Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-21
ny w. HERBERT BLAKE

II u narrower JldHdBtT EOIDbIS
you on the street and pro-
- ceeds to bewail the dearth of
actors, the answer is not far to
seek. They have all become CO.
medians. Read the announcements
of coming attractions and ponder the
transformation. Comedy is King. The
word has become a shelter for venders
of every variety of wit. Buffoons-
sprung from an ancient and honorable
lineage-now style themselves comedi-
ans. Burlesquers find the title fits
them far better than their snug cos
tunes. A sad-soued wit commits
pun and around 1t scatters the con-
fetti OF spangled and glittering frivol-
ity. He calls IL a musical comedy.
Sometimes 1t is musical. From end to
end of our long vaudeville circuits we
hear the cheerful slogan of the con-
quering modern spirit in the drama.
TO understand its true meaning we
must clothe our minds in motley, and
become the disciples OF Democritus.
Successful twentieth century drama
is needless of many conventions, ana
Cbedent to many and diverse philoso-
phies of life. But on one point 1t eX-
hibits a sometimes monotonous inflexi-
bility: we must go home smiling. The
conclusion must satisfy our sense OF
justice and crafty our merciful bent
for mirth. In this view of 1t even our
tragedies must partake OF the comic
spirit The hero may perish in battle,
but his dying eyes are permitted to see
the rout of his foes. Apart from some
plays of the Ibsen school, the most pur-
poseful and problematlcal dramas OF
the modern stage have their moods or
melting merriment. In the very sad
ness OF some of them there inheres q
strange content.
Much may logically he said against
this penchant for comedy which is the
motive power of so much of our recent
dramatic effort. 1t may very plausi-
bly, be maintained that 1t Is subtly and
shamelessly immoral to laugh as we
watch human agony, or even to con-
template injustice with an equable con-
science. Indeed, there is a tone and a
temper to much of our current comedy
which are at one with the glad1a-
torial combats of ancient Rome. BuXom
matrons, then as now, too often rel
ished the sight of human suffering.
There are farees and extravaganzas
on the boards today which with all
their superficial graces are shouting
ir our ears the brutal command,
Thumbs down."
To them we may turn a deaf ear,
as the servitors of slaughter in the
voice of true comedy so insistent and
so gladdening in the desert of modern
dramatic effort, we shall harken with
a strange and a surprised delight. The
caroling of birds tells of the dawn,
and the shout of joy which leaps from
the heart of our burdened and strug- |
Cling stage is the earnest OF its ulti-
mate publication.
"a theatrical enterprise, in order to |
succeed as an art, must be conducted /
as a business" was Sir Henry IrV-
ing's practical motto. and in splendid |
devotion to his ideals of the drama |
he never forgot that its usefulness de- |
pends on it's life. He died poor, according |
to the ratings of Dun and Bradstreet, |
but he enriched the English speaking |
stage with the diligence of business
man as well as the prodigality of an |
artist. He took account of the box |
Office because its prosperity meant |
greater opportunities for his usefulness |
and achievement as a steadfast battler |
for the things which uplift and dignity |
the stage. BY the same token, curious
ly enough, he was a spendthrift of his
own genius and even victim of his |
own generosity. Living, he left all
that many men count worth holding |
to leave behind him a memory and
tradition.
The maxim that art must make its
peace with business, like so many |
maxims, tends to obscure it's own corol- |
lary-that business must find its mo-
tive in some form or degree of art.
The theatrical enterprise which is
conceived in the mere passion for
money getting dies still born. The /
playwright who can put into his work |
nothing but the reflection of his own
desire to cash a certain welcome check
at his bankers plies his type
writer with much the same blase
scorn of his audiences as the thug
feels for the pedestrian he lies
in wait to rob. The manager to whom
the running of a theater suggests moth
ing more sportsmanlike than the hoard
ing of winnings in the long run will
forget the rules of the game which
has made him a winner. To be a good |
business man, man must think of |
something else than business.
Charles Frohman is eminently a prac-
tical man, but he has confessed with
evidence of sincerity that the principal
reason he sticks to the stage is the
fun of the game and the chance to
try experiments. His experiments fire.
quently fail but those which have suc-
ceeded have sent a shiver of joy
through everv nerve and fiber of the
Klaw and Erlanger syndicate The
theatrical world is CHASTITY with the
wrecks of men and women who have
thought acting an easy and agreeable
way to make a living. Plays go
into the discard every day which
found their sole inspiration in the fig
ures of huge fortunes accumulated by
playwrights published in the daily
press. The reason that first plays so
often are the best things their authors
do is that in this instance they knew
they had to make good Later on