The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-24
THE STAGE HERE And ABROAD.
onsERyATIONS on A NATIONAL
THEATRE BY q. b. SHAW.
un. Is . Practical Perse0 and Has mao
,,eai Things TO say About H-Br sther
t1tch Asks WHOM nun tho Theatre.
and GENTLY GIrds ~ Hb Critics.

George Bernard Shaw is very practical
- despite his fantastic idealisns and
II. ,orship of Ibsen. Wagner and Shaw.
T.ve YOU read what he says on the subject
Tan Independent. a National or Interna-
,,onsl or Cosmc Theatre-any Of the above
Ids ia available? In one Of his matchless
n,s,.oes Mr. Shaw writes:
NV. want theatre which shall be to the
d,sna what the National Gallery and British
TaseSm are to painting and literature. We
an set BY endow ,h Y The ne sane way ~ The
z And such a nucleus for a national tn atre
y was presented In the case of the National
% tf srsS MSs Ss sS Ss e cs,,n IL
va @s' sloane ooiectionsi No dopbt this Is the
npoper moment for my old ally, the indie
dsfHSse ane 70 invite a attention By modest
e Soth, fu percsivs that hey VIII Be- q. II:
hey already are OF even uniting the sup
norter OF the New Drama.
The proper action Is to form an influential
Ses %na'is,s in f +, and With as many persons
Of title as possible. for the purpose OF APP
efS Sroposil that he shall. under a guarantee
q afternoon periormancss Of ihs GLASS n.
ssr Tdha y business il the Som%it.ss
II that case, The Arst performances viii Be
ihs beginning OF classic rrepssrtory for the
Guent perioTIssnoe viii extend. The lorna.
S he The AND % a. aasd a bend
lsS po,puiaS oSpesrts and win Eventually
be number OF performances at his own risk
The committee plan. ! may remind
. crtics; has been IN operation In tondon
opera
Making all due allowance for different
conditions-fancy influential persons OF
title approaching Charles or Daniel Froh-
man!-the chief point made by Mr.. Shaw
Is unmistakable: An influential Ia vile
mittee utthoM any actors, critics or dra-
matists on it, In q word, Mr. Shaw fore
saw the same danger We foresoe hero
axe-grinding. Hence, his advocacy Of a
lay committee; hence the sanity Of his
proposition.
And as to that other danger which timid
persons of anti-Semitic tendencies antici-
pate, t. O., the Decentralization of the theatre
here, Mr. Shaw may be again quoted. and
probably:
that the influence Of the rich Jews on the the
atIe is any worse than the Influence Of the rich
OF any other race Other Qualities being equal.
men become rich In commerce In proportion
" the Intensity and exclusiyeness OF their
desire for money. II may be o misfortqno
s sbSys q the SS Ssa
% influence the, Theatre tend sSerythins else is,
Poss that sseii adusnqs Is any nsSIer when
hey imagine themselves Christians. than
casn &c .aa N tSs nss
on the theatre IL that 1t In exotic. and 10 not
only customers influence but q Annnciers'
ct for those plays that appeal specially 70
the jewish taste.
Imagine themselves Christians' Ia a
true ironic Shaw phrase and would delight
Toistoy. These excerpts are OF interest
just now. for there Is q. gallant fight on
Theatre. We wish It we'll, as we wish
well all enterprises that aim at being ar
tistio. But Y !. 9 little too early % Dc.
enterprise until We see the repertory Of the
new one. There. at least, we got John
Gabriel Borkmann' and several plays
Of intensity. BY Echegeray and others.
It will not be wise TO let the pendulum
direction and bring In q lot OF mediocre
productions. even II they. are American
born. It may evidence profound depravtty
OF taste, but We prefer Ibeen TO the so-called
patriotic barnyard plays, full Of hap-doodle
sentiment and ammoniacal odors.
Clyde Fitch's address before q Harvard
club contained many good things. Mr..
Fitch, like Joseph Jefferson, Is opposed TO q
national theatre. Who shall run itf he
He thinks Ibsen o master
who has Influenced playwrights, but one
that never can be popular In America.
For that matter neither In Shakespeare
popular. The circus IL the only real popu-
lar firm Of amusement in America. It's
appeal is universal Naturally when we
say Shakespeare We don't mean scenic
with the poet showed into q
corner and only allowed to emerge when
q burst Of limelight splendor has ended.
That Is popular. And that is not Shake
speare. The genuine Shakespeare. there
fore, is not popular.
It was mean. however. OF Mr.. Fitch to fool
the dramatic critics. They are credulous,
lot. They take the dramatist-
any old dramatist-at his own face value.
They believe In him. So to fool them, to
juggle with their ingenious souls. is COM
hitting an unpardoiable offence. According
TO Mr. Fitchs account he introduced a
scene in one Of his plays wherein he made
nail n dozen women tAlk I'll ~ inc same tifDo
in sentences of such absolute Stiffness that
one had to laugh for no other reason than
the perfect inanity OF the thing The
solemn. trusting critics -deecri bed the scene |
a. remarkable for It's brilliant dialogue
Why not, Brother Clyde. why notf Making |
half dozen women talk all at once was . |
brilliant stroke to begin with; making them |
NY absolutely silly things vas tremen- |
dously truthful and brilliant. PAywrights |
are so under the iron dominion OF femi- |
nine influence IN this country that they put |
Al their good speeches In the mouths Of |
their women characters.
Not to do this II to be as daring rs an |
Ibsen; II Is to tell the horrid truth. Women |
are not always brilliant when q dozen CON- |
verse In dissonant ensemble. Mr.. Fitch /
has dared 70 gay 80. He has given US a |
slice OF life-as lola phrased II; he 70
pIoneer. And his critios, with true critical |
prescienoe, announced the fact only TO be |
houted, made mock Of and otherwise held |
up TO soorn In a New York newspaper. |
sharper than the canary's whistle! DC.
What was this play7 Was IL THE Frisky |
Girl with the Stubborn Green Cagef' Any
how, the Fitch dialogue Of one play Is about |
~ brilliant as the Fitch dialogue Of another |
play. Perhaps that Is where the critics |
up-slipped. Why wax wroth at worthless |
waS, Mr.. Fitch? The next play az yours we ,
ehnll he timid about the dialoQue-the |