The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-24
IN THE CAST, 9 VILLAINS.
JULIUS HOPPS PLAY TEARS TIE
Mask FROM CAPITAL.

b And CRpttAI TOketnor- NO
Ladies', No Heart Interest, No Theatre.
Julius Hopp, manager Of the Theatre
Of Labor and the Shakespeare OF the Down
trod and Oppressed, gave the first public
reading OF his new play, The Friends OF
Labor" TO a lecture hall crowded with
twenty-four combination union men and
Socialists in the Rand School Of Social
Sciences in East Nineteenth street last
night. The play is in four acts and was
written under union auspices. WI en- man
ayers grow less commercial and begin to
realize that they shouldn't run their theatres
TO make money The Friends OF Labor
will be put on in a Broadway house.
There are no women in the cast which
Il possibly one rea son the manuscript has
never been so much as read by Lillian Rus
sell, Montgomery and Stone, Marie Cahill
or Joe Weber, not to mention others-but
there are nine distinct villains among the
twelve characters in the play. Even
Bishop Mdrtir. who foolishly tries to bring
capital and labor together. ia a chump.
when Mr.. Hopp read last night with a
fne scorn the dippy IDEAS Of the bishop
several OF the audience woke up to fill
themselves with contsmpt for the high
church dignitary.
The Friends Of Labor was started last
tpring, Mr.. Hopp says, just after he had
conferred with members Of the Ironworkers'
Union and other prominent labor leaders
with regard to giving the drama a boost.
Since completion the drama has rome up
and down Broadway searching for a hearing,
but so far has obtained only two written
references. Mr.. Hopp had on exhibition
last night one letter from Sally Darrell,
who writes that the play is a winner and
that the types portrayed are true to life
and seldom seen on any stage.
1T ie the only play Of its kind l have
aver seen, v continues Sally Darrell, though
several Of the greatest German dramatists
have written in like strain about European
politics"
Besides this. John Trump has written
Mr.. Hopp hat The Friends Of Labor"
impressed him "a being IAN unusually
strong argumentative drama, containing
enough Of the popularizing dramatic action
to make up for the lack of heart interest
which audiences seem to demand"
Because OF this heart interest Mr.. Hopp
has had trouble with the managers he says.
They're too commercial, > protested the
playwright last night before he began his
reading. One manager, tipped the pages
through his fingers and said right there
that there were not enough pages in 1t.
Another said il was too radical and he
didn't read it. The men that are going
B put on The Jungle said my play was
TOO far ahead of the times-thst the masses
weren't educated up to il yet.
Some object to the long political speeches
IN the third act. Foolishnessl Bjornson
in his Beyond Human Power has speeches
like my speeches. Did you ever hear OF a
political speech that was short? Besides,
every word of my long speeches means
something, so how can | cut EN-?
Il feel hat l have written a great play
and that a new school OF drama have l
created. To the theme have | done justice.
And I'll put this play on myself a week
before election, the Socialists to help"
The theme Of The Friends OF Labor" is
that, any way you take its the union workers
get u put all over them while they labor to
put IL all over somebody else. In the play
The men with money, consequently the
villains, began to tie the union men to the
third rail not one minute after MIR. Hopp
had taken his initial drink from the pitcher
Of Toe water on the reading desk before
him. Robert Laurence, hero and active
Socialist, starts right in to show the low
pluks and thuks with money that
they don't know how TO run their own
business, and in the last act Laurence gets
all shot up by the militia during a strike,
With Laurence down and out and the
strike broken, the employees OF the villains
company go a to work with
wages still reduced 10 per cent. two
hours added to the'day's work. That was
where they we're when the curtain went up.
90 nothing really comes OF 1t except that
Laurence before ne passes in has got rid
Of speeches o. the beauty Of socialism that
length rave not been eQualled since
Hamet began to s~oliloquize.
Mr.. Hopp. abutting on the pitcher Of
Toe water, made a little speech before read
ing his play.
HDramatists nave lodged the socialistic
propaganda he said, FOR some time, but
now the movement is breaking forth. Take
q look. To-day we have Chack London
when we all get going we will tear the mass
Of capital from its h~umbugSery. This play
Of mine Is written for the direct purpose OF
exposing the entire capitalistic humbuggery
through the drama.
snow / will read and show you that the
real anarchists are the capitalists when
they engage soaps TO take the strik ers'
They do that before the strike
of that And l shall read
the play with as much dramatic execution
a. actors acting il should dc when acting L..
So when the reader began his play there
was = herceness in his voice during that
part Of the first act that runs from 8 O'Clock
10 8:45. And during that part Of the first
tina lasts from a quarter to o ION. wherein
: h : SspcHn tbe s se / RstI Sero. s he E resdsT %
face shone with the pure 10y Of tho morning
sun. His voice undulated Ike a lily sway
ing In a passing zephyr. One felt that
the birds were twittering ira
la-la.
There are cruel thrusts at the National
Civic Federation all through the first act. |
The Cancellation Federation it IL called in
Mr.. Hops play, but the playwright says
the N. G.. F. that's getting the cruel
The captains Of industry are all
gathered as the ice water pitcher is placed
on the reading desk and it is learned early
In the game that their sole object in gather
ing In to induce the employees TO postpone
their strike until after election. Just to
xhov their mean dispositions one need
only learn that in order TO accomplish their
vile purposes they get a lot Of honest work.
soused and 80 attain their end.
All through this act Senator W. r. Whit
tdker, who. not content with being a trac-
ton company president, ia also a Demo
cratic boss, blurts out -Oh; DEVIL" every
time he is opposed. And the way that Rishop
MdrfiR faIls down on his foolish face every
time he tries TO butt in where he doesn't
would drive people from the Church.
The capitalists try 10 get the brave Lds-
renee all lit up also, but he spurns their
champagne. He won smoke or drink or
sven sit down in the presence Of the mag
mates and altogether makes them feel
properly ashamed Of themselves.
The reading Of the first act was finished
the soft SHORES Of the man with the
gray hair in the front row. That left