The sun., 1903-08-17
A Society OF ThcatregOers.

We have received the September " Bull
letin Of the National Art Theatre
Society" or the society which has been
organized for the ambitious purpose
of building and maintaining in New York
great theatre the structure OF which,
planned on a scale of monumental
grandeur and architectural dignity, "
shall represent its noble and beautiful
conception. As type Of what such a
structure should be the Bulletin prints
a picture Of the famous Hof-Burg Thea
ter Of Vienna, and nowhere in the world
could it find better.
1t is large proposition, to use the
slang of the business world of the present
time; for TO build and equip and main
tain such a theatre would require a
capital of millions of dollars; but this
society does not seem to be discouraged
By the magnitude Of the undertaking.
1t is engaged in enrolling members, and
the list of them in the Bulletin comprises
toward six hundred Very many of the
most distinguished artists OF the stage
are included in it, and it contains,
also. representative bankers merchants,
clergymen, college professors and au-
thors, both men and women.
With this membership increased to
many thousands, the society expects "to
secure to this theatre for all time audi
ences great enough to assure to it suffi-
cient financial support. Thus, it says
there will be associated together "a most
impressive array of theatrcgoers de-
voted to the better things of the drama, "
representative Of "the play-going public
in its best sense, people who will be
privileged to enjoy from time to time the
literary and other entertainments now
being outlined as part of the programme
to be put in force by the National Art
Theatre The annual fees received from
these members, however, are apart from
tho subscription fund for the theatre
itself
Ten or fifteen years ago, an attempt
was made in New York TO elevate the
the formation of a special society which
started off briskly and gave some dra-
matte representations in hired theatre
to its selected membership; but the p res
ent society announces with great en-
phasis that it will avoid the rock on which
that earlier attempt went TO pieces very
speedily, namely, the theory that native
play-writing genius needed recognition
managers sordid enough to consult the
public taste in the selection OF PLAYS for
representation This new society declares
that it is not to be theatre of faddsts
Ia term of bad promise for an association
which assumes to represent high taste
and cultivationl nor for the encourage
ment Of any particular cult, nor hospi-
tai for rejected manuscripts, but will be
a repertory theatre, conducted on broad
and conservative lines like the great
subsidized theatres of Europe, which are
semi educational in character.
All depends on the ability of the society
to raise the great amount of capital re-
quired for the enterprise, and, that ac-
complished, on its ability to run theatre
practically by board OF management
which begins by an outrage on the English
language. Success could come only in
beating the competition Of the existing
theatres Noble as may be the spirits
engaged in forming the National Art
Theatre Society, that is hard job to
accomplish. But the picture of the Hof-
Burg Theater Of Vienna is provocation
to hope that it may succeed, if its tri-
umph is to mean the erection OF such
a theatre in New York.