Los Angeles herald., 1905-02-12

HATEVER may be the attitude
\A/ of the revivalists, who have
' lately forced themselves to the
center of attention in Los Angeles in
respect to the theater, they have at
least had little effect upon the attend
ance at the play houses. Not even in
the Sunday evening audiences has
there been any noticeable falling off in
attendance.
Perhaps this means that the church
and the theater are too far apart for
either to have much influence on the
other 1t would certainly take an
effort on the part of the imagination
to believe that at present the two are
working n harmony on lines that do
not conflict.
Both institutions have much for
which they can be severely criticised,
but at the same time both possess
latent power for good that is almost
unlimited. Next to the press they
can be ranked as the two greatest
forces for good or evil in the world.
While considering the possibilities of
a CIluTCu anu lHtdltl OlbibCu GU 'SeiSt ~
the advancement of ethics, while in
their respective pursuits of somewhat
impractical theology or art many peo-
pie have wondered why two such in
stitutions have so long been almost at
swords points.
This state of affairs has brought
many good people into an active effort
for an affiliation of the two institu-
tions in as many respects as possible.
In New York recently a certain group
of churchmen announced that they
would at once invade the theatrical
field and attempt to offset the pernic-
icus influences of immoral plays by
producing pieces wholesome in senti-
ment and purpose. The churchmen
back of this movement include such
well known divines as Bishop Potter,
Bishop Huntington, Bishop Mann,
Bishop Doane, Bishop Keator the Rev.
r. Heber Newton, the Rev. Thomas }.
Ducey, the Rev. william S. Rainsford,
the Rev. Percy S. Grant, the Rev.
Thomas R. Slicer and others, all
officers and members of the Actors
Church alliance.
In an interesting article in the Feb
ruary Theater Magazine, Rev. Walter
e. Bentley of New York, says in re-
gard to the relation of the church and
theater:
lone of the strangest facts in our
complex civilization is that two OF
our greatest institutions, the church
and the theater, have been so far
apart in sympathy and interest so
many. centuries and with the exeep-
tion of few feeble, spasmodic eff
forts have not even tried to under
stand each other.
"This is more remarkable when we
remember that the modern drama is
the church's offspring and the aim
of both are, if not identical, at least
very similar. Both are educational.
How necessary is it, therefore, that
the church should seek to mother its
child and in every way possible en-
courage it's highest aims. inspire its
purpose and strengthen it's better in
huence over the hearts of men.
"The time has come for the church
to save the stage from the blight of
mere triviality and pure commercial
ism (the lust of the box-office), and
to aid it to attain it's mission as one
of the great ethical forces in society,
potent to humanize even while SEEM
Ing but to amuse, and contributing so
vitally, for veal or for woe. to the
character and destiny of the nation.
1.-The unhappy divorce which has
has existed between the church and
the state for over four hundred years
has been injurious to both. The stage
has lost the guidance and direction of
the organized conscience of the
community, while the church in for
getting the gospel of sunshine and
laughter, has lost that touch of ma
ture' which the stage supplies, and
to that extent its grip on daily life"
Any agitation in this direction is
certain to do some good and is to be
welcomed.
COIIiar'c Mou/ Mama