Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-19
BY w. HERBERT BLAKE

"a popular interest in the drama isl
AA the number of amateur theatrical
clubs which are being organized in
the smaller cities and towns. If such
organizations are well balanced, if they
combine careful study of the stage as
an art medium with practical produc-
tions under earnest supervision, the
result will be an inestimable deepen
ing and broadening of the popular
taste. They will also prove a power
full deterrent to rash youths and maid
ems who see only the glamour of the !
footlights, not the intensely practical
hard work which goes on behind and
around the back drop. If every city,
of $4,000 inhabitants in America had
an organization where enthusiastic |
young aspirants for stellar honors
could be put through Il vigorous in
itiation into the real business of the /
stage, the wheat would be separated |
from the often excellent chaff, and
many charming young women would
be saved to the family circle.
The dramatic clubs now being
formed, or in active existence, in ourl
principal universities and girls semi
naries, are doing a like service. In ad-
dition, they are cultivating an appre-
ciation for the classics of dramatic
literature which four years of reluC-
tant study in courses of litera ture very
seldom succeed in implanting. The way
to learn what Shakespeare meant is toI
act what Shakespeare said. The mostt
implacable Ibsenites are those VINO
visualize him. The only way to make /
the drama an art is to make dramatic /
artisans And that is what the many
amateur organizations are doing at the
present moment, crudely sOmettmos
but always honestly. Their silent in
fuence will count in the judgments of
theatergoers of the future generation.
They will go to the theater to be
amused, no doubt, but the definition
of amusement is susceptible of revision
in the interest of culture and sanity.
That revision is now progressing
"Be enthusiastic" coolly advises a
writer who thinks dramatic critics are
too prone to fault finding. The counsel
Is about as valuable as the billboard
which urges you to Eat Terra Flrma
Breakfast Food" Enthusiasm is in
valuable. So, we trust, is the bre k
fast food But both cloy in time. The
instinct for enthusiasm is perhaps the
most precious attribute that any hu-
man being possesses. But it must not
be sated. Indeed, chronic carping is
simply enthusiasm gone to seed The
sensible man, critic or otherwise, is
chary of all but compelling enthu-
siasms. Some things sweep him off his
feet. Some things ought to. But he
cannot abide permanently alCft, unless
he construct his aeroplane on the
solid earth. The compass is made for
mariners, but the compass is made by
rank landlubbers. And the compass
of theatrical judgment is made by the
rank and file. Tho critic has his
standards of judgment, but he could
readily trace the most finicky Of them
to some massvely human origin. The
critic may be wrong, or he may be
right. He may be an enthusiast of
approved pattern, or ne may be
pathetic cyniC. But in either case the /
trait is, one of temperament. To try
to force either quality is very like try
ing to add cubit TO ones stature.
Stage hypnotism did not begin with
1.-THE Witching Hour nor even "Tril-
by" Every good PLAYER is q hypnO-
tist. The line in that profound ballad, !
Beautiful Lies" which describes how
a fascinating individual had the young
woman "hypnotiZed mesmeriZed," ." /
states a philosophical truth of un- |
doubted authenticity. Watch your ia
vorite actor closely the next time you
go to see him play in a tense emo
tional drama. Rivet your eyes upon
his face, his eyes. Little by little the |
darkened orchestra rows will disappear, |
the stage setting will disappear. you |
will see only a small circular halo of |
light about his face. Then shut your |
eyes quickly. and wink a few times. |
To look longer would cease to be in |
teresting; would be- in fact, merely an |
effectual cure for insomnia. But up |
to the danger point you have d precise (
and concrete hypnotic effect, as true |
as was the malignant Hardmuth's |
when he dropped the pistol and yielded |
to Jack BroolIfield's persuasive mental |
ity. Certain accessories of spotlight |
are necessary for both effects. And so |
we coin the word "star" for what is
merely a matter of theatric hypnotism. |
1t is the playwright who Is the real
star.
II Ferris Hartman produces his |
Love Tales of Hoffman on his re-
turn to the Grand this autumn, an in
teresting opportunity to exploit local
taIert in the three principal woman
roles is his. If you recall the plot, the
hero dreams dream of his three cru
cial love affairs. / would say he
dreamed three dreams but for the fact
that a subtle link OF characteristic
traits unites the three differing women
whom he has loved and lost. Former
productions of the piece have shown
MS the same actress in all three roles.
an arrangement which is true to the