Omaha daily bee., 1910-01-23
Sir Charles Wyndham's First Visit to America and His Presen

the most important factor on the stage.
Take II from either and you have left
but the soulless corpse. II Is the love In
terest that engaged the sympathies Of the
audience and you cannot ignore that help
You have a great way over here, when
machinery lie still rev. OF dlscarding II
because something newer and better comes
on the market. That Is what makes the
life OF your trade. That is what makes
you a more progressive nation than We,
who are still ~clingirg to our old machin-
cry and will cling to II even when IL
wears out But there Is no new fashion In
tho machinery of love, which Is the motor .
OF life. You can't replace Il by anything
else. You cannot discard Hand the stage
which is but an e~pitomize6 picture Of life
cannot ignore It either"
Sir Charles was called as one OF the
witnesses In the censorship inquiry last
summer In London. He says:
MY absence from England prevented
my appearance, but / was very much in
lerested. The outcome Of the inquiry has
pleased me-, because 1 believe hat the cen
sorship by Mr.. Radford does more good
than harm. 1t is certainly much better
than the censorship OF the police, which
you nave here, is IL not?
AAA kWA eNhA1h FN1a ~ Aa 1N WANA
started the disturbance had. as 1 under
stand, certain irreligious expressions that
could easily have been left out without In
any way hurting the play and it seems
TO me that is 30 much simpler u course
to take than to offend susceptibilities. But
MIR. Shaw is a very peculiar person.
"Oh, the Stage society, which produces
pi ,ited plays? You have never been
ul. You should go. | went once and
si..i never repeat the experience, because
/ could never duplicate the thrill 1 re-
c,iv1d.
The plays were not so bad. merely
commonplace, but the women and the
men! Freaks? Is that the word you use
hire? Yes, that seems to me rarely ex-
.rtasive. The men had long hair, and the
Soncn, supposedly a step beyond the mod
ern,% were attired in gowns and effects
that l had supposed went out when the
wave of astheticism died down"
Sir Charles has for years tried to sup
pltss the system Of ''booing,' by which
E.it.gh audiences express disapproval Of
new plays.
1t is brutal and cruel in the extreme.
You should be thankful that you have
nothing of the kind here" he says. I'm
my own theater 1t is practically eliminated,
cut it has taken years and strength and
money to accomplish even what l nave
done.
Il had one frightful experience that 1
absolutely shudder to recollect, a panic
ensuing due to the contest between two
factions in the pit, and an actual riot took
place. When quiet was restored I came
before the curtain and assured my au-
dience that IL II took every dollar l owned
in the world such a scene should never
be witnessed there again, and 1t never
has beer.
Briefly told, 1 discovered that there ex-
listed an organization which had for its
object the killing off of any play that
happened to meet with its disapproval, for
any reason whatsoever. 1t was an organi-
cation Of no mean size and attachments.
and when I threatened one Of the mem
bers, a young man Of good family and
education, with exposure and a police court
appearance, he calmly told me thai 1
should let him go. for while it was true
that the society had created the riot on the
night in question and practically killed the
play, 1t was due to them that certain other
plays had succeeded. l remarked casually
that 1 had no doubt the playwright and
actors would be glad to know why they
were successful, but I hardly thought his
conclusion warranted their high handed 40
ton in other matters,
1.-THE organization was finally broken up.
but in order to accomplish it it was neces-
sary- to have policemen in plain clothes
in the pit and other precautions taken.
Don't ever let the 'booing' custom get .
foothold here"