The sun., 1905-09-03
THE NEW AMERICAN DRAMA.
THE PRESENT MOVEMENT. AND
WHIT TT rs TENDING TO.

the English Drama and tho Advance
Of Gilletta, Thomas, Ntch and Aoe'
It would be a hardened playgoer VINO
could stroll through Broadway reading tne
neatly lettered signs that all summer long
have adorned the doors OF the theaters
without little thrill Of anticipation ~ 70
the season that Is to burst upon US to-mor.
row night. For the most part the muse OF
the drama has been not so much one on
the sisters nine as poor relation, grs'eiul
for such castof garments as are tnroWn
her way-novels tlramatized and histofy
rehashed. And In no modern country has
the art Of tho theater been beroft OF tts birth
right az In America. But once let It como
into its own, and 1t is the highest Of al arts.
The touch of the fairy's wand transforns .
neglected Cinderella into the most heautafW
princess: In England, once upon time,
the pit in which bulls and beam were bait
ing became at q stroke the home OF ths
highest poetic drama the world has sssn.
May not the pumpkin Of rural nelotssams,
which up to now has symbolinod our hardest
native growth, be a. quickly Transformed
into coach Of finely wrought gold7
In other seasons the names that nave
thundered loudest in the index-or bulksd
largest In the big typo Of theatrical advsr-
tisement-have been those Of foreign actors
and playwrights. But 1t has been Album
dainty proved that European regulations
are no longer an unfailing ma gnet for Ameri-
can dollars. This season, as 1t appears.
there is to be no Bernhardt, Duse, Ssivini
or Novelli, no d'Annmzio. Rostsnd, Suder-
mann or Hauptmann. Tours have been
announced for Irving. Wyndham and John
Hare, but in such matters there's many
slip. If Pinero Jones or Phillips Is on the
list, their names come without flourish Of
truinpets. .,..
Hall Caine is on hand, to be sure. with
his "Prodigal Son, before whom no doubt
the American public will give itself a.
sacrifice in the guise Of the corpulent DO
mestio animal OF tho parable. But, as
polite Broadway publisher long ago re-
marked-he did not deal in the Manx-
mans books--.All Gaines are alike to me-
The hot air in the iridescent Shaw bubble
has expanded to such proportions that
on Tuesday evening a hopeful manager
will put on Man and Superman,' but,
to borrow another saying-this one from
Robert W. Chambers-all that Benards is
not Shaw. "You Never Can Tell 1t is
true, acted far better than most OF those
who had read it hoped, but compared to
the present piece it was the acme Of point
and pith. Il it possible that q bubble
of the great pricker OF bubbles Is about
to be pricked? In John Bulls Other
Island" all reports agree that Arnold
DAILY will present his author at his most
pungent and sparkling, But to the world
beyond the British Empire the appeal OF
a play on the Irish question Is to an in
tellipent curiosity rather than to any vital
interest.
or all the foreign playwrights the only
one to figure largely is Barrie. with Peter
Pan," "Pantaloon' and Alice Sit-by-the.
Fire." No wares made in England are
more deserving of attention than his; but
| for some seasons he has had less than his
usual vogue on Broadway, and being some
thing OF protectionist in theatrical CON-
merce, find the fact not without pslliation,
Two new English playwrights are to
make their debut. James K. Hackett ID
to produce Alfred Sutros arraignment
of smart London society THE Walls OF
Jericho" and Charles Frohman has prom
ised his "Mollentrave on Women and "fhe
Way Of Fool" The racy. seafaring humor
OF W. W. Jacobs Is to take theatrical form
next W Wednesday in Beauty and the Barge,
with Nat Goodwin in the leading role.
Query: Is Mr.. Goodwin to be Beauty or
the Baroe' In either case there is likely
to be something doing. None OF these
pieces comes with the reputation Of any
thing more than vigorous apprentice work
The band of modern playwrights in Lon.
| xhA orts. .k+ H. ~
manners to point never attained before
except by the school Of which Sheridan and
Goldsmith were the final product, but un-
less all signs fail 1t is nearing period Of
exhaustion.
With the decline of the English drama
there has come steady II irregular ad.
vance in our own standards. That this
is in e measure due TO the example Of the
p!eys that have been so abundantly i'm.
ported is not to be questioned even by
the most rabid protectionist. Art iniu.
ences have generally been worldwide
Chaucer and Shakespeare are. in ono as.
pect, the result Of the translation and imi.
tation Of foreign models, and Pinero and
Jones themselves have their debt to Ibsen
who in turn developed his technique whil<
stage managing Norwegian productions oi
Scribe. But the time comes. and that very
soon, when the outward impulse becomes
sterile unless reinforced by vigorous
infusion OF native blood. In It's suprems
manifestations it lie true that art know
no frontiers, but it is equally true tha,
those supreme manifestations are not
reached except by the development Of Z
| spirit primarily national.
In recognizing the native drama oul
public has never been backward, az thu
success Of our playwrights, major anc
minor, abundantly proves, but II Is possible
that our critics have not been equally hos
pitable. Lowell once had word to -,
about a certain condescension In foreigners
That Is a sad phenomenon. and trying u
provincial nerves, but II ever anything
stamped us as indeed provincial it is tn
partial and grudging praise We dole on
to our artists. II Sargent and Whistle
had never exhibited abroad how man!
OF us would think Of them a. We now do
Have we not recently turned ourselve
inside out on the subject Of that oosmopoli
tan dilettante Henry James, whila neglect
ing the Americanism OF Howells, intons
alike in his qualities and his defectss Gu