New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-03-13
WHAT MIR FROHMAN WANTS

ave opens tonight, and q II of us no agree
with Matthew Arnold that the tEea-re be-
Eng irresistible. urgently needs organization,
cannot but wish well TO the new enterprise
Whether the particular organization which
q repertory theatre provides is going to
achieve all the wonders that its advocates
hope for IS perhaps doubtful: new schemes
Of any kind seldom if ever Go that. Let
Us, then, keep our heads over il and not
court disappointment by expecting too
much If ne do suffer from what Pey,ys
called lover expecting" il is to lie feared
that TO some extent Mr.. Frohman will have
himself to blame. His manifesto announc-
Ing the scheme was 80 buoyan;. Its con-
fdence so infectiousi Its appeal to the
hest side Of us so hattering, You read
that Mr.. Frohman proposes to cater for
the people who wish 10 delight in the
drama as art" He wants to interest
the good playgoer" Admirable. But
Pfter the first spasm of 10Y over these
gratifying assurances you collect yourself
In order 10 see what precisely Mr.. Froh-
man means by the drama as an art" and
what kind of playsoer is in his eyes
good No doubt the two things in his
,ind are Complementary. The good play
Eoer Is the man who wishes to delight In
the drama art. Very well; We are
to consider just what the drama as an
man, it Is 10 be an art of audacious not
To say icoEoclastic, experiment. That at
eny rate is the sense of his admonition to
tie young dramatist:
repertory theatre should be the first
home OF the ambitious young dramatist
J beg Of him to be done with the 'theat-
rical.' and 10 write only of a life that he
really knows; let him treat IT as in his
Fyes. II is lived. and not as he thinks
people want II ION the stage advise
him 10 learn the conventions Of the stage,
hut chiefly that he may be able to disre-
gard them. have 10 preference for any
good Of any kind. One sometimes hears
II said a good thing. but not a play ="
This is one Of the kinds l want.
Thus the excellent Mr.. Frohman who
evidently thinks that. in writing a mani
festo. as in other things. it is a pity TO
Epol a ship for ha perth of tar To read
this passage and then to recollect some of
The productions with which Mr.. Frohman
has hitherto obliged the Old World and
the New may provoke a not uncharitable
Emiie-~You think with sympathy of the
sgonieS of self suppression which he must
have endured before his present escape
into the free air of the untheatrical, the
unconventional and the good Of any kind.
But while sympathizing. criticism-whose
function il is TO represent the good play
soer and 10 demand the drama as an art
criticism is bound to ask this question
oi ght the ambitious Young dramatist
hiindly 10 follow Mr.. Frohmans advice?
Obviously, If he desires to be employed by
ar. Frohman. There it must he admitted,
Hir. Frohmsn. in tho language of his com
patriots. has the bulge US. It must
he admitted too, that there is much that
& good in Mr.. Frohman's advice. There
& much, however, that we venture to con-
slider suspect and possibly harmful, harm
ful TO the young dramatist and harmful
30 the drama as an art Therefore for
our part would entreat the young
nramatist TO DO for once what IT IS the
business of criticism TO be perpetually
ooing-that is, to distinguish.
Therein lies the one weakness of Mr.
Frohman's inspiring-and, perhaps. in a
sense, inspired-manifesto IT is a little
indiscriminate: 1t does not sufficiently dis
finguish. Nothing could be better In its
proper application than the advice to the
dramatist TO write only of life that he
really knows and TO treat ii in his eyes
IL is lived. Even here. however, Mr.. Froh-
man goes a little too far. He would have
tiissuaded Shakespeare from writing "A
Midsummer Nights Dream" and Racine
from writing "Phedre" and NJ Rostand
from writing "Chantecler'' and his own
M. Barrie from writing Peter Pan But
enc knows what Mr.. Frohman means,
though ne does not say It. He is thinking
Of drama the realistic plane. and for
that kind OF drama his advice could not,
we say. be bettered.
The next piece Of advice has an ngaging-
y devil-Inay-cane ARA touch OF what Mr.
Shaw would call, in his peculiar lingo
"Diabolonian" ethics. The young dramatist
je 20 learn the conventions OF the stage
but chiefly that he may be able to disre-
gard them. Down with the Tyrant ConYen-
ton and let all dance the Carmagnole,
i seems A pity TO throw cold water upon
this: but the plain truth is that the
6ramatist, young or old, can no more disre-
gard the main theatrical conventions than
he can disregard the law OF gravity. Con-
vention is Of the very essence of drama. It
Is a convention that we are looking at The
O'FIynn and not at Sir Herbert BeerDohm
Tree. 1t is a convention that a few strips
q painted canvas are Elsinore. Here,
again, we must do what Mr. Frohman
won't dove must distinguish. There are
conventions imposed on the dranatist by
the nature Of the medium in which he
works. few planlls aud painted scenes.
SPOKEN words. and three hours to get them
all spoken in. These conventions are virtl.-
ally immutab Die. And there is q second set
% conventions imposed on the dramatist
by The nature Of his pubic-a crowd. with
the peculiar characteristics OF q crowd.
These conventions vary in the progress Of
the ages and from crowd to crowd. Here.
tlsen. the dramatist has greater liberty. OF
course what Mr.. Frohman is really think
ing OF is the conventions of past dav or
OF some other crowd than his Bepertory
Theatre crowd. But his own crowd-the
advanced" crowd, shall we say?-has its
own set of conyenti0ns-very largely, for
the moment 'Shavian" conventions. The
young dramatist will disregard these at his
peril. But the main conventions Of the art
Of drama, which are inherent IN il Just be
cause IL is an art, he cannot disregard if he
would Sculpture has no color. painting no
relief. Would Mr.. Frohman advise the am
bilious Young sculptor painter TO disre-
gard these conventions by colornE his
statues and modelling his pictures? As 10
the dramatic conventions Dumas fls hit
the nail on the head when he called them
exisencles -'les eXigences dramatjques. que
certaine jeunes sppelle1t des conventions.
cusnd is re savant pas sen servir" But
here is Mr Frohman, among "certsins
-e1res. making hay of the conventions.
rtes Re not remind you Of the staid John
co. called ny N the small hours by the