The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-01-25
Sign of New Era.
Better Vaudeville Sketches Bespeak
Literary Advance.

Literary ADVANCE
The future of polite vaudeville /
sketches-those abbreviated plays Ike (
The Two JuIiets' at Chase's this week /
now appears to be bright" said a pro I
moter OF polite vaudeville who was in
Washington Thursday a prophet has
arisen to lead the twice-a-day managers !
and players out Of the wilderness Of
witIess and worthless one-act connections /
that from time to time wear out the pa
thence Of audien ees-
This is augustus Thomas. the master
craftsman of simOn-Dur American
plays. whose locale is indicated by their
geographical titIes-'AIabama, 'ATi-
iona. and others. Already he has sent
two original and clever sketches on the
road TO fortune In the polite vaudeville
playhouses- Encouraged by the immedi-
ate ard unexpected return Of profit and
praise. he has resolved to devote part OF
his future time to the writing Of one-act
farces. comedies and dramas.
Such a determination by Mr.. Thomas
Will probably incline other eminent play
wrights to follow suit, and it is. there
fore. not impossible that polite vaude-
Vile will soon possess plays as artistic
and as lasting as those of the higher
priced domain Of the drama, In fact,
there is no reason why the American
stage should not present as fine a col
lection Of native one-act plays as marked
the English stage in the early part Of
/ the last century
What Has Been Done Can Be Done.
..sothern,g An Awful Fix. the best
short comedy ever written, is type Of
what has been in England and what may
/ We, be- in this country if intelligent and
/ experienced methods are employed in the
manufacture Of such amusement prod
ucts. Any current French OF Lacy dra-
matte catalogue can furnish the names
/ Of q hundred other short plays which are
models of construction, plot and dia-
Iogue-
WHAT has been accomplished can be
/ repeated under proper conditions It IS
this which warrants the dream OF the
future Of vaudeville, provided the IA
vo-abIe conditions can be established
In every way the present time indi-
Gates state of transition in the matter
of sketches for the popular theaters-
The old English mine of comediettas
and so forth appears to have been
worked to death by Cohau- Emerich'
/ George Totten Smith. and the others
who have striven during the past few
seasons to provide the public with food
for laughter And the American people
are unwilling to swallow that kind OF
theme that thrIves in France and the
older countries of the Continent Of Eu-
rope.
Tired of Cheap Comedy,
therefore il looks as though, even
in pIaywriting necessity must become
the mother of originality TheateTgoeTs
are wearyinE of the old order Of things,
the critics are waking up and demand
ing short plays of better workmanship,
and now the makers of the drama are
calmly considering the possibilities
oDen to them in the new field. At last
the player folk are conscious OF their
inability tc meet public expectation, and
many talented player that had been
looking to vaudeville as a relief from
oppressive conditions in other branches
of dramatic endeavor, falling 10 find a
vehicle that would satisfy the people
who pay their money to be amused, has
had to retire from the unequal contest.
I Polite vaudeville managers have
seen the drift of things, too. and have
done all they can to exclude the un-
/ WORTHY from their fold. Their associa-
. ton headed by Mr. Chase. has done
everything it could do to encourage
actors that have succeeded in obtain
ing satisfactory sketches. and they pas
for these good deal more money than
Z they warrant. They do it because they
naturally wish to offer the public what
g it wants. no matter what the cost. and
, even if they have TO suffer some loss al
times. Such a policy is profitable anJ
o. successful in the long run.
S 1t was their hope that the success