The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-01
THEATRE OF SILENCE
GORDON CRATG'S PLAN TO
CLEANSE THE STAGE.

CLEANSE TINE STAGE
NE wSuld Abolish tire ACt0r and tho Plays
wright -RENDerlmcnas with a PuRpet
Theatre nn Fl0rsnce -aemarkabIe ne
Focts Ohtalnsd -COrdon G;ralg's Ideas
Explained I'm q Letter To EleOnor Iluse.
FLORENCE. Nov. 2I.-LsarninG the other
day that Gordon Craig and his aaso-
ciates we're reforming the stage just across
the ArnO. took the tram and looked the
matter up. Generally such news would
hardly have stirred me. for - long ex-
perienoe with reform and reformers has
taught me that usually these benefactors
Of the race know nothing practically about
their affair. DO not total abstainers make
up the temperance sooieties2 Is not tho
social evil dealt with by those who know
the scarIet woman only academiOalky2
Are not the missionaries Of the world cheer
fully attacking venerable religions which
they perceive only under the generic CON-
domination Of heathenism or idolatry1
Observation OF this sort has made me
content to ROrsgo the acquaintance Of all
reforms whose brass bands do not pass my
garden gate conveniently. But Mr.. CraiG's
venture was plainly OF another sort. On
may think il wise or foolish to try to clean
up h stage by cleaning ON the actor and
playwright. but nobody can say that MIR.
Craig does not know the stage.
Thu son Of the first English actress Of
our times. Ellen Terry. he was born to the
theatre He has acted and served IN stage
manager. He has personally mounted and
decorated scores Of plays in many lands.
He has mastered the modern realistic
method OF stage setting before passing ON
TO a more abstract manner all his own.
After nearly twenty years OF experiments
and various attempts at improving the
theatre as IL is. he has arrived at the Eccles-
lasts conclusion hat IL is all vanity and
VexGtiOn Of spirit. The institution 10 so
corrupt and inherently defective that it
needs not reform, but destruction.
Knowing the drift OF Mr.. Craig's opinions
from previous talks with him and from
his interesting pamphlet. "A New Art Of
the Theatre I was not surprised when he
early hung at m Eleano buses famous
taunt that the stage might cOnceivably
be reformed II all living actors would firsC
die OF the plague. He FASTENED to explain
that he took no such lenient view Of the
situation.
What we wanted was not simply a new
and better crop Of players. but to get rid
Of them once for all. What really aiIs the
stage is the actor, who is too poor for il,
and the drama, which is possibly too good.
at least too complicated for il. Eliminate
the actor and the dram Inc you will have
left whatP Why. the stage itself a cleared
foundation . which One may reasonably
hope to rebuild something worth while.
Plying my establishment. MIR. Craig
went back and explained. The actor In
the bane OF the stage partly from his per-
sonal incapacity. partly in the nature Of
the case. Admittedly we have in any
generation only a handful OF artists who /
are competent to interpret a fine play, and
only a few dozen who are even tO!erable
in sue a capacity.
This remnant we necessarily euiov under
grave drawbacks. Their associates are
often absurd and offensive. We may oon-
ceive OF a worthy rendering Of a great
character, bat hardly of a great play. In
short. persons OF taste who still endure
the theatre do 50 for the sake or in the
hope OF the rare actor Of genius.
Mr.. Craig protested against such an
optimism as highly impracticabIe. We
would never employ a piano that played
in tune once in fifty notes. nor a clerk who
ciphered correctly once q year; and con-
sideTed merely on the basis OF common
sense The modern theatre scored so many
misses TO hits that patience with IL was no
longer justified. Artistically the stage 10
dead. why delay to carry out the corpse?
l demurred that in America at least the
stage was very much alive. Yes, he adj
mitted, but in a condition thst means MOTH
ing for the theatre or the drama ~ art.
h popularity Of the modern player Is on
the chea pest personal basis. Tom Brown
Of Clapham or East Orange likes OF course
to see his friend viii johnson. OF more par
ticularly his admiration, Jenny Jones, an
pear engagingly in charades, but he likes
them not for their cle~verness in charades
but because they are lear Will and Jenny.
To this complexion are We come in the
theatre.
We q out to see, for example. John Drew
or Blanche Bates perform, in what Il really
doesn't matter. Partly the fault OF the
players, who naturally trade on a lucrative
personal popularity. this state Of things Il
even more the fault Of our theatrical system
itself. The human interpreter OF a drama
lists creation remains hopelessly Mr.. This
or Miss That.