The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-02
MIGHTY DRAMA OF DAILY LIFE
ENGLISH PLAYWRIGHTS EXEM-
PLEFY MAETERLINCK'S PHRASE.
Alfred sutrO's The Price Of Money
and ~. John IHankln's Two Mr..
Wetherbys'' Honor Daily IAfe More
Than the DrGRIa The New season.


and o.. John IHaDkln's two Mr..
WetherbyS'' IIcNSr Daily IIfe More
Than the Drama The New season.
Amid the rush Of the opening OF the season
on Broadway. with = pieceA nightly
crowding for notice, IL would he rash 10
commit oneself To a generalization; but
certain Of the plays lately imported from
The London stage-and these are in a vast
majority give color 10 the persistent
lament from abroad that the modern school
Of English comedy IL on the decline. The
palmy days OF the school, not 40 many
years ago--the days Of tragedies Of the
order Of The Second Mrs. Tanqueray" and
Of comedies Of the order Of The Liars
were marked by ~largencss 81 theme and
Aanhnical mastery. Since then Shaw and
Barrie rave arrived, with plays that it would
Ae unduly doctrinAry to class in any minor
order; but the fact remains that In Cam
dida' and Peter Pan" individuality in the
choice OF theme ,delectable as it Is, has tended
toward idiosyncracy. Since the opening Of
che century, to all appearances, the oalibre
Of the English drama has contracted.
y
Two Of the most notable OF the present
seasons offerings are not only slight In
theme but inirm in technique. 1t has be-
come the custom to ACCUSE Mr.. Alfred Sutro
Of bending his conscience as an artist to the
popular demand for happy endings. With
the personal motives Of an artist criticism
has little to do, for M reason because
the evidence Is usually insufficient either to
praise or to condemn and for another reason
because in so many cases suoh Judgments
have proved wide Of the mark. II there In
any pandering to i'll advised prejudice In
The Price Of Money" at the Garriok IL is
most unsuccessful; for ever the ripe art and
personal popularity OF Mr.. w. H. Crane is
failing. a it seems, to commend the play
to the public.
For myself I prefer q more oreditAble
explanation Of il. Mr.. Sutro is q friend
and disciple OF Maeterlinck, and il Is not
unlikely that he has sought to put in prao-
tice his masters favorite theory az to the
modern drama. In the plays OF our fore
fathers, Maeterlinok say n finds oneself
In the presence Of the primitive instincts
Of the raoe-they arise in disordered pas
sions, progress through violence and
e~ventuate in bloodshed and death. The
life Of to-day, he contends, is limpid and
smooth. External violence il out Of date.
Brunetiere's definition Of the difereHtid
of drama as the clash of i~rreconcilable wills,
Maeterlinck would nave US believe, is as
lead and lone for as Aristotle's definition
Of it as the presentation Of al action.
Dynamic drama a given place to a drama
that is static" It has become the Office
of the playwright to study and illumine
the majestic life Of every day"
IL lie possible that Ma~eterlinck's theories
have become confused and confounded
in the words in which he has stated il. In
the life Of day to day, lived in the still cham
bers OF the soul, there are struggles no less
stirring and crises no less decisive than in
the fall Of dynasties and the creation Of
new kings, and as long as this progress is
denoted in the speech and action of people
on the stage the old definitions Of the drama
hold good. Certainly the plays Of Maeter-
linck himself depict this struggle and prog
ress of the spirit. And the two pieces now
in hand do so, or attempt to do SO, no less
notably. The significant fact is that their
authors have attempted to entrap their
spiritual themes in the meshes Of the hum
blest daily circumstance.
"The Price Of Money shows us a man
naturally high minded who attempts to
buy health and happiness for those he
loves by compromising with his conscience.
Joseph Trembhn, N unsuccessful novelist
and literary hack, is importuned by his
avaricious and INSCRIPTIONS brother Mark
to use his influence to bring about the puT-
chase Of certain lands which have a COM
mercial value unsupported by their owner.
Giving way to the pleas Of his wife, whose
conscience il unillumined and who covets
the means Of saving their daughter from
Office WORK and sending her to college,
Joseph undertakes the deception. The
tool in the scheme is Marks young wife,
who loves and is loved by the owner Of the
coveted lands. Mr.. Sutro depicts the
throes Of the feeble soul OF Joseph with
intimate knowledge and power, making
him as weak in his resolve to do wrong
as he had been weak in rectitude. The
tries to do evil honestly, but the re-
sult is that the two lovers, who have hitherto
stood firm against temptation, being thrown
together in this business matter, give way
passion and elope; Joseph himself. after
a characteristic struggle between abstract
right and pity for suffering aids and abets
them.
In his own case, one gathers, he is happier.
With his pen in rand to sign the nefariOus
Oecu uN eye ~ ~ hShs VII NAO PbOSO
Of his father and he tears and burns
the document, dismissing Mark in an access
Of righteous indignation.
Throughout Mr.. Sutro il faithful to the
humble truth of everyday life. His revela-
tons Of character and mood are intimate
and at times poignant. He has conformed
10 the dictum of his master. But no play
is 80 bad. IL may be remarked, that an
a artistic theory cannot be found to justify
IL; and il would take a far better theory
than that Of the majesty Of every day life
TO convince one of the value Of The Price
Of Money
= o =
The defect is in the logic both Of life
and Of the theatre. By the tine the doou-
il.ont comes TO Joseph for his signature
has confessed to the two young people
the deception he intended and warned
them against It.. The owner of the land signs
away his right in full knowledge, and Of his
own free will. Joseph'S subsequent re-
f,IsaI TO aid his signature. arising by mere
chance in consequence Of the sight Of his
photograph, IL as sentimental
az IL Is casual. Characteristic IL no doubt
-. A.. AL .ca.,a ~ The gIa-w At-kIw