Los Angeles herald., 1909-03-21

~ says George Broadhurst.
Mr.. Broadhurst is right. Further
more they damn not only particular
plays. but the stage in general by their
continual sacrifice of truth on the altar
of epigram. A winnoWlng out Oh All
that has been written on the present
nuInit -theater controversy shows much
clever sophistry, much comfortable
..wholesome-for both philosophy, a
farraeo of phrases and wilderness Oh
yerbiage, but little else. In the news
paper discussions of the question, from
The controversy in New York 10 the
smash in our own little pool, caused
nv the ambitious DR.. Locke, there has
been scarcely a searching analytical
opinion. scarcely an Illuminating
thought as to the place of the tneater
in modern life or the truth OF the
charges made against it by the cnurch'
The discussion has been enterlalnllis'
but. above all, tiippant and lhconse-
quential
THE theater puts a premium on
murder. ieers at the home and patriot
ism, is "a despoiler of our boys ana
should be driven out as arson or slnau-
pox," says DIR. Locke, and he 1ntlmates
that il has other faults. This is typ
ical of attacks made in New York and
other eastern cities. What did the
critics have to say about it? They
sidestepped the whole question and
after they had exhausted their me
saurus OF gaudy sophistry they had
nothing to say.
There are several reasons for this.
One is that the modern newspaper Is
as thoroughly comm ercialized as the
church or the theater and the critic
must keep out of the reach OF the
bludgeons of both Cog and Magog:
Another reason is that the fashion OF
the moment most affected by crltlcS IS
the dolce far niente' attitude OF
blithesome indifference to the deeper
significance of life. That worn old
commonplace, Don't take yourself too
seriously" is made an excuse for lazl-
ness, dishonesty and fippancy. strong
" opinionated persons are apt to be
tiresome and provincial; to be in good
taste you must show a bland savoir
faire and be smart rather than sincere
and convincing. Ii Is always safe TO
sneer at the high broWs.' 1t serves a
double purpose: You may be safely
noncommittal in your opinions and
your utterance appears as an eXem-
plar of homely truth in the eyes of the
''low brows." At the same time your
own interesting ego is given full swing
When a great man is interviewed the
interviewer says all the bright things,
the great one probably declares that he
has nothing to say for publication and
that the report lIldI he has Deen lrOu-
bled with insomnia is absolutely I'M
founded, but it requires a column of
entertaining persiflage on the part Of
the interviewer to lead up to this overs
towering declaration.
Carrying this habit into dramatic
criticism, newspaper writer's are much
buster with their own little FREELY glow
than they are with the plays they
criticise, or with any important prs
lem which may arise regarding the
theater. They pass off the attack of
the church lightly, saying, "These con-
troTcstsies come every so often, and as
the function of the theater is TO amuse,
there is really nothing to get excited
about" So no one is offended.
1t is true that one of the functions
of the theater is to amuse and to en-
terrain, but it is more vitality and sig
nifcantly true that every great play
searches out some tremendous prob
lem of life; furthermore it is true that
no modern institution so clearly shows
the synthesis of new thought or the
lines of cleavage between systems OF
so clearly voices protests, eliminates
truth or crystallizes ideals as the thea
ter.
A writer in the Graphic about a year
ago suggested a combination of the
three dramatic stock companies Their
playing in Los Angeles, for the purpose
of giving an all-star production of "Ar-
iona" The play could not then be
secured for stock. 1T will, however, be
played at the Burbank this week for
the first time by any stock company
and four of the actors selected for that
all-star cast will play the roles then as
signed them. OF the remainder only
two members are now actively en-