The Washington herald., 1907-01-13

culated in terms of commerce and trade.
And ii is to be questioned II there is any
greater culture. musically CT otherwise,
IN Lyons than In the American communi-
ties referred 10. It would therefore seem
that the reason for the lack Of operatic
enterprise In the American communities
IS to be sought in the peculiar conditions
of@our stage affairs generally. in which
New York wields an overwhelming infiu-
ence that ought to be taken away from
her and viii be when cities like Washing
ton, ST Louis, Philadelphia, and several
others come 70 a consciousness Of them
selves.
1t is amusing to find that the English
critics treated seriously as a representa-
tive American play little Julie Bonbon, %
which Clara Lipman and Louis Mann
presented here early In the season before
they allowed the deadly siren Of ambition
TO lure them oversee to a disastrous
London engagement And on the theory
that Julie" was fair sample OF the sort
OF plays turned out by American play
wrights Of standing and approved and
patronized by the most intelligent Amer
lean audiences, the British critics hurled
it at the head OF Henry Arthur Jones IN
refutation OF declarations he made while
on his American lecture tour this season
that the drama among US had reached q
higher level than in England. The Brit
isheTs dissected Miss Iipman's first effort
at playwriting TO the marrow. and classed
it as belonging 10 dramatic species be
come extinct on the British Isles be-
cause the British public had become too
sophisticated 10 afford it sustenance.
They asserted that Miss Llpman had
drawn her types not from living beings
encountered in life, but from the false
and exaggerated theatrical characters OF
a stage epoch which had closed in Eng
land, but presumably was still current
in the United States. Therefore, they
concluded our dramatic development was
in a primitive phase compared with their
own, and Henry Arthur Jones was talk
ing through his hat when he asserted 10
the contrary. In short. the British
critics got a great deal Of comfort out Of
the visit Of Miss Lipman and Louis Mann
with Julie Bonbon" to the British metro
polls. What the unlucky American actors
got was something quite different and II
wasn't even relieved by a touch Of SYM
pathy from "our English cousins But
then Miss Lipman and Louis Mann ought
to have knewn better than 10 take so
slight piece across the water.
The independent or independence move
ment in theatricalx seems to be spreading
in the most unexpected directions Even
the struggling dramatic authors, anxious
as they must be TO have their plays pro
duced, are making it manifest that they
value their regulations and the integrity
Of their works more than they do royal
ties. A case in point has just turned up
in New York. where a comparatively IN
known woman playwright insisted on
Withdrawing a play from production be
cause the manager who was producing it
and the star who appeared In il took what
she considered altogether unwarranted
liberties with the text This play IS The
Double Life" the author Of which is Mrs
Roberts. The latter refused TO permit her
manuscript to be eviscerated at the pleas
Ure Of the star, and her agent applied to
the courts for an injunction to put an end
10 the production Of the play in its man
gled shape. Mrs De Mile, the agent, IN
speaking Of the affair, said the time had
come TO take action to protect the author
from the unperspecuve view Of the star
a star usually wants the whole scene TO
himself" declared Mrs. De Mile. and II
given full sway viii cut away until only
a monologue is left" The idea that the
author Of a play has any rights he is
likely TO assert against the manager and
the star has apparently been so long a
stranger 10 the theatrical world that It's
resuscitation comes with almost the force
Of n revolution. Il Is plain the independ-
enCe movement is attaining vigorous
growth. and may be expected 10 lead 10
mighty interesting developments IN other
directions as il progresses. II is a good
thing that ought to be kept moving
MAURICE SPLAIN.