The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-11
THE ENGLISH DRAMA.
what Arc tho Causes OF Its Present La
mentable Stater

"Chtbuio ot0tO
To THE EDITOR OF THR sun Sir: Inotcs
a paragraph on the exhaustion Of English
playwrights" In one Of our local papers.
with a quotation from The Sun. to this effect;
English playwrights are almost without
exception showing signs Of artistic exhaus.
tlon. There has not been a single infusion
OF new blood. But our playwrlghts even at
their best do not reach the level OF the Eng
llsh authors"
This Is a sad confession. l thought thvy
had managed these things better In America,
as we'll as In France. The causes OF the decay
arc no doubt the facts that theaters multiply
In London under the hands Of some common.
place spectators or ambitious actors who
look out for parts only suited to themselves,
and that original production Ia confined to
tho metropolis.
The ordinary theatrical Spectator be-.
lieves thoroughly that he win find his best
account In frivolity and show. panderlng to
the meanest tastes. He does this at great cost.
but few II any succeed In making fortune,
at that. A man Of taste and business capacity
with good pieces, old and new. and having an
excellent company is far more likely TO suo-
coed. Readers Of the late Mr.. John Hollings.
heads memoirs may remember that he said
no made ESQ., 900 In ten years in this manner.
and that when he embarked In pieces only OF
costly show he lost all his money. I remem-
boz meeting the late Mr.. Leonard Outram.
an amiable occasional manager. and an intel
ligent man. too. after the failure Of costly
piece OF show OF his at the New Olympic. to
the loss Of notfar from ei0, 900, and l asked him
II he had not read Hollngshead's book. He
said no. Better" said, you had done SO;
you would not have produced this trash,
from which you tell me you expected to make
your fortune" Boucicault tried at times
this glitter business and lost money at it,
Why did he not stick to his Irish plays. where
there was some gold. In a double sense. in
the glitter?
Boucicault said that the low condition of
the stage was due to defective press criticism.
Well. dare say il the leading dramatic
writer's and critics laid their heads together
to condemn trash or semi-trash they would
do much to empty the theaters for cleansing
purposes. But more than that Is needed.
Only one or two critics. it is to be feared.
fight for high class work. l remember very
we'll that twenty years ago students OF the
drama such as Mr.. Archer and Mr.. H. A.
ian forms of the art as irrational or unsuited
sontr 1 ye1tsd such views in the Na.tosa!
the title Of shakespeare az Dramatio
Model; and Ave, years aftervard published
The Autocrat in the Greenroom. with .
Which / demenstrsted. i 6elieyed. the x.
cellenoe Of the shakespsarlan forms, Ny
cOntentlOns nave. proved correct. SNAKE
has been the only dramatist whose works are
to be seen In the theaters and even common
playwriRhts scarcely exist at all. Yet this
author wrote 800 years ago! 1t is a sad state
The remedy is to throw London aside, and
for the theaters in other great cities to start
players and plays Of their own. casting costly
frivols to the winds, or at all events RELOCATING
The treasure: Of these theaters Would Rd'' un
auestionably be benefited by employing
authors directed to turn their attention to
national character and concern, even after
Pouclcault II not Shakespeare. I have now
for half 2 century. and vet until produced
g. slight play with national music In hall
ABOUT twenty years ago no original preduo-
ton by local author had been given during
any since till an obscure theater here the other
month staged a musical play by q Glasgow
writer with good male actors, and the pro-
duction proved a great success. This theater
son from the sa mutp fo % Of heaer tss
long standing ones only securing the Lon
don successes" which believe did small
good to their treasures.
and to be WISHED q that the fresh sena:
Of that newer country might discover some
rare dramatic forces for us In the absence
Of II. would recommend such course as I
seeds, the sewers. the harvesters and tho
cooks, too, But It should be remembered
by. them that the original conventions are
nursery ground for him there viii neither be
right seed nor harvest trust that IN time
in the dearth Of new enterprises men Of taste
and general capacity. as we'll as Independence
Of mind and will Tet into the
EDINBURGH. June