The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-08-15
OUR poLYGLor DRANK.
American Theatres Where English Il
 Not spoken.'

Not SDOheus
 World Today.
 Ten cities in -this country, including New YorK, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincin- natl and Milwaukee, have at least one regular professional German stock com pany whose director Is imperatively man of culture. The actors are I'm ported from the mother country, where they have been trained in a rlgid school.
 The next most significant foreign theatre in this country Is the fiddlsn. In New York city the Yiddisn theatre. with some six or eight playhouses, IS a power. It isla theatre governed by producing Yiddish impressarios wno send out road companies traveling from coast to coast.
 There Is no end of talent within its eneompassing arms, and the theatre has fostered 1t to the extent of producing dozen actors and playwrfghts who nave achieved International fame.
 To Den Uorske Klub, of Chicago, may be traced the first awakening Of an American interest in the greatest ex- ponent of realism of our day. Some what exclusive In Its clientele of edu- cated Norwegians. 1t has been giving interesting public performances f5r US own peopie Much as they Haunt the genius of Ibsen, the judge, they give their love 10 Bjornsen, the prophet.
 To the American Swedes is due the establishment of one of the most ac- tive foreign theatres in the Middle West. 1t is a permanent professional institution, now in It's third season. It caters to population ot more than 20,000 foreign born men aud women. A company of trained professionals, some of whom have come direct from Stock- sifuifIl,s moves from one city to another. giving nightly performances. It ia an extraordinary fact that the French drama, to which Anglo-Saxon piaywrights have turned with delight, should become little else than a social drama in this country. It Is due pri- marily to a limited Franco-American population. There are, however, four of these expatriated theatres which give public performances. Each com z pany is made up. as far as feasible, Of profe ssional actors or, in lieu of them, of the most distinguished amateurs
 In Chicago alone there are 3oO,0OO Poles Indeed. next to Warsaw-Chi- cago may be termed the largest Polish city in the world. The colony founded a Polish theatre in 1905. with offshoots in various localities For the first time their drama, one of the richest and least exploited in Europe. freed from government censorship, is finding en- couragement.
 The Polish theatre at Chicago is packed from pit to dome on the occa- sion of public performances. It is like a gala night in old Warsaw, only the law does not stalk naked and terrify- ing outside the door.
 One charming phase of the foreign theatre is the establishment of puppet shows in Little Italy. The marionette theatre Is cha ssic', dating back some 800 years. Performances are given daily for crowds of children and workingmen and women. who sit wrapped in pro- found enjoyment over the presentation of some beautiful classic.
 American Italians, deeply enamored of the traditions of the old country, cling to the tender romances of the Francescas and the Juliets, In spite of this, two organized clubs, one in Manhattan, one in Chicago. have shown late tendency to succumb to the northern movement. They encourage the creation of new work.
 The Hun garians. Bohemians, Italians and Creeks are each striving to estab- fish a characteristic theatre. Periodi- cal public performances are given by all. Perhaps the Bohemian Is at pres ent the most active, for it commands a large colony in the Middle West.
 The Greeks of Chicago have found patroness and friend in Jane Addams, the sociologist. She has encouraged the formation of the Association Yer soniton. a dramatic organization, and has allowed them the use of the Hull House Theatre for public performances.
 Even the Chinaman has been infiu- enced by the American theatre to the extent of introducing scenery and a drop curtain in his own. 1t, Is fever ish, wonderful little place that theatre, where tragedies a thousand years old are continuously enacted. where the na- tive learns the rare traditions and his- tory of all the dynasties of his native land. A code of lofty morality Is taught in social drama. Somehow 1t is maligned and misunderstood the atre.