actors
say: These men are not narrow and
| austere, and they part with lust
opinion Of each other. | hope to see
the time when the church the stage
and the Sahoo! will be united in the
work OF civilization. The day will come
the sooner If people will go TO good
plays ana avoid bad ones. Then they
will help Us 10 build up a drama that ia
an honor ana an inspiration to its
time IA stage that Is NOBLE and pure,
and actors who can attain the best that
fit to place them"
When Mr.. Warde had finished speak.
ing one OF the members asked II IL was
not possible for the stage to deal with
I the social evil in a way to achieve 4
moral purpose, Mr.. Warde said he
preferred to leave such things to the
individual conscience or to books.
Problem plays brought the secrets OF
the dissecting room upon the stage
where they had no right to be.
Another member referred to the Ba-
CONAN theory and Mr.. Warde answer
ed that there was no evidence in any OF
the plays Of Bacon's hand. He was a
writer OF pure logic, a man without
imagination. His bent of mind made
it impossible for him to conceive such
play as Romeo and Juliet" to say
nothing of writing it.
Continuing, the speaker said it could
be seen that the dramas of Shakespeare
were written by an observer rather
than scholar Of university training
Shakespeare was one "who looked
quite through the deeds of men"
A vote Of thanks was rendered Mr.
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