The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-01
TEDDY BEARS, CRITICS
WHY TIE AUDIENCE LAUGHED
AT MN. STROAG'S NEW PLAY.
xhe PeriI~ OF 1seinE Fantastic Illustrated by
'"The Toy Maker SJ Nuremberg on
Both Sides ~ tho EsOtltghtS-"ShOre
Acres AMI DiEby Bells success In ~.

Acres anil DiEbS BELLS ~uCCess In ~.
Austin Strong. whosr connection with
one Of the nohlest figures in the history of
Epglish letters would en- htlr aty work oRhis
20 q respectful hearing. lad he never written
"A Little Father IT the Wilderness. " went
TO "Afda' last Monday night, while his
play "Ihe Toy Maker of Nuremberg was
being shown a. the GaITiCk Theatre. BY
no dong be spent y pleasant and profitable
evening. and spared alike himself and his
audience the pain of a curtain speech
He also spared hiuself the annoyance Of
seeing his work misrepresented on the
stage and mis~undoTstood by certain people
I'm the aIidienceI lie 10 evidently some
fhin&Nof = philosopher.
But Mr.. StTong's emotions on the follow
ing d~av-unless his philosophy IL indeed
ACKNOWLEDGING and he does not read the
newspapers- must have been what the
noveIistS describe as conflicting. From
one accouns of his play no learned that his
RmiAble. lovable satire " TeutOnic emo
tdonalism in the last act won appreciative
laughter from the audieuce. From other
reviews he learned. probably 70 his aston
tshmenI. that he was trying in the last act
10 achieve an entirely pathetic situation,
and the laughter of the audence was a jeer-
ing con,ment on his failure. h towering
critical intellect which announced two years
a1o that Peter Pan" Was not 90 good a
play as Tho Wizard Of Oz" trained itself
upon MIR. Strong's play and accomplished
the expected, giving to a waiting world a
copious amount of INSTRUMENTATION and fail
ing entirely Ia grasp either the spirit or the
intention Of "The Toy Maker or Nuremberg"
Since Mr.. Strong chooses TO indulge in the
H.~,nIaaa aNJ faahirnahIn T4ahirna of 0nQrQ
going on such occasions IA the first night OF
his own play. H. is only fair to clear up this
little matter of the last act laughter for him,
Co let him know Just what happened.
Well. the audience laughed. There's no
question about that The question is.
Why Now two people may laugh at
che same thing from very different mo
kives. "A fact which possibly has not yet
scaled to hose lofty attitudes Of the fore-
mentioned Towering Intellect. When
AdoIph. the Teddy Bear King. returned
from America in the last act and standing
O feet . in his stockings informed his
mamma with COpious tears that her little
boy" had come back. when he called her
mamma again and again. each time falling
into her embrace. when he rescued the old
toy ma ker from the tolls of the a~uctioneer
with the very money that was withheld
from the toy maker because he refused to
make Teddy bears instead of dolls. and
when he blubbered like a great. o~vergrOwn
boy with sheer excess of sentiment While
he was doing il, the audience laughed. In
all probability the Towering Intellect
laughed with scorn. In all probability he
supposed that Mr.. Strong's intention was
to make him weep. What he saw OF the
stage was silly and ridiculous and spelled
failure. His caChinnations were prema-
ture dramatic criticisms. And it is very
probable too that in this world Of men
and women who recognize no shades be-
tween bIack and white. who wish all charac-
tiers to wear a tag Of virtue or vice. WI
suppose that tears are always painful.
laughter always gay. there were others
In the audience who laughed from the same
motive. Blu not every one laughed from
that motive: far from it..
A sweet lady whose days are spent in the
gentle art of teaching little children, and
who for three acts had been bugging her
self with glee at the noble defence of the
doIies against those upstairs the Teddy
bears. laughed at AdOiphs return with a
catch in her throat, for she knew what a
quaint reversal il all was of the Prodigal's
RETURN what n tender satire of German
s~entimentality. what a sly poke at dramas
dead and gone; and yet she felt. too, a kindly
interest in the story of the old toy makers
trials. and she was glad Adolph came back.
Glad almost to tears. And like hers was
che laughter OF many others in the audience.
men and women who had not drifted 40 far
from childhood's faith in a story, from their
glad credulity and ready sympathy for
quaint and homely things, that they could
not blend the laughter of sophisticatiOn
with the tears of simplicity, that they could
not see what MIR. Strong vas driving at.
IT a portion Of the laughter last Monday
wa A brutal criticism, an equal II not greater
portion was a compliment. Mr.. Strong
cannot make too much of a martyr Of him
self.
L. liz of course Inc inevitable peril OF the
man who would daily with the fantastic
10 be misunderstood. and to be- misunder-
stood even more by his actors than his
audience. If David Wariield. an actor
whA above all others has command of the
tears that we'll up through laughter, and
the smiles that break through tears. and
who is surely capable OF rendering the
CHILDISH and the fantastic AZ we'll as homeIy
realism, had played the part OF h old
toy maker. instead OF ". J. Ferguson.
tho fate Of the play would probably have
been vastly different. Mr.. Ferguson is
an actor OF farce. a capital actor Of farce.
But The Toy Make of Nuremberg" is
not a farce; it. is a fantasy H. demands
Of all its players. even for the achieve
msnt of it's bumor. the utmost apparent
sincerity; it. must he acted with all The
solemn reality of a Child'S fairy story.
Who ever heard Of reading -The Griffin
and the Minor Canon" or The Steadfsst
Tin Soldier" as if they were not true? Perish
the Thought They are true, and vastly
important. And 80 is this little play true.
and 30 is H. lastly important that the toy
maker shall not sacrifice his noble principles
and make Teddy bears instead Of doiiies.
Love his dolls hate the upstsrt Teddy bears2
OF course he does. with all the simple
fervor of his dear old German heart. II be
didn't. IT, wouldn't he funny. il wouldn't be