Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-05-07
SHAW AS CRITIC
British Dramatist Tells of His
Own Frankness in Play
Writing.
ADHERES FIRMLY TO TRUTH
three Years Theater Going Struck
Me Down Like Veriest Weak
ling" He Writes.

Bernard Shaw, the great English
dramatist, is shining in the critics
glory now, says a London cable dis
patch TO the st. Louis PoSt-Dispatch.
His views on dramatic art and acting
are being widely discussed. and, al
though he says things which hurt the
admirers of some dramatists and ac-
tors, he Is read with intense interest.
He attributes his frankneSs in judg-
ing plays and actors to his habit of
telling the truth. He says if his own
fathers life depended on favorable no
tees from the critic and If he himself
was to write the criticisms he would
orphan himself rather than speak IA
vorably of Il work which did not de-
serve 1t. The two volumes in which
he expresses his views as an introduce
ton TO reprinted criticisms contain wit,
humor, satire. earnest thought. and are
at times dogmatic. In the preface he
tells of the effect three years of the
alter going as dramatic critic had on
him. Here are his own words:
The theater struck me down like
the vereSt weakling. | sank under ii
like a baby fed on starch. My very
bones began to perish. so that | had
to get them planned and gouged by ac-
complished surgeons. l fell from
heights and broke my limbs to pieces.
The doctors said This man has Lot
eaten meat for twenty years. He must
eat 1t or die l said. This man has
been going To the London theaterS for
three years, and the soul of him has
become inane and IS feeding unnatural
ly on his body"
His criticisms, he confeSSeS, are not
impartial. He says no man can write
impartially If he has a mind Of his
own and If he has theories of art. He
makes 1t clear that the opinions eX-
pressed are his impressions of the
plays and actors he has seen. He in
Inmates modestly: Il am very inter
esting and clever fellow. | will tell
you what individually think and feel
when l go to theater."
The author of Man and Superman"
and Of Antony and Cleopatra"
which Forbes Robertson and Gertrude
Elliott have been playing recently in
ST. Louis, says he not only tells the
truth about the plays and actors, but
he is compelled TO do so invOluntarily
He puts II this way:
IF my father were an actor and his
life depended on his getting favorable
notices OF his performance, l should
orphan myself without an instant's
hesitation If he acted badly. | am by
81,
stinct. | spare no effort to mitigate its
inhumanlty, trying to detect and strike
out of my articles anything that would
give pain without doing any good.
Those who think the things l say Sc
we're or even malicious should just see
the things | do not say"
Pays Respects to Others.
Among the dramatists to whom he
pays high respects to Ibsen. Sardou
and Jones. The volumes abound In
Shawisms. which lend themselves TO
quotations easily, like the following:
Love is in the real active life the
abject slave of every tritling habit,
prejudice and cowardice
1T is the mark of the artist that he
will not work.
Nobody can be better aware than
am Of the convenience to an Irishman
In England of being able by an occa-
sional flourish of his nationality to Sc
cure all the privileges Of Il harmless
lunatic without FORGETTING the position
Of responsible member Of society.
"A character actor IS one who can
not act, and therefore makes an elab-
crate study Of DISCUSSES and stage
tricks by which acting can be gro
tesquely simulated.
Mr.. Barrie has no eye for human
character. only n keen sense for hui
man qualities.
THE suburban drama is the inevita-
bic outcome of suburban civilizat ton
(meaning civilization that appre-
ciates fresh air..
The history Of the lyceum. with its
twenty years steady cultivation of the
actor as personal force and its utter