Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-03
RY w. nERBERT BLAKE

N IGNS betOken a recrudeSCence oL
the sentimental play. Even the
~ latest dramas of business life
swing around heart appeal as an axis.
1.-THE Great John Canton" is more SEN
timental than THE Lion and the
Mouse" and "The Third Degree.
righteous polemic as it is against
abusive police methods. is essentially a
blow at the simpler human emotions.
The political and economic themes
which rack the brains of modern men
are we'll enough as material, but the
public demands that they be nodded
into the terms of human personality.
Mere economic forces fail to make
good drama; we must see flesh and
blood and spirit cOnquering as well as
conquered, by them.
symptoms of the return TO the SEN
timental type of play may be found in
the rapid wane of the Shaw vogue, the
apparent public apathy over Ibsen, and
more than all in the character of plays
which have visited US in the last few
months. Among THE Wftchng Hour.
THE Climax" The Fighting Hope,
1.-The Great John Canton" and Love
Watches" there are striking differences
IN merit, in method and in verify, but
they all strike straight at the heart.
dramas We might have called three Of
them ten years ago, and have spoken
by the book. Among the newer New
York successes, such as Bruce Nc
Rae's starring vehicle, The Flag
Lieutenant" are significant OF the
trend Of the play writing mind. The
Flag Lieutenant" by all accounts, is
as sentimental as The Only Way
One naval officer unselhsnly yields
his laurels TO another in the name Of
friendship. That, 1 believe, il the prin-
cipal motif. "Arsene Lupiu." the
dramatization of a picturesque char
acter in recent French picaroon lJera-
ture, appears to be riddled with sentl-
ment of a pseudo-romantic sort. Il Is.
indeed a safe wager that any recent
play with the word dollar" in the title
or prominent in the script VIII BE-
swayed ultimately by heart beats and
not dollars. From THE Dollar Marx
TO 1.-THE Dollar Princess this curious
rule appears to hold good.
Our stage would seem to be in great
danger of swinging as far in the direc-
tion Of sentimentalism as did English
literature in the days of Richardson's
novels And about the time the critics
are tearing their hair in a demand for
sanity, along will come some modern
Henry Fielding to show US the folly OF
human extremes. For the realist has
at least this advantage. that the spirit
of humor seems ever to smile on his
cause, provided only he does not take
it-and himself-too seriously
Can a player, man or woman, sin
cerely and satisfyingly assume a role
which his heart and mind cannot re-
spect? The question is suggested for
the readers of this page to answer. Let
us take the case of an actor of prin-
ciple and high purpose compelled to
q Ine71io1 hla rad GJ1Rb the b1lG-
band in 1.-The Fighting Hope" for in
stance How far shall he command us
to frankly contemn the character, and
how far shield and uphold it? Is he
lawyer to point out the shred of JUS
tifcation for every scoundrel, or is he
a portrait painter to linn unsparingly
the ugly crowding the hues of beauty
from the face and form? When a
woman of noble temperament and high
ideals assumes the role of a Zaza or a
Du Barry, shall she show us the crea-
ture as she was, with relentless realism
and with the obvious Interpretation
that her own views of life and morals
impress upon her? Or shall she gild
the part with an insidiOus romance,
after the Carter method, letting the
wanton Shrek herself into the tempo
of a furious heroine? Or shall she
create a new character half remorse-
full, who wins our pity, if she cannot
sway our admiration? The latter is a
tempting and an honorable method, If
not always faithful to the idea of the
playwright
1t is a very pretty problem, and many
a play in it's acting shows the penetrat-
ing observer this conflict of ideas with
realism, of contempt of the role with
fidelity to its requirements. 1t is the
parodox of the players art that he is
often himself when most someone else.
He must be both sometimes to achieve
his highest effect.
I would be glad to receive 3O0-word
expressions of opinion on the question
with which began. The best of them
would make interesting reading for the
family of Herald readers, and will be
willingly reproduced on this page Of
next Sundays paper
The only qualification to the dis
cussion must be that it stop short of
discussion of morals themselves. That
is quite another matter. The issue is:
Granted an aversion to a character
shall the actor show that aversion in
his acting? Shall he plead or condemn,
or both. or neither? Tolstoi once asked
'eWhat is art?" Philosophers in their
haste have queried, "What are morals"
MY poser is less gigantic. I merely
want to know what Acting is. Who
will tell me?