The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-16

short; and on the other il was evident, a
good many years before the advent OF the
an~tisyndicate, that he American drama
fist was taking a fimer grasp OF his arr.
Fully a year before his death Kirke La
Shelle, perhaps the shrewdest OF all our
managers in judging a play. remarked that
whereas the technique OF the theatre had
once been the property OF a few, there was
already a large body of young men who
were In a way TO master IL.
The most powerful Of all influences for
good. it seems TO me, has been the gradual
increase in the intelligence of Broadway
audiences. 1t would not be quite accurate
to say that the public a become better
educated. For generations the American peo-
pie. by and LARGE. has been the best educated
in the world. That has been the trouble.
It has been too we'll educated to find any
real interest or satisfaction in our play
houses. The lingering blight OF puritanism
has made US distrust. even despise, the
theatre, and when we have entered the
forbidden precincts we have found little
or nothing to remove vi prejudice. For
a generation 10 matters lave been on the
upward trend. Booth and Jefferson did
much to educate u. in our childhood to the
love Of acting. But the operas OF Gilbert
and Sullivan did more-they endeared to
US the theatre. Pinero and Henry Arthur
Jones went a step further and initiated us
into the possibilities OF the modern drama.
Barrie evoked q strain Of fancy, touched to
life and reality by the sister strain OF humor.
1t only remained for Bernard b to
demonstrate that the theatre gives scope
also for keen intelligence-and the battle
was won. To-day those who neglect or
despise the theatre qua theatre are either
very p~uritanical or PROFESSIONALLY dull.
The depth and authenticity Of tho new
dramatic impulse Is evident in the subjects
of our current successes. The English
drama has limited itself in the main TO
exploiting q single class. Its comedies
have mirrored the foibles Of the aristocracy
and it's tragedies have dealt with their vices.
Except for sporadic plays like The Middle
man the great middle class has been ig-
norei. Or worse, 1t has been caricat lred,
asst was in Lefty and isto-day In both His
House in Order and The Hypocrites.'
i search my memory in vain for a single
instance in which an English play on a
social or political question has found public
support. AS for the cockney, his portion
has been farce, as witness Mr.. H~opkinson'
and -Sir Anthony On the other hand.
the plays Of Shaw began by being produced
privately, and even now are relocated 70
an out of the way playhouse, the Court,
where they attract their own public, dis
tinct and remote from that of the Strand.
With US Shaw has been a popular Juror;
and the same public that delights in Man
and Superman' finds an equal enjoyment
in The Chorus Lady The Three Of Us
and The Great Divide all Of which deal
with low and middle class life, as also in
The Lion and the Mouse, . The Daughters
of Men" and "The Man of the Hour which
deal with public questions. In a word.
our drama is as broad and democratic as
our life Is. As yet, even the best American
plays as compared with those Of England and
the Continent are technically crude. And
the work of the playwrights of the present
season is less expert than the best work OF
Fitch, Thomas and Gillette. 1t is the privi-
lege Of youth to be young. The signal fact is
that the way is open to the native playwright
as it has never been open before and is
crowded with competitors for place.
In his speech before the American drama
lists Henry Arthur Jones, while r~ecogniz-
ing our technical Crudity, paid us a COM
pliment which seemed as sincere as il was
generous. He spoke Of the vigor OF our
life and the r~aciness Of our speech, and
predicted that We should have a national
theatre before the mother country. Since
then ground has been broken for building
the New Theatre. The spirit Of the found
ers, who are so literally contributing to
the cause OF dramatic art, has been met by
a similar spirit in the new director. 1
quote from the public announcement Of
Mr.. Conried's acceptance OF the post: "To
give expression to his sense CT the purely
artistic and strictly non-commercial pur-
pose Of the New Theatre, Mr.. Conried will
give his services without either salary or
participation in the profits" Nothing can
he more helpful to our playwrights than the
cooperation of such a theatre, and nothing
in turn could augur as well for it's success
as the fact hat we ave so many young
playwrights of promise. JOIN CoBBN.