Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-26

When an important step is made by
community or an individual, the occasion is
one which invites retrospect. The appear
ance of this first Sunday issue of The Wash
lngtOn Star marks epoch in the progress
of one of the great world-cities, and Is not
the less interesting because the vista of
the city's future opens with a magnificence
which pales the luster of its honorable past.
The histrionic sense is universal and the
growth of a community in wealth, refine
ment and population is reflected to great
err or less extent by the kind and number
of theaters Ii supports Our ancestors, when
they had penned the Declaration of indie
pendence thrown the tea into the Boston
harbor and established a capital on the
banks of the Potomac. yearned for diver
sion no less than folk of ordinary expert
ence The magnificent drama of political
event did not suffice, and the difficulties
they faced in order to enjoy the pleasure
of the theater owuld in these luxurious times
be esteemed more than the pleasure could
be worth The recitation of the various
events attending the development of
Washington's first theater, which APP
pears further on this page. serves to i'm
press the fact that the drama is an essen
tial factor in social existence. The men
of $500 approached the enterprise in a spirit
of diEulfed determination. They recognized
a popular demand, and they proceeded to
their public duty with all the solemnity OF
experimenting and procession. The lapse
of time has played havoc with their cher
ished dreams. for it often happened that
theater, like an actor, must, in its time, play
many parts. The place which was dedi-
Gated with public festivities to stand as the
dramatic temple of the nations capital Is
now devoted to the gauzy and sometimes
suggestive lippancies of burlesque.
X x *
Commercialism welded but scant influence
In the theater of those days. Art for arts
sake was still eXtant. Its devotees were
content with applause, and dreamed not of
milk baths and pampered pug dogs. The
player was recognized as a public servant,
and must find much of his reward in the
consciousness that he had promoted the
pleasure and refinement of his follow-men.
The theater necessarily borrowed its tradi-
lions from England, and the actors who
pioneered the drama over here have re-
corded few successes that stand forth con-
spicuously in the annals of the stage They
are among the unrewarded heroes. But the
American stage bred giants ere long, whose
artistic triumphs are still rehearsed amid
incredulOus wOnderment. The manager of
those days was no autocrat, his company
was bound to him by a sense of loyalty and
fellowship The salaries were modest, and
the press agent unknown. The newspaper
critic performed his duties with no idea
Leyond that of informing the public. as
best he might, of the quality and merit of
the entertainment offered. He was beguiled
by no gilded phrases from the interchangeable
pen of publicity promoters, nor was he held
in awe by the possibility of disbarment from
a theater. They were primitive days for
newspapers, as well as for playhouses, and
the comment was matter-of-fact and scant
Although terrapin was so plenteous that the
slaves protested against being overfed with
1t to save expense, printers ink was lux
ury to be economically employed. So have
times shifted.
The drama in this country has followed
the tendency of all other things, and has
become systematized. The manager, who
prided himself upon being able to do every
thing about the place, is as little in request
as the actor who can play all parts passably
well without being great in any. Step by
step condition has been reached by which
the theater is controlled almost as an army
The entire country is mapped out and
studied. and the companies who move from
place to place by prearranged schedule
are no longer drifters upon the sea of
chance. The adventurous spirit chafes at
the restraint, but the more philosophic
Thespian leans back comfortably amid the
cushions of the parlor or proceeds from
the hotel where welcome is assured, to the
theater, where steam heat and electric
lights await him, and signs no more for
palmy days. 1t is commercialism, without
doubt, but commercialism is merely the
natural development of supply and demand
The best test of what the people want Is
what they are willing to pay for, and the
theater of today is in passive, comfortable
condition of coma. 1t exists, but does not
assert itself. A maze of coryphees and
pile of tinseled canvas suffice to constitute
play. The lusty lunged tragedian of the
past HES him to the small Cities where
Shakespeare is still esteemed perhaps be-
cause there are so few frivolities to tempt
audiences to forget him. Modern scenery
Is too expensive to permit the risk of an
actors setting his teeth in IT. Fashion and
culture assume no dictation in matters of
the theater. time may come-if history
repeats itself as wise men say, 1t must
come-when the enormous possibilities of
the theater as a means of influencing public
opinion will be recognized. Perhaps such
an era will develop an Aeschylus, a Sopho-
cles or Euripides to foster national senti-
ment, or an Aristophanes to ridicule politl-
tai abuses. Possibly the public spirit, which
one day long ago aroused itself In this ma
tional capital to the need of a home for the
drama as 1t then existed, will assert itself
as national demand, and the government
will assume something of the same paternal
attitude toward the drama that 1t already
displays toward science invention and in
finite industries. But these serious times
are far removed. Let US be merry while
we may.
The theater during the past week has
been calculated to Danish philosophic re-
Election. and he who could not laugh at the
absurd caperings of De Wolf Hopper in
Wang or the loose-jointed gyrations of
Montgomery and Stone in THE Wizard of
o. deserves not to laugh. and there is no
worse fate. The misanthrope will, of
course. find food for his humor even in such
hilarious productions. To him Wang"
must stand forth as solemn reminder that
= comic opera is no more. 1t was one OF the
least of tribe even in our, dau. O