Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-21

stage and the drama and It's
- opponents have fallen. In q
chorus that is almost diapasonic
- In its volume and intensity, the
managers, many of whom have been serious
offenders in their own times and their own
ways, are urging that the immortality Of
some plays now being offered Is such as
threatens the very being OF the people az a
whole. The demand for the pure and whole
some is so eloquently phrased that an out
sider-and one this far from New York IL
surely an outsider in the accepted sense OF
the term-feeis as did Agrippa when he
spoke to Paul, Almost thou persuadest
me-" But a little lingering tinEe Of doubt
still hovers. the dubitable aspect being in a
measure ascribable to the fact that 1T was
not like this in the olden days" 1t is I'M
fair, perhaps, to suspect the sincerity OF the
men who are uplifting their voices in behalf
Of the good that is, or ought to be. in man
kind. So, raising no question as to their
motives. nor asking OF them further pledges
than they have given. Messieurs Burnham.
Thompson, Klsw & Erlanger, and all their
fellows, will be welcomed to the ranks OF
those who have striven IN the past to keep
down the ever surging tide Of evil. Maybe
with their help something can be accom-
plished.
Mr.. Thompson, In mis- article, which IL
republished here, refers to a number OF
very successful plays that have been clean
and wholesome, and cites for one example
Way Down East" But doesn't the real
interest In this ~apotheosis Of "mush' CEN
ter around the girl who was abused be-
cause she was accused Of doing wrong9
She hadn't sinned, but she had the APP
pearance Of having sinned. and so she was
driven out into the night and the snow
storm that is 80 realistically pictured on
the stage. Yes, to be sure, the denoue-
ment is a vindication Of that famous old
line OF BARLEY CampbelIs, that Rags are
royal rsiment when worn for virtues sake"
And. by the way, how many OF you can
recall the applause that bit of sentiment
used to receiver The lesson is that virtue
ought to triumph. In THE Easiest Way"
which is 80 generally denounced. the les
son is the same, only the heroine doesn't
have the rugged stamina Of her who was
driven into the snowstorm. Such COM
PARSONS might be made Indefinitely, and
to no especial purpose. The only question
that seems to be under discussion at pres
emit is. Shall certain phases OF social life,
well known to exist, be offered publicly
for inspection by mixed audiences at the
theaters2" AS this question has been de-
bated time out of mind. and Is still unan-
swered. the present multiplication of words
is not likely to seriously affect It in any
Of It's several aspects.
-
Most OF the present managerial uproar
seems to be over Mrs. Fiske and salvation
Nell" At least this is the play and the
player most frequently referred TO. The
fact that Mrs. Fiske's husband has long
been q thorn in the side of the syndicate, .
and has very recently been expelled from
the New York managerial combination be-
cause OF an unsettled dispute with another
manager over the right to produce in Amer
lea Mollar's superb exposition of the drama
OF sweetness and light. THE Devil" 1t may
be that In considering the case Of Mrs.
Fiske we are getting somewhere near the
fly that makes the 'syndicate's'' ointment
smell bad. 1t ID admitted that the opening
scene of Salvation Nell" brings before the
AUDIENCE a bit OF life in q large city that
Is not at all pleasant to contemplate, but
one that all who know anything are fully
aware OF. Very little that is inspiring may
Flow from a brawi in a low saloon, or the
raidihg OF a brothel by the police. But the
Stun sights hown on the stage in SALIVA
ton Nell" are lot OF the kind that would
attract any one to enter on that sort Of
life. The picture is only presented to show
where Nell and Jim started. and to give a
background to the height to which they
assembled through the redeeming power of
love. Henry Miller. who would not produce
paid In Full" because he did not want 10
stage the picture OF a woman even pretend
Ing to barter her honor, did not hesitate to
produce ''The Great Divide" with its tense
suggestion of the impending ravishment Of
a woman, because he saw in Il the lesson
OF redemption through love. And Mr., Miller
was right. THE Great Divide" has dra-
matte force and intensity, while paid in
Full" is tawdry melodrama, almost wholly
devoid OF the true ring OF drama, and de-
pending for Its climax on the incident TO
which Mr.. Miller objected. II the action
OF salvation Nell" depended for its i'm
pulse on the saloon fight or the raided
brothel' then the objections urged against
IL by the managers who oppose Mrs. Fiske
because OF her husband might convince.
These points are but incidents in the drama.
OF episode Importance only, and bear but
slight relation to the main story. The
theme Is the redemption of the woman
through the love that brought her under
tNS h'AAucHS ~ IcAlbion, ana tnen the re-
demption OF the man through the love that
brought him under the Influence Of the
woman. II this pair had started in the up
per walks OF life, and the catastrophe OF
the opening act had occurred in a bali
room. as In THE Walls of Jericho" maybe
the subsequent course OF their salvation as
II Is worked out In silence and suffering
would be accepted as Of a part Of real life.
But salvation Nell is a portion OF that
great world that throbs and pulsates with
the heartaches and the choked aspirations
and the stubborn ambitions OF millions,
whose existence is q struggle to exist, so
strenuous. SO hopeless. that one whose eyes
are seldom II ever turned to the seamy
side must wonder why they try to exist at
All. so little does life hold for them. 1t
is a story with more than one moral that is
told In Mrs. Fiske's present play, and the
chorus OF denunciation that Is aimed against
II is not likely TO have any very serious
effect. because OF its apparent insincerity.