Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-31

TRT PHO would be a critic? When
early sprlngtime blossoms and
NM nature seems to invite to genial
Wv smiling who would risk blight
the sunshine in a single ambi
tious soul by pointing out even the posi-
bility of improvement in any enterprise
cherished in the warmth of approval?
And anyhow, the season for critics Is go
ing out.
Better to be a base ball umpire.
1t is a bit of unpublished comment by
Wilton Lackaye that leads to these refiec-
lions. Lackaye is one OF those ferocious
wags who think they can eat their friends
and have them too. He carries an epigram
constantly poised like a spear and launches
1t Unfortunately against tribesrnaD or
stranger. 1t has often been observed by
disappointed Htterateurs that the. best writ
ing often goes to the waste basket instead
of appearing In print. A search through
that tear-hallowed receptacle turns up one
of those flimsy-sheeted carbon paper re-
productions which are Haunted from week
TO week under the eyes of the Journalistic
slave whose duty 1t is to glorify actors. 1t
discusses Mr.. LaCkaye as a wit and cpl
gramatist and touches the scanthness
of reward which has usually distinguished
the careers of men with a gift for pungent
phrase making. "A portion of the article
sounds like a personal interview with Mr..
LaCAaye geographically reproduced. 1t
reads as follows:
Then there is always danger that do
meStiC pressure or some undeserved early
misfortune may force a man of witty sense
into the position Of dramatic critic, in which
case he finds himself unable to fill that
judicial position. being constantly tempted
rather to exploit than to enlighten his
readers.
LAS every one knows who reads the pa
pers now, the stranguation of effort and
the reliance upon the old things tried and
true is very largely due to the serio-comic
criticule. One may we'll imagine that the
artists who may have contributed to the
magnificent collection IN the hall of sculp-
true on ChicagO's beautiful lake front
would hesitate to add to their works IL
they found the erstwhile analytical criti-
cism has been abolished and the task of
passing upon their works handed over to an
adolescent person who has gained his
knowledge OF art In the suburbs OF Ken
osha.'
Why cite Kenosha? The fact that some
Kenosha critic did not speak with proper
appreciation OF Mr.. Lackayes play can
not justify desire to annihilate the tribe
Il Kenosha Is overly smart and decorating,
think OF Scranton, Pa, or New Haven,
Conn. Mr.. Lackaye surely ought to think
with fond regard upon these two eminent
6Tst-night centers which in all the years
Of their judicial experience have never re-
ported a single failure. There is nothing
more CHEEKY than a telegram dated from
Scranton or New Haven. II always means
good news. With two such cities on the
pap as training schools for compliment the
little that kenosala, wherever It is, can do
In Its seQuestered bitterness OF spirit might
have been overlooked. As an actor MIR.
Lackaye's sympathy with a man who may
be tempted rather TO exploit himself than
10 enllghten his public comes with singular
grace and understanding. There has never
been novel, however classically written,
prepared for the stage which did not make
the exploitation OF the actor the first and
overwhelming purpose. The enlightenment
Of an audience as to the literary beauties Of
the original composition remains a second
airy consideration. In his own excellent
play 1.-THE Law and the Man" Mr.. Lackaye
did not dare, It is safe to assert, to include
what his own taste pointed out to him as
many of the worthiest portions of the novel.
He was forced. in order to satisfy the popu-
lar demand for accentuated individuality,
to resort to much palpable melodrama of
popular instruction, either by performers
in the theater or by persons whose function
IT Is to record impressions OF plays, is a
difficult and thankless task.
Analytical criticism Is what Polonius
would stigmatize a vile phrase 1t sounds
fOrbidding, scholastic and from the view
point Of the popular reader, generally rep
rehensible. 1t is something which unless
performed with rare felicity but few people
would care to read, save the players them
selves and they only when its conclusions
were Mandatory of their personal talents.
Any one who enjoys roasting" as much as
Mr.. Lackaye does would scarcely be ex-
pected to attempt to deny its joys to others
His career as a player is still young for
he has never appeared in role of really
classic proportions. His hits have been of
the current and perishable class. as his
record. pictorially exposed on the dead walls
representing his representations from Sven
gall In ''Trilby'' 10 Curtis Jadwin in The
Pit testhes. He is not yet In position to
tiout the world and defy its prejudices His
intellectual keenness is In danger OF ham
pering his career a player. People who
watch him have their attention distracted
ny bIouSulS VI MN az q merry VIII. While
those who read his witticisms think OF him
as player That he Is both In an eminent
degree may not save him. for the present
Is an era Of specialization.
These observations cannot nor are they
Intended to, controvert in the slightest de-
gree the fact that his play. The Law and
the Man" is a splendid piece OF work, and
that his performance In 1t ranks with the
highest artistic attachments to which the
present generation of play goers can point
lie has approached his task not az a pert
phraseologist. but a practical student of
stagC-cra1t with a thorough knowledge of
the mechanism by which popular emotion Is
reached The dialogue he employs is simple
and direct, aud his stage pictures are de-
vised with rare discernment in matters of
dramatic contrast and poetic significance.
That much OF the original beauty Of Hugo's
work should be sacrificed was Inevitable.
But the play stiil preserves the central
character as figure of heroic mold and
surprising moral dignity. No such fine
representation of voluntary expiation has
I.Rn seen since the production of rhe