The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-10
TWO BOARDS, TWO ACTORS AND A
PASSION rs DRAMA, 81 VS. YEATS
Young Irish Poet Debors L0Ue for ExbusfUe Stage Settings
Declares 7heaf1 Has Degeu0ated

That the modern theater has degenerated
from what it was in the days of the an
clients, or even in shakspeare's time, was
the contention made by William Butler
Yeats. the young Irish poet and dramatist,
in his address before the members and
guests of the Athenaeum Club at Butler
University last night. Mr.. Yeats spoke on
'The Theater and What 1t Might Be-"
Together with a little band of writer's and
prominent Irishmen. the young poet is
working hard to revive the ancient glory
and poetry of his native land. He told last
night OF the difficulties of dramatizing the
Irish folk lore tales and securing actors.
81 remember the first play we had" he
said. "a company Of English players were
imported. and, after a short rehearsal, the
play was given. This play told the story of
an aristocratio lady who TO save her people.
who were starving. sold her soul to the
devil that they might be helped. l was a lit
tie skeptical as to the outcome of the play.
knowing the excitable temper of the Irish
peasantry. On the opening night thirty
police were I'm the house. and that the move
was a wise one Is shown by this-in the
harmless plot the audience found at least
four propositions which seemed 70 them TO
be worthy of a riot. One of these was that
no Irshwoman would sell her soul to the
devil"
The fault Of the decadence Of the modern
theater. the speaker said. was in the audi
ence, which demands expensive stage set
tings and cares but little for the worth of
the play In the days of the ancients. he
said, matters were not so The theater then
was used as means of preserving the ira
ditions of the glories of the country, and
this Is the effort that Is now being MADE III
ireland. Give me two trestles, two boards.
two actors and passion, he said, land
there is a drama.
%In London at the present time. as I'm all
OF the larger cities, il is necessary In order
that play may make money, that IL shall
run at least 200 nights. This is caused by
the demand OF the theater patrons for lavish
scenery. i have known plays to run 80
nights and then be withdrawn as failures.
having lost money for the proprietors.' Mr..
Yeats recited the experiences of Sir Henry
Irving In his recent magnificent revival of
Shakespeare. Splendidly staged and splen-
didly acted. the greatest of English TRACE
dtans OF to-day was forced to withdraw
them. owing TO the tremendous expense of
the scenery.
After presenting our Irish plays with
English actors for some time, we began to
secure our actors and actresses from the
shop boys and girls of Dublin. The move
ment mas been very successful Our first
aim is TO instruct the players in the art OF
| expression and gesture, not to learn the
] lines. Is the custom i'm all theaters."
At the close of his address Mr.. Yeats read
little Irish miracle play, written by DR..
| Douglass Hyde. who is one OF the prominent
men engaged in the. work of reviving the
Gaelic language and folk lore OF Ireland.
| The Robert Emmett Society Of this city pre-
| sented the poet with a beautiful floral de-
sign, representing a harp, surrounded with
: a wreath OF bay leaves. In the audience
were many of the most prominent Irishmen
in the city, several of whom came from the
same county Ia the green island as Mr.
Yeats did. James Whitcomb Riley enter
| tanned the poet at luncheon at the Univer-
sity Club yesterday afternoon. 1t was en-
| tirely informal.