The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-15
DIR. RORSA ON ENGLISH DRAMA
AN ITALIANS VIEW or BRITISH
STAGE AND PUBLIC.

As a rule books about the dram are
pretty dull reading. The gay criticism of
last nights play. the column per1Ised I'm the
morning for advice how to spend the even
ing, may nave an ephemeral interest; OF
rare occasions It has even been known to
nave ephemeral charm. But put between
the coverso Of a book il becomes the reariest
Of reading. Whole shelves Of books about
the drama confront me az l write. some new
and dreNsy, some old and Roxed and rotten
a. TO binding. 80 that their calf backs aro
peelinR away. Frankly, those eighteenth
century criticisms. for all their foxsd pages
and quaint opinions and historic value.
bore me almost as much a. the very latest
life" of the very latest theatrical celebrity.
1 should never dream Of turning TO any OF
them for amusement Waite Pater and
Arnold and their kind made literature
out Of literary criticism. But. somehow.
the stage has almost never 30 inspired It's
critics. Their words about IL remain ephe-
neral, and, save for the moment OF timeli-
ness. uninteresting. Oh. there are ex-
captions, OF course-Lamb. a Frenchman
or two. and Well. perhaps you can
MI in the blank. There must be others.
but just now l didn't think OF them-of
none, 1 mean. whose writings about the
stage are literature. There is gossip in
plenty; but gossip OF any sort is a genre
apart and does not concern us now.
All of which Ia preamble 70 a piece
Of press agenting. want to boom a
book about the stage hat seems to me
quite unusual In quality and interest
The English Stage OF To-day" by Mario
Borsa, an Italian. Originally issued in
Italian, il is now republished in English
by John Lane and may be had at the shops,
though the title page is dated MCMVIII.,
abit of enterprise quite worthy of a maya
zine. DR.. Borsa, like Augustin Filon, the
F~renchman, can take the outsiders calm
and comprehensive view OF the English
stage, and, bringing to his task intelligence
and critical skill, he can extract from the
London p~layhouses facts and theories
which would inevitably escape h English
man. There is always something to be
aid for putting the history OF one people
into the hands Of a historian of another
race. There is even more 10 be said for
putting the passing impressions Of a decade.
DIR. Borsa makes no attempt to go over the
historical ground covered so well by FilOn.
Beginning at the period when Filon left
on, that golden time in the 9Os when arnest
Britishers nursed the delusion Of a rebirth
Of their drama, the ITALIA records his i'm
pressions of the passing show in London
down to the immediate present, taking up
the works Of Jones, Barrie, PinerO and
q. B. s. critically. discussing the Stage
Society and the Court Theatre, the Irish
movement and Shakespeare and, above
all, the attitude, complexion and sentiments
of the Great British Public"
In doing this il il not so much his critical
keenness. which ia great but by no means
always infallible, nor his shrewd array and
selection of facts which make his book
worth while. Rather II ia his ~unfiagging
sprightliness. He does not know how to
be uninteresting. An earnest disciple of
realism in the drama. a thorough modern.
and, as might be expected of a foreigner,
frankly impatient Of j. NJ. Barrie. who,
he SAYS. has refused TO grow up las If hat
were not his chief charmD, Dr.. Borsa
Is yet an impressionist in criticism, rem
dering the streets of London, the gray,
smoky. mast filed reaches of the Thames,
the cottage Of Swinburne, with vivid and
loving art. Somehow he has CO%ntrived.
with an Inconsistencies which springs
from his own conviction that Il ought TO
be 70, to picture British drama as a part
and parcel Of British life. to see in the Lon
don stage. if only because of its failure to
he real" but another manifestation of
the people whom he is studying. His in
terest in that stage is more than the aca-
demic interest of the student Of plays; il
IL the interest of the student of humanity.
This point of view. so much easier. perhaps.
for the foreigner. who does not take. az we
do. certain things for granted. gives to his
book its unique interest and charm.
There is a delicious bit, for instance, in
his chapter on THE Literary Drama
when he digresses from criticism to make
q call on Swinburne at Putney. II went
as though OF a pilgrimage" he says. for
his is the Italians admiration Of the poet
who loves Italy so passionately. They
talked about Italy and the poets two
visits there, and during all the conversa-
ton you feel the solicitous presence Of
Mr.. Watts-Dunton lowering on the out
skirts like a Greek chorus tor a BoswelD
and ever and anon dropping in q paren-
thelical remark, C"Wouldn't they. Theo-
dore?" YES. yes" said Mr.. Watts unton.
-Now tell him about F~lOrence.") SO he
told about Florence and Lander, and fin
ally hunted about the Alpine litter Of books
and papers and prints in his study for a
MANUSCRIPT. md read a scene from his
latest drama of Caesar ~Borgia-of course,
first asking the ever present Theodore if
he should do II. Finally DIR. Borsa left CyOu
are sure Theodore saw him solicitously to
the front gate) and returned to the roar
Of London, past the black forest Of masts
on the Thames that pierced the twilight
gloom" Such is his introduction to a
critical study Of Swinburne's dramas. And
after all it is more worth while thar the
study
Dr. Borsa also takes a trip TO the grave
Of Shakespeare, in a more reverent spirit
than A Ward OF America. to be sure. but
not leaving his sense Of humor behind
ut that. A. Ward wrote 10 Punch: 1--WE
been lingerin' by the Tomb of the lamentid
Shakespeare. IL in a SUCCESS" The Italian
Ind il a success also, nor is this country
man Of Novelli one to Danish the poetry
and dignity from "Othello" or Lear"
But Shakespeare for him is not a national
religion. so after many trips to Shake
= .. ;sn revivals in London and StratfOrd
he delivers himself as follows:
"Ths greater frequency in late years Of
ShalespeaTian productions compensates TO
some extent for the lack OF good prose
dramas in England. But how is the favor
enjoyed Ivy these productions 20 be recon-
ciled with the vulgar tastes Of the average