Omaha daily bee., 1905-07-02

N of recent days in Omahas theat-
rical history was the open air
Hk production OF AS You Like 1t"
at Hanscom park Miss Fitch is
20 be congratulated on having conceived
and carried to such a successful conclusion
an undertaking that might well have
daunted any manager. Not that the idea
itself n 30 unique. for the play has often
been given in the open air, but for the
reason that Omaha doesn't offer especial
inducements 10 the promoter OF amateur
theatricals, and the undertakings. save
those that are Of an exclusively Society
nature, have met very little announcement
Miss Fitch refused 20 allow history to
stand as precedent in this instance, and
with the support Of the womans club and
her pupils in the Boyd Theater School Of
Acting she pushed TO most artistic sue
cess the first genuine al fresco performance
ever given in the city. It was most thor
oughly enjoyed by those who took the
trouble to go to Hanscom park on either
Thursday or Friday evenings. Some con-
fusion arose as to the time for the per-
formance, owing to the antics of tho
weather god, but this resulted in a doubla
presentation, and thus a double pleasure
for many who saw It on the first night
went again on the second. Artlstically, the
production was well nigh perfect The
several characters being exceptionally we'll
assumed by the young people, under Miss
F1tch's guidance, and the settings being
the most beautiful of natures own work,
so that more pleasing performance of
the piece could hardly be imagined. No
plan for the future has been formed, but
II is to be hoped that the success she has
met this time will encourage Miss Fitch to
undertake similar production another
season.
The City Council of Denver has passed
an ordinance, which the mayor threatens
to veto, establishing a commission whose
duty 1t shall be to pass on the morality OF
plays before allowing them to be presented
at the public theaters. IL the newspapers
published in Denver are to be taken as a
criterion of the moral tone of that city
such an ordinance and commission would
seem to he entirely superflous, for no play
was ever yet offered In an American theater
that would fall without the pale of moral
ity thus exemplifed. Seriously. though, 1t
seems a little like a serious reflection on
public taste that a body of men. whose
official tenure is limited, and whose COM
petence may well be questioned. should
undertake to prescribe what may or may
not be exhibited. Within certainly roughly
determined lines there is no doubt but the
city council is in a sense the moral con-
servator of the community for which 1t
is constituted, and its purely legal right to
allow or prohibit certain exhibitions Is
equally established. But It has always
been point of pride with the American
people that no censorship has been required
Tor the direction or formation of their
tastes. Absolutely immoral exhibitions
are not permitted, and the general trend
Of thought has advanced TO that point
where even immoral plays are little sought
after. The question OF morality is in a
large degree. determined by the individual
each for himself, with due regard for
certain fundamentals admitted by ALL and
any attempt to prescribe hard and fast
rules for the determination of individual
conduct outside of the generally recognized
standard is certain to produce dissatisfac-
ton and resentment. If nothing more.
o
Plays have been presented In this coun-
try, and have had quite a vogue, which
were better not offered No public agent
has been more persistent in denouncing
this sort of play and demanding a higher
standard for the stage than The Bee. Yet
at no time has this paper seen the neces-
sity of demanding censorship for the the
ater. Such proposition has always ap-
peared absurd, and still does The offensive
from the American stage, for the reason
that having once witnessed 1t the genera
public does not care to see It again and II
therefore dies a natural and unregretted
death. The so-Caled problem play, differ
ing in degree and intensity, deals with GER.
tain phases of sociological debate and IL
excused by its advocates on this ground
Utilitarans have not agreed on the ra
tionale of this discussion, but they have
not yet reached a positive disagreement
and superfCially some reason for ii is dis
cernible. The difficulty has been that some
OF the playwrights have gone beyond tn,
limits suggested by good taste and have al
lowed their presentation of the topic Il
partake more OF the nature of a clinic thar
public debate and have paraded details
that are generally set apart for considera
ton in camera rather than for the opeI
discussion provided by the theater. Objec
tion 10 this sort Of this sort of thing doe
not arise from squeamshness or prudish
ness, but from that prudence that forbid
the presentation of such topics to minds no
fitted for their proper digestion and assim
iation. Subtle metaphysical proposition
are not to be Unfortunately offered 70
public consideration. for the reason tina
harm is certain to result from such
course. Tho immature undevelope
mentality is not able to follow
the author through the ramilication
OF his argument, often involved and in
direct in its approach to the conclusion