The Washington herald., 1906-12-16

~ RONsON HOWARD, most accom-
* plished Of the American drama
lists OF this generation. has been
seeing things Of an aIluFing sort
in the future Of our dramatic literature
But he admits that his vision came
TO him in the desert and the atmos-
phere OF the desert Is productive OF
mirage. In a speech made at the laying
of the corner stone Of the new Stuyvesant
Theater in New York the other day, he
said the new temple Of the drama was
rising IN a desert. "a dreary desert OF
English literature in nearly all its
branches; Il desert Of general literature
that covers nearly the entire English
speaking world and stretches back more
than half century: a desert OF letters
which has its own deception and optical
illusions, making small men appear big
and magnifying our great men beyond
their real greatness" But he was not
cast down. Beyond the sage brush and
scrub oak, he saw signs of hope that
moved him 10 cheerful prophecy. The
brilliant indications shown by our young
er writer's for the stage. who are now
crowding TO the front, eager. earnest, and
persistent with their eyes on the future
and not the past, coming from every walk
OF life, from universities and all other
sources of active thought, are the basis
of my prophecy. In all human probabil-
ity the next great revival Of literature in
the English language will be in the thea
ter. The English-speaking world has
been gasping for breath and now we be
gin to feel a coming breeze. The waters
Of our Nile are rising"
Let US hope so. Let US hope It was no
mirage that Bronson saw, TO distant and
more or less distorted image OF conditions
OF other days or countries, and not pre-
figuring of our own stage future. No
doubt his words were inspired by the
work Of David Belasco, whose enterprise
the new Stuyvesant Theater is. and who
has been laboring along a line that has al
ready yielded much and promises more for
our stage if the strenuous author manager
doesn't Try to 90 too much. Probably
Charles Kline had a share in suggesting
his thought and II nay be that Upton
Sinclair had a remote connection with il.
But there is no man whose judgment in
this matter is worthy Of more respect
than that Of Bronson Howard now prac-
tically retired from play-writing and re-
moved from the rivalries and jealousies
inseparable from the practice Of that pro-
fessiOn. Nowhere in America is 10 be
found man more competent to judge
the real worth Of the work of the younger
authors, for he has the technical knoWl-
edge Of the requirements Of the theater
and of the absolute and comparative val
ue of stage literature.
Digby Bell IS good fellow on and on
the stage and an amusing person on it
But he isn't amusing because he is a
comedian. What he does isn't comedy.
It is foolery. He is one Of that rather
large class Of American actors who have
been spoiled by the combination system
a term, by the way. scarcely understood
nowadays. because it is the only sys-
TEN that has been known for so long a
time most people have no means Of max
ing comparisons with other systems.
travelling combinations. spending most of
their time on the road. They never re
ceived the training obtained by actors
who had the good fortune 20 grow up
professionally in those excellent drama
tic schools, the old stock companies of
the larger cities. Acting with them was
a -you-please affair. They developed
their roles TO suit their own whims. and
If they saw chance TO make point
by jumping out Of character from time
10 time, they had no ingrained aversion
begot by early training to arrest them.
They sacrificed the cumulative effect
produced by consistent adhesion to a
role in the endeavor to make a passing
hit quite out of keeping with the char
acters they were playing. They ceased
10 do comedy. They gave themselves
over 10 mere fOoleTy. Probably the star"
system had as much TO do with the
thing as the combination system They
Were parts Of a whole unknown to the
old stock systematic system which has
produced the finished, versatile wonder
fully good actors of the French stage
The star" sought 20 build his part up
at the expense Of all the other people
in the combination. He and his manager
thought it essential he should shine with
< distinctive light He had special privi-
leges denied 10 his supporting company.
The members Of the latter We're not al
lowed to take liberties with their lines
or business. The star" did pretty much
as he pleased with his. When he thought
il To his momentary advantage 10 leap
out OF character to win a laugh from his
audience, out he jumped. He lost the
habit of playing straight" 4"
This is what has happened to Digby
Bell and several other well-knOwn
comedy players. He was "A star in comic
opera so long. he threw aside his char
acter so persistently to win laugh that
he forgot how to do real comedy work
He is constantly beset by the tempta-
tion TO go direct TO his audience on his
own personal account and catch them
with one of his little personal tricks. He
seldom fails to yield to the temptation
Ii is this characteristic that makes MS
playing Of Mr.. Pipp relatively so weak
and Ineffective. Neither the play nor the
leading role is very important in a dra-
matte way The piece is Of the moment
II has but the slightest value or sig
nifieance dramatically OF as literature
Augustus Thomas is Of course respon-
sible for this. He began 1t when he fall
ed 10 90 better with the material fur
nished him by the Gibson drawings. But
taking the play as it is written, a skill
full and conscientious comedian could
have made something choice ard very ef-
fective of the part OF Mr.. Pipp. He
could have developed a stage type that
would have been distinctive and dis
tinctly remembered for many years.
Digby Bell hasn't done this for the rea-
sons given. He fools with the role IN