The sun., 1905-09-24
AUGUSTUS THOMAS ON SHAW.
WITH A KICK OR TWO FROM THE
SHAW NOON TO THOMAS.
The MagIsteriai Rumbiin. About sincerity
Serious Views on the Acrobat or
Intellectual Farce-A Public Tnat
Hangs on "Tirade" Mr. Fitch Replies

Serious Views on the AcrODat of
Intellectual Farce-A Public Tnat
Hangs on a "Tlrade" Mr. Fitch Replies
Augustus Thomas's remarks about
Bernard Shaw arc intensely interesting -
but not for what they tell US about Mr..
Shaw. 1t is Mr. Thomas's cat that IA out
of the bag. The American playwright
has never seen one OF the plays of his Irish
fellow craftsman, and what Il more seems
resolved never to see one. This whole
business Of the intellectual drama,it appears,
gets on his nerves. II saw one lbsen play;
that was sufficient" What his objection
TO Ibsen Is he does not say; and, Judging 8
by the vocabulary Of Ibsen haters In general,
that IL perhaps as we'll 1t can scarcely,
however, be the same as his objection to
Shaw, whose work, says Mr.. Thomas,
the has read some of the plays never
impressed me as being sincere.
Now, in the name Of the comic muse,
why all this magisterial rumbllng about
sincerity? Let us grant that there are
such things az eternal verities; let us even
insist that they are commodities without
adue measure OF which no ira gedy, drama or
comedy ever attained high rank What's
that to Hecuba, or Hecuba to Shaw? Like
gold, sincerity is not always best for being
pure. Wedding rings that are meant to wear
a lifetime are not made Of twenty carat
metal. And there may be occasions on
which 1t Ia desirable to have an even greater
alloy. Il think" says Mr., Thomas, that
he SHAW has his tongue In his cheek all
the time" The figure Of speech is in
accurate, for Sha W is too fine an artist,
for the most part, not to keep straight
face. Even Mr.. Tho mas isn't quite su re he
has seen that tongue, But the general sense
Of the remark It IL not to be denied, Is
just. Shaw Is not an author OF tragedies.
Nothing he has written quite qualities
as drama, or even as high comedy. At
his best and most interesting he is farceur.
His speciality is to provoke us, and his
weapon paradox. 1t Is his business TO
give us wares with liberal alloy Of brass.
The only question is whether his brazen
effronterv Is worth while. II Mr.. Thomas
had seen the performances OF You Never
Can Tell" and Man and Superman" l
make bold to say even he would not hold
that this ia a question. Some folks still
talk and write as II Shaw's sincerity were
twenty carat. They speak by the book,
True artist OF the theater that Shaw is,
his work acts even better than it reads,
and never, in fact, shows It's truest quail
ties until the performance. Not even
an sssemblag &c OF Kansas Cha uta auquans-to
whom lawson Is a Serious Person and Je-
rome efretely fippant-could take those
performances withsa straight face. Or,
IL they did, Mr.. Shaw himself would be the
first to have q fling at them-as he has
already done In the case Of those who.
with far greater warrant, became serious
devotees Of candida" II We were all to
practise the art Of shocking there would
be nobody left to shock. Like the author
Of Imaginary Obligations'-I quote Mr..
Colby from memory-Shaw would resent a
convert as supsrHuous in an attitude in
which one was sufficient.
In farceur sincerity IL not a question
OF solemnity and convictions, but OF the
validity of the Jest. And measured by this
standard Shaw is the sincerest OF tho
sincere. In vitality and spring Of the sa tiri-
ca sense, in the sheer Joy Of bandying ideas
for the sake Of ideas--and OF bandying-
his plays have never had their equal on
any stage We mi ght as we'll got cross
with an acrobat because his heels are 50 often
above his head or with the Queen Of the Air
because. II we we're to make her keep both
heels on the ground, she would walk al bout
as prosaically as the rest Of US,
Nobody is better aware OF al thi. than
shaw-and especially OF the grace and ao-
curaoy Of his aerial gyrations. Has he
not given Us his own measure in that de-
licious stage portrait Of himself, John
Tanner Even the externals are Shavian.
Tanner Is "a big man with beard" A
lofty pose OF the head and the Olympian
ma ajesty witt which name, or rather u
huge wisp, OF hazel colorsd hair is thrown
back from an imposing brow suggest
Jupiter rather than Apollo. Hs is pro-
digiou'ly fusnt OF spaech. restless eS-
citable." The spirit OF this jesting Jupiter
il less than jorial. and mora than jovian.
The SlawTanner is possibly little mad.
= All hi, nood' are phases of ex-
citement sensitive, exaggera-
tive. earnest man; IA megalomaniac who
would b. lost without a sense OF humor."
Was ever wild lr,hmnn more frankly
self-o,lrea'sd? Couid any one bstter draw
the d,nIrcatioa batw Aan Shaw's earnest
nes, and hi. farccl hunor? Why, then,
oh, why, doal Mr., TnomiI pull long facs
and mlk> o' the at .raal veritisl club
to spatt,r Hibsrni.:n brains about!
Shaw's offense. it is only too clear, con-
sists In the fact that, though a man OF the
theater he has dared to remember that he
has brain. and who, is of quite az much
moment, has dured and dared with signal
and continued sucGess--to write as if his
q lad hat