The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-02
MIGHTY DRAMA OF DAILY LIFE
ENGLISH PLAYWRIGHTS EXEM-
Pity MAETERLTNCK'S PHRASE.

~ " aN1NAhN
wetheVbys' HOnsr Daily life More
Than the Drama The New season.
Amid the rush Of the opening OF the season
on Broadway, with new piecea nightly
crowding for notice, II would he rash to
commit oneself n n generalization: but
certain 81 the plays lately imported from
The London stage-and these are in a vast
majority give color 20 the persistent
lament from abroad that the modern school
Of English comedy is on the decline. The
palmy days Of tho school, not so many
years aSo--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 II theme and
Aanhnical mastery. Since then Shaw and
Barrie rave arrived. with plays that it would
Ae unduly doctrinary to Glass in any minor
order; but the fact remains that in Can
dida' and Peter Pan" individuality in the
choice OF theme ,delectable as IL Is, has tended
toward idiosyncracy. Since the opening OF
the century, to all appearances, the calibre
Of the English drama has contracted.
Two Of the most notable Of the present
seasons offerings are not only slight In
theme but infirm in technique. 1t has be-
come h custom to accuse Mr.. Alfred Sutro
Of bending his conscience as an artist to the
popular demand for happy endinss. With
the personal motives Of an artist criticism
has little to do, for n reason because
the evidence Is usually insufficient either TO
praise or to condemn and for another reason
because in so many cases such judgments
have proved wide Of the mark. II there In
any pandering to i'll advised prejudice In
SqrL- MI - =. ~ ~ NAn na-~s.lr "a -
most unsuccessful; for even the ripe art and
personal popularity OF Mr.. W. H. Crane is
failing, as it seems, to commend the play
to the public.
For myself / prefer q more creditable
explanation OF it. Mr.. Sutro il q friend
and disciple OF Maeterlinck, and it Is not
unlikely that he has sought to put in prac-
tice his masters favorite theory as to the
modern drama. In the plays OF our fore
fathers, Maeterlinok says one finds oneself
In the presence Of the primitive instincts
Of the ~race-they arise in disordered pas
sions, progress through violence and
eventuate in bloodshed and death. The
life OF to-day, he contends, is limpid and
smooth. External violence ia out Of date.
Brunetiere's definition OF the diferentiG
Of drama as the clash Of i~rreconcilable Wills.
Maeterlinck would have US believe, is as
dead and done for as Aristotle's definition
Of it as the presentation Of an action.
Dynamic drama has given place TO a drama
that is static" 1t has become the Office
of the playwright to study and illumine
the majestic life Of every day
1t is possible that Maeterlinck's theories
have become confused and COMPOUNDED
in the words in which he has stated it. In
n IA a. ILL., =. ~ an -
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 h 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.
sThe 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 TTembhu, an unsuccessful novelist
and literary hack, is ~importuned by his
avaricious and INSCRIPTIONS brother Marx
to Use his influence TO bring about the DUR
chase of certain lands which ave a COM
mercial value unsupported by their owner.
Giving way to the pleas Of his wife, whose
conscience is u~nillumined 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 a. weak in his resolve to do wrong
a. he had been weak in rectitude. The
man tries 10 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
TO 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 hand to sign the nefarious
deed his eve chances to light on the photo
sraph Of his father and he tears and burns
the document. Diminishing Mark in an access
Of righteous indignation.
Throughout MIR. 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. It may be remarked, that an
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
20 convince one Of the value Of The Price
of Money
= .
The defect is in the logic both Of life
and Of the theatre. By the time thed ocu-
Is.ont cores to Joseph for his signature
he 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. JOscph'S subsequent re-
flsal to aid his signature. arising by mere
chance in consequence Of the sight OF his
fathers photograph, il as sentimental
IA il Is casual. Characteristic II no doubt
Is, but as the final scene OF the play highly
;--oonscquent, and though it has a certain