The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-12-30
y RclNson Ho WA Rp dean

Nv RONsoN no WA Rp, dean of,
american playwrights, made 8
-nA' clever little speech in New York:
recently, the occasion being the laying
of the cornerstone FOR David Belasco' g
once attended, the laying of church
cornerstone in the desert south Of
Cairo, and from this circumstance drew
some inspira tion+for the occasion. This
new temple of the drama, he said,
arose in the desert f. -, -, ~ 1!
A dreary desert Of English literature in nearly
all its branches 3desertEof general literature
and stretches back more; than, half q century !;
a desert of literature which has its own decep!
lions of the mirage, and its own optical Illusions,
making small men appear great and magnlfying
some of our great men far beyond their real
greatness: fiat desert of literary sagebrush
and scruboak, with here and there soli-
tary mountain and group of grand trees, tho
we can hardly know whether even they are
realities. T.'
So, disregarding James Russell Low
ellis admonition not to prophesy until
you know, Mr.. Howard INDUCED in a
prophecy of this tenor:
The next great revival of literature in the
English language will be in the theater. The
English-speaking world has been gasping for
breeze. I may not live to- fully enjoy it, but
even men Of my own age breathe the air
more freely; and we can all join in aspirations
for the near future as we lay the cornerstone
of this new temple of art. Let us hope that
the drama Of this century will yet redeem our
desert of general literature. The waters of the
Nile are rising. ''~' ,. a.
1T WOULD puzzle Mr.. Howard; to
a say, mo- doubt, just what the prob.
able character of this dramatic renaiss-
ance is. to be. Mr.. Belasco, for in
stance,fis the apostle Of romance. He
believes in the thrills and the delights
and the pictures that romance affords
His latest: production, ''The Rose of
the Ranche,' is series of stunning
stage pictures, riot of form and color
and light, all conceived with that ar.
tistic .wizardry which he possesses in
greater degree than any other living
producer. Dramatically, we are told, the
play is neither original nor striking
but such is the quality of the Belascar
magic that the beholder goes away i'm
pressed with the idea that he has seen
a great play. when in fact he has seen
an ordinary play greatly produced.
But some of the. preceding Belasco
successeswere not open to this criti
cism. The weird spell wrought by 'sThe
Darling Of the Gods, 4 that marvel
ously refined melodrama Of old Japan
will not soon be forgotten. Only the
other day the actor who had commit
ted hari-kari in the play. yielded tt
the fearful suggestion that had beer
ringing in his neurotic brain ever since
and committed hari-kari in real life
Virtue confiictive with vice and finally
triumphant over it--that is Mr.
Belasco's recipe for, a successful play
and it is recipe time tested anc
proved. --s+@1E@s. 49,
~ UT Henry Arthur Jones, the great
49, est living \ 4 English playwright
who recently made a pilgrih1a &c III
America and lectured at Harvard AMI
Yale on the relations sof, the drama t,
literature, was ontspoken in his con
domination of the romantic-or, as b,
termed it, the costume play, as a felt
of endeavor for the modern dramatist
He pointed out that it was hectic AM
unnatural, ( that it's brilliancy Of cos
tune, scenery and even dialog, served
to disguise, if not to conceal it's es
sential falsity as picture of life. II
short, Mr.. Jones believes as Mr.. Shak
spere die, that the Of fee of the drams
is to hold the mirror up to nature Blu
the life of today ID not the life Of thu