Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-22
ABOUT PLAYS PLAYERS AND %PLAYHOUSES

contaminated by the presence Of the
trust" 70 be sure. the chances Of the
actor. under these conditions. for being
paid IN stage money and subslsting on
property" food. would be excellent. but
art would gain immensely.
A national thester will not bring the
relief sought for by the Post man. for Il
will be dominated by politics. even as the
stage Is today dominated by commercial
ism" What IL noeded is the fierce CON-
petition Of Independent theaters. filed
with stock companies. in which actors
can be made. and where the genius Of the
playwright VIII receive due and proper
recognition. In this be finds the sweets
OF the uses Of adversely. for out OF the
wreck and crash OF the terrible theatrical
trust will come the revivihoation Of the
stock company. Actors may not eat a.
often as they do. and newspapers will not
be paid such large sums in money for ad-
vertisine. but Art will flourish. and arts
the thing. Hear him:
without stock companies there will be
no supply OF good actors and without them
there can be no theatrical resurrection.
There must be d reversion to FIRST pTin-
and II may be nearer thar superhclal
observers suspect our present managsrs
by their short-siEhted policy. are killing
the goose that has laid their golden eggs.
aney have filled their theaters and are
building more. but they have stopped the
production OF actors and made play-writing
either discreditaole OF hopeless. sooner OF
later a financial crash is inevitable ana
when Il comes there viii be a period OF
terrible trial for the profession. But that
Il what is needed. Nothing else Will com
pei a revival Of individual enterprise. To-
day the whole army of mumrners are the
placid slaves OF a solvent oligarchy. Left
70 their own resources, they must combine
or starve. But with the dissolution OF the
trusts will come again the day OF the really
independent theater. With the independ-
ent theater will come the honest and hon
orable competition in the race OF th ma
been the rough but kindly foster-mother
Of art; and thus, and not otherwise, VIII
Shakepperean function as the abstract and
brief chronicles of the time.
Some consolation for the trust" may be
found In the admission by Mr.. Hilary Bell
in his last Sunday letter that the people
OF New York pay little IL any attention
to the dramatic critics of Gotham, but
keep right on going to the plays Just the
same. Mr.. Bell, in the same letter, re-
ferrinG to the critic of the Post, says his
chief charac&ristic is that he takes him
self seriously and has not the ability 10
discriminate. but insists on treating Shake
speare and Hoyt from the same stand
point.
stin further consolation is found in the
fact that at least two Of Clyde Fitchs
latest plays have proved failures. The
Bird in the Cage" was put on with the
best o~btalnable company, but the people
would not have 1t. And now Amelia Bing-
ham finds that The Frisky Mrs. johnson"
doesn't frisk worth a cent. Neither press
nor public will have the play. BY the way.
Miss Bingham is not only her own manager
nowadays. but her own press agent, and
aspires to be her own dramatic critic.
She called all the young men OF the New
York papers into her dressing room on
Tuesday after the first presentation Of
The Frisky Mrs. Johnson" and read them
a lecture on the unkindness Of their re-
marks concerning the play. One paper had
gone so far as to say that Mrs. Johnson
wasn't frisky at all. and thereupon pre-
cipitated a dispute as to the definition Of
the word frisky. The Tribune, with its
customary exactitude. prints the definition
Of the word as given in the Century dc
tionAry, and insists that Miss Bingham
doesn't come within forty rows OF apple
trees of realizing the meaning Of the word.
For once the papers are unanimous. and
their verdict is that the play won't do.
The public seems inclined to accept the
decision of the press. and, despite the fact
that Miss Bingham assures the world that
It is 1.-The best comedy / have ever acted
in" the seats at the Princess are empty.
The Bird in the Cage" fell fiat for the
very good reason that Il was the cheapest
sort OF melodrama, with little or nothing
to relieve its deadly dullness. 1t had one
or two impossible characters. and these
were 50 constructed that even the clever
actors who were cast for the part we're
unable to give them life. The New York
Sun advises Mr.. Fitch to rest and reform. &"
By all means let him rest; reform is a