The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-16
THEATRICAL TOPICS
PITILESS BRITISH AUDIENCES
AND THEIR "BOOING."


AND THEIR "BOOING."
One Defence OF This Heroic Treatment
for o Acting and Plays-Nnss
Barrymore In Q Pinero ~Piay-Shake-
speare's Authorship Discredlted Again.
1t is a difficult thing for tke~atregoers
on this side Of the water to understand
the temper Of audiences which attend
the first performances Of plays In Eng
land. Apparently the British first night
audience not only understands full well
the. |. has the power practically to make or
break a play, a manager or an actor but
is invinoibly determined to exercise that
power to the very utmost. At all events
the frankness and oandor with which a
London audience expresses its opinion
Of both play and players is wholly un-
known in this country. A player who is
80 unfortunate as not to please a London
audience is not allowed to escape, as here.
With a liberal sentence Of cold and con-
temptuous silence or an occasional half
hearted outbreak Of ironio laughter;
not at all. He Is literally -booed.' while
the outbfeak Of this typically British form
of censure at the fall Of the final curtain
of a play that has not pleased is Of 80 vim
diotive and poisonous character that mo-
body who has beard it once Is ever likely
to forget 1t.
Nor is the British audience always merely
frankly and candidly brutal in its be-
havior toward those who have been so
unfortunate as to fail to please 1t. Occa-
sionally 1t exhibits a subtlety in its cruelty
that is quite marvellous, considering
that it is shown not by n person or
by a small group Of persons but by a
majority Of a large assembly. This mob
subtlety takes the form Of Turing the
author Of a new play by means OF spurious
applause to make his appearance in front
Of the curtain. only to be instantly greeted
and overwhelmed by a perfectly cyclonic
storm Of furiously angry 'booing.'
The latest sufferer from this peculiarly
British form of brutality appears to have
been Miss Maxine Elliott. Miss Elliott
went to London this spring for the pur-
pose OF appearing along with Lewis
Waller. the English actor who Is to visit
America next autumn. in a play called
"The Conquest The merits Of his play
are not known here. o are they in point
at this moment. Good or bad, the audi
ence did not like the play. They did not
like it at all, and at the final curtain there
was q hurricane OF "booing' 30 savage
and furious that Miss Elliott has written
to friends on this side Of the water that
II she and Mr.. Waller had been a pair
Of murderers instead Of players trying
to please an audience they could not
have been more brutally treated. She de-
clares she has almost made up her m ind
never to appear in London again.
Now "The Conquest may be an ex-
ceedingly bad play and Miss Elliott may
not have appeared in it to the best ad-
vantage. but she is a woman and a COM
parative stranger in London. 1t is hard
10 see how the members OF a London
audience can reconcile this sort OF bar
barrie behavior with the commonest no.
tons Of decent and humane department.
In this particular case the word outra-
geous seems to At the circumstance per-
fectly. OF the general subject OF the
frank expression Of the feeling Of an audi
ence regarding the merits Of a play there
is Of course more than n side. The
matter was discussed recently by an act
ress Of intelligence and experience who
though an American made her first sue
cess on the English stage.
AN English first night. said this actress.
is indeed a horribly trying affair for
everybody in the cast Of the play. for the
author and for the manager. but there is
one virtue about it-you won't be left in
any doubt OF the opinion Of the audience.
You'll get mighty little ~perfunotory ap-
plause. II you are we'll known and a
favorite with the public you'll get a warm
| welcome on your first appearance, but
after that you have got to justify your
presence in the cast or you will hear
from IL.
AS for the 'booing,' it is an old custom.
There's no doubt that it is cruel. 1t is
brutal and merciless, and nc mistake;
but there is this to say for it. it has done a
lot TO keep utter trash o1 the British stage
and to keep the English theatres Of the
first class from swarming with incompe-
tent players who ought to be working al
stenographers or ribbon clerks or at some
other wage earning task instead OF being
foisted upon the public in positions for
which they have no natural aptitude and
for which they are totally unable to acquire
the necessary skill. l think nobody at all
acquainted with the facts will contend
that the general average Of ability among
players in America is anything like the
equal OF that shown by the English. don't
pretend that the 'booing' custom is the
only cause OF the British superiority in
this respect, but l am firmly convinced
that it has a very great deal TO do with
the fact that in London n seldom sees
a grossly incompetent player set forward
to play a leadin 6 part requiring finished
skill, and that certainly is not the case
in America. Booing' is heroic treat
ment, but 1t gets results.
The production Of a new play by Mr..
Pinero is always a theatrical event OF
more than passing interest. American
theatregoers will therefore be glad to
know that Charles Frohman is to give
them an opportunity next autumn to sec
a piece that the foremost English drama
fist OF the day is just now in the act Of
completing. The piece is to be produced
also in London. Of course, but with a
different company. Often the Pinero
pieces have been done hero after they
have been seen in London and with the
London company imported. This time,
however. Ethel Barrymore IL to be seen
in the chief feminine part on this side OF
the vatar-