The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-05-03
Local PldygOeTS.
Their Intelligence. Their Fay
or for Good Plays, Their
Progress, and Their Many,
Many Faults.

lone and unhappy merit of appearing to
be fashionable. They are, as he sees
them, otherwise noisy, tardy. unsym-
pathetic and VIGOROUSLY unappreciattve.
This is not all After a long study he
has reluctantly concluded that this lack
of sympathy is not a consequence If
GOODNESS and general self-restraint at
all. but an unhappy sign of comparative
ignorance.
This actor has had the misfortune TO
appear in Washington as star in three
or four plays altogether without merit
He represents those actors who create
the impression of acting and center the
attention, not on the character, but the
man. So it is that his reception in
Washington has been uniformly unkind.
Under these circumstances it is we'll
perhaps to discount his criticism; but
the episode, together with recent view
of an audience in another city. suggests
that we here in Washington may do we'll
to look at ourselves in the glass
Recruited From Selected Class
1t would be strange. indeed. if a char
acteristic Washington audience did not
represent high degree of intelligence.
The average wage is the highest in the
country The number of persons en-
ployed is proportionately higher than IN
any other city, excepting alone certain
sweatshop communities. II follows,
therefore, that the class from which good
theaters recruit their following is pro-
portionately large in Washington and
proportionately more intelligent than in
any other American city.
Manifest as these conditions are they
tell only half the story. Washington
theaters include in their patronage the
most highly cultured, the most studious
and the most fashionable citizens OF
the District. If. then, the theaters com
mand an attendance comparable in size
with that usual in the theaters of other
cities, it follows as night unto day that
this patronage is also OF an exceptional
intelligence. Furthermore, this inteIli-
gence is regularly increasing Eight out
OF ten theatergoers are employed in the
Government departments. The personnel
OF this department force is continually
occupied in self-improyement. It's clerks
attend professional schools, study in the
various schools of languages which exist
here. belong TO magazine clubs, or pat
ronize the libraries assiduousIy.Of The
others who attend the theaters number
are--stu1ents at foca, colleges, gatI an
unusually large percentage comes from
Tho local high schools.
A Matter of Geography.
Ali
means. No man with his eyes open can
view an audience in Cincinnati Louis
vile. Chicago, Boston. New York. Phila-
delphia, or Baltimore, and not be sur
prised at the great gulf which separ-
ates ii from a corresponding gathering III
The Capital. The reason is obvious.
Wage earners in those cities are en-
ployed with their hands
So It is that plays of moderate merit,
plays Of apparent strength but intrinsic
weakness, plays dependent upon super
fetal elements of costume and fnvesti-
ture. succeed well elsewhere and only
partially in Washington. This was the
case with Soldiers of Fortune" a
Lady of Quality. ''Papa's Wife" and
the whole range Of musical comedies.
Hundreds of such Instances might be
cited, bdt it would be an unnecessary use
Of space. Managers throughout the thea
trical circuit appreciate this. truth, and
act upon it. and that is proof enough.
a responsibility is, of course, coupled
to this comparative elevation. If Wash
inston can and does appreciate the bet
ter plays it should Of right support such
plays literally. Whe her It does so o. not.
whether Irving's Beckett meets with
as much approval as The Rogers Bro
theirs in Central Park" readers of The
Times need not be told. But this is be-
side the mark Enough has been told TO
indicate conclusively that Washington
audiences are. at least not ignorant.
II would be a matter OF just pride if
the conduct o. our theatergoers were
similarly distinguished. In some respects
it is so, but in many, many others. it
Is open to most pronounced adverse cri- !
ticism.
Old Conditions and New.
Within the past ten years a change
seems to have come over the patrons
OF the four leading theaters. In those
earlier days the stamping of feet and
boisterous demonstration Of approval
were not infrequent even in the or
chestra. Today such conduct is un-
known IN the galleries Applause is !
now a matter Of hand -clapping merely. /
Ind it proves abundant.
Il is true the speech making nuisance
has come upon us instead. If the viii !
of the characteristic Washington gath |
ering in a theater is followed. practical !
-ly every star makes an address before ,
The curtain. What he says is never of I
any Importance. II is usually so bound (
up in cheap afectations OF speech and !
manner as 10 be unintelIigible. 1t is, /
finally, unlikely that any actor under /
such circumstances could contribute to /
The genuine pleasure of the occasion. ]
But for all this. the speech making goes |
on, and it is an admitted Improvement /
over the cat-calls. shrilI whistles, and |
stamping OF feet which marred our the !
atrical entertainment of the early nine
ties. Such regard for the actor as this |
mania for speeches suggests is hardly |