Daily Arizona silver belt., 1908-08-27
THE DEVIL

It will not be long now before the local theatrical season is running full blast again. The season has already started in New York, which has become, in a way, the headquarters of theat- ricals in this country and it may be re- garded as significant that New York S season with it's blare of advertising, has for it's keynote "The Devil' Two of the big New York managers, MT. Henry W. Savage and MT. Harrison Grey Fiske, have produced two English-act- ing versions of play written by Franz Molnar, of Budapest, play success fully produced in various European cap itals and booked for apeparance soon in London. This play is called "The Devil,' and MT. Fiske produced it on Tuesday night at the Belasco Theater, while MT. Savage, not to be outdone by his rival, produced it the same night at the Garden Theater.
 The play is based, so far as one can judge by reading the criticisms, on Go ethe's poetic drama, Faust" only the devil, who is the hero of this latest dra- ma, is modern gentleman, very fond of the world and the flesh. It is his function to tempt an unloving wife to sin, and, this accomplished, and having sent the two principal characters in the play on the road to ruin, he consid- CTS his work done. and the play is over.
 It is interesting to take from New York paper which reviewed the two pro auctions of this play side by side, note which shows "The Devil's' tendency, MT. F. E. Mckay, in the New York Mail, reviews MT. Savage's ''The Dev- il, and he tells us that
 "As an object lesson in the ease with which honeyed words may lead from ,he narrow to the broad path-from the spiritual to the material-'The Devil v s full of invitations to come early and avoid the rush. -
 The critic of the Fiske production of he plays says:
 "Whether a New Yerk audience will stand for a play that justfes the evil one remains to be seen. The Devil is a most agreeable and fasci- nating gentleman, who never bullies anybody, but agrees with all they want to do-quite satisfied that in the end they will do what he wants them to do. He is the true modern devil-the com oletely anarehistic self y
 It is plain that, save for the startling title, "The Devil' does not strike new note, but only goes a bit further, perhaps, along the lines of artistic i'm morality laid dawn in "Camille,' "Sapho,'' ''Thou Shalt Not and dramas of busy theatrical season, and ,nder normal conditions, it is likely that ''The Devil" would not have attracted undue attention; but it is unfortunate that this play should give the note to he coming theatrical season.
 As theater affairs are managed now adays in this country, we know-for those in control have iterated and re- terated it-that plays are produced solely for their money making capa- ;ities, and this being so, and theatrical managers being usually pretty shrewd yaugers of popular opinion, it follows that they have come to believe the American public has had its taste warp ed, so that it has to be fed on strong neat.
 The prediction in New York is that ''The Devil'' will run for long time there, but, fortunately, New Yorks cri- serion of taste is not widely followed elsewhere. If ''The Devil" does make the success which all the preliminary bother would make it appear it's man. lgers expect, we shall be sorry. We rave faith in the right thinking and the clean minds of the American public. If he American stage is prostituted out of it's highest estate to pander to the evil that is in man, it is only because the managers find such pandering profitable. This it would never be if plays of i'm moral tendency were frowned upon by the patrons of the theater.