The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-10-25

tive, 70 better housefurnishing, better
clothes, designs in clothes, better man
ners, better thinking, better purposes.
The man does not live who could draw
the line at which its didactic influence
stops, or could draw one where he him
self would agree 1t ought to stop
Sweet Laven6ar" teaches the beauty
Of constancy in love. Shall it pass as
good n dramatic substance and Faust
be rejected. because II teaches precisely
the same lesson in higher relief?
There IS no limit TO Impose on the
function OF the stage Primarily Il must
entertain Otherwise II may do as It's
patrons, and its artists decree. II II is
useful. il is the more valuable. But
even its uses are not easy to determine,
when the comedian is useful for tighten
ing the lives Of the careworn. and the
tragedian is useful for giving most OF
Us our only comprehension Of life in it's
more terrible aspects. ColCridge had 4,
germ Of truth behind his saying:
Tragedy is poetry in it's deepest earn
est; comedy is poetry in unlimited lest"
But as an art, acting is bound by q
condition hard, clear. cold, infexible. 1t
Is that the product shall be a thing of
beauty. This is the gauge that accepts
Ibsen's DOLLS House" while it rejects
Ghosts" that passes The Fighting
Hope with its story of a wife who
loves another than her husband, While
it excludes la Dame aux Camelias';
that condemns and despises Iris, The
COnQuerers," and "Zaza". while IL con-
fers high distinction on THE Chris
tian," "Othello," and The Servant of
9 ha
Question" IS justified and should CON
tribute to the lasting fame of its pres
ent interpreters. Good luck to it and
them!
A New First Night and Some Old Ones.
A large score Of managers viii shift
uneasily in their seats as they see the
third act of Wireless" They have all
attempted ship scenes, and not one OF
them has come so near illusion. The
Stubborness of Geraldine" is 3 fair il
lustration. With all it's moderately
good points, the scene aboard ship was
in the most literal sense fiat. Now and
then a board would be jolted along the
front and every character in view OF
The audience would initiate a rocking
motion That was all For the rest,
they were about Of an excellence like /
the scene in Held in Slavery" where /
half a dozen men hold up a boat
through some green selicia and rock it
as best they can for a mighty brief half
minute
The point for today, however. is noI
that Wireless" VIII be a melodramatic
success. It is that the mind which could
develop an idea in melodrama to so
striking a result will not be long content
Thompson's probable calculation was
that the time was ripe for just such a
play, and he would provide the best of
its kind He was right in both counts.
Now he will do something better.
II Wireless does as well as other
washington successes Of the season it
should make the producer and his tai
ented wife. Miss Mabel Taliaferro. rich
beyond worry of the future. It's appeal
is to numbers. That Of THE World and
His Wife, The Melting Pot" and
THE Fighting Hope" is to the few
Yet all three of these plays have been
pronounced victories for their authors.
The Favershams have been playing, not
10 $500 as was predicted in these col
umns. but 10 $4,000 a week. The Melt
ing Pot" has landed hard las the stage
phrase Isl in Chicago. Miss Bates and
the Hurlbut play are apparent fixtures
in New York. The latest report from
1.-THE Golden Butterfly was that il
would keep Miss Van Studdiford and
Manager Bradley in Bedlam all season.
Tomorrow night brings another new
play for its FIRST performance. Il IS
1.-THE Right TO Live" is advertised as
not without the quality OF sunshine so
much discussed a few paragraphs hack. |
ana is the work of Jules ECkert Good |
man. Col Jay Durham, long a capable |
news or managing editor in these parts, /
is doing the advance work. and that
promises live local interest Mr.. Good |
man IS known as the American
Vaughan. and, like his English ante
type, is new star in the playWriting
heavens, whose every twinkle is COB
bled by managers. Though never heard !
of before this season he is to have
three plays produced. Have we two
Kiplings for the stage2 There is a
critic who hopes SO. but waits To be