The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1902-06-21
The Irish Drama.

The drama that passed as Irish until
Boucicaults time was almost wholly
absurd when it was not worse. 1t was
the product either of foreigners ignor-
in England. who, choosing the line of
least resistance, followed the English
tradition of the freshman as a blum
dering fool. a hectol'ng adventurer, or
registering blacksuard, says the
United Irishman. TO lug in an Irish
man and make him lutlicrOus was Il
certain way of carrying Il bad play
through before 4 British audience, an
even the better class of English dr;,-
matists did not hesitate to resort to
this practice-and ressrt to it so much
that they reused the resentment Of
Charles Churchil-one of the few
honest men born of the British nation
and impelled him to write:
Long from Il nation ever hardly used
At random censured - wantonly
abused
Had Britain drawn her sp TT with par
tial view,
And blamed the many for the rascal
few.
David Garrick, when he wrote bad
play, centerng on Il vulgar woman,
made the vulgaran an Irish widow,
and the Britishcrs received it with
rapture. Brnsley Sheridan. when III
wanted hectorng fellow, mcanly
drew an lrishman, delratcly insin,mt
ing to his patrons that British nature
was above that kind Of thing.
George Wood, when he required Il doe
tor for his adaptation of MDlcre's lie
Medicin MalGre I.,li,' drew a rascally
lrishman, and Blackstone. Selby, ana
Lord Glengnll, when they slung "rhc
Irish Lion" and 'rhe Irish Drag CON-
and "The Irish Tutor" together, in.
Obliged to the full the Eng .isllman S
pleasant belief in his own moral SUI
periority and the lrisllman's absllnlity
and dishonesty. Rayle Bernard, Il
cleverer writer than any of these lat.
ter, while he did not conceal his adj
miration for the Irish character and
his half contempt for the English in
"The Irish Attorney" succumbed to
the temptation to make his Irshman
hard drinker.
or the other plays we have cnumer,
ated, it may be briefly said that "The
Whiteboys,' by p. II. Grattan. pan.
ders to the English idea of themselves
as q generous, honorable, well-mcaninc
race whose errors are occasioned by
the receptions practiced on them
poor dears!-and that the "Shauyh.
raun' is tainted with the same fault
that IRELAND as 1t Is" "Pyke O'Cal
laghan," "Eileen Oge,' Peep o. Day
and Robert Emmett while objec
tionable in most ways, are sheer rub
bish; that king O'NeIl," by Mrs
I Gore, is too trivial; the Irish Ambas
Il sador" thing unworthy Of considera
ton, and candy Blake" tainted Will
+ the faults OF the "Shaughraun." Low
er's pieces, such as Barney the Ba
4 ron" and "The Happy Man" are. d.
Y spite the genuine humor to be founj
In them, impossible as Irish plays, ant
the same remark applies to blanche.
Irish Post" '"rhe Colleen Bawn'
s and "Arrah-na-P ogue" are not particu
larly Objectionable. but they have beer
played to tatters.
"St. Patrick's Day" by Brinse.
Sheridan is infinitely amusing ant
4 there is no travesty of the Irish char
acter in it; but there is reilly nothing
Il Irish about it. If the English soldiers
be cut out of it and Lieutenant O'Con
n nor turned into.s a decent civilian
there would be nothing to object to il
dts production. The other plays we
named "Brian Boroimhe," by Sheri
dan Knowles; Rory OAIore'' and
The White Horse of the Peppers" by