New-York tribune., 1911-01-29
THE PLAYGOER
A National Theatre and National
Literature.

deal on the subject of National lhea-
,ra ord he has written and spoken
good deal on the subject THESE t"eh'.
wears or so. When he returned las'
Thursday afternoon, at Columbia UNI
versity. TO his favorite theme. ne saiu'
nc he was expected 10 say, much that
,s nertinent TO theatrical conditions IN
this country. In fact. he directed some
very pointed criticisms at The Ne"
Theatre. although he did not mention
that establishment by name. But ne
went further than that: he directed at
1ention TO other particular grounos OH
which the American theatrical crop s
planted. He wasted no time over syn
dicates." but took into consideration tiidl
mighty supporter OF the syndicates-'he
public that goes 10 the play he op-
serves that the American public is gen
erous. and eager. but he also observes
that il is no nearer an appreciation OF
The necessity for an alliance between
literature and the drama than is 'he
English public. And It is by an alliance
Of literature with drama that "a noble
and reasonable ideal" Of raising the
whole level Of theatrical entertainment
can. he believes, be fulfilled
By literary drama he does not mean
drama that is lover the heads of the
nublic." exclusive drama, drama for the
dilettante. because he recognizes aS
every clear sighted person must recos-
,ni7e that drama, to be effective, to be
national, must be popular. But popuiar
as national drama must be-
1,it is 70 have any more value or mean
ing or influence than Punch ana JuuH
show or a dime museum, t u 10 al o o.
worth spending thought ana money uPoit'
the drama must be much more thau tIla''
II it is 10 be merely popular enle. l'ii !,
ment, why trouble TO foster II ana spenS ~
huge sums upon IT.? There are pIThS " "
crowded theatres in New N0Tk anu I[ohugi, ~
To-day Be sure that our dear publc WI
always take good care 10 De anuseui - -
that is all the drama means ana is' II 10
surely best left alone
Mr.. Joness audience at Columbia was
large. Earl Hall was filled. The audi
ence was attentive. interested, and 1t ap-
plauded with real heartiness. 1t was
what may fairly be called a representa-
tive audience. Besides students OF the
university there were men of affalrs'
some persons Of fashion playerfolk,
some dramatists, journalists, with lit
erary light here and there, and, besides
these, there were many one viii not
undertake to classify beyond saying that
they were, like the rest of us. folks, hu-
mans Of reasonably good sense. and. pre-
sumably, appreciators of good plays and
good acting.
Brander Matthews has said, only
literature is permanent" Henry Arthur
Jones, quoting Brander Matthews, adds:
Those countries and those periods that
have produced national drama are those
countries and those periods where htera-
ture and the drama We're allied; where
PLAYS that were popular in the theatre
could be also read and enjoyed as litera-
ture This explains the rarity and inter
Inittency OF national dramatic PERIODS.
And then the dramatist goes on: TT is
a fact that the average capacity and
formation Of our brains are quite equal
30 those Of the Greek philosophers and
poets. Potentially we are quite capable
Of their achievements Only we haven't
got into the knack, the habit Of it. In
Greece they got into a habit of talking
philosophy anC carving beautiful statues
and writing great tragedies. SO they
did II very we'll"
Now. II we are to wait until any great
body Of the American people get into
the habit Of philosophizing. Of carving
beautiful statues. and writing great
tragedies and poems. or even of talking
about these things and these accomplish
ments, before we can obtain that Ma
tional Drama Of the dramatist's dream,
shall we not wait until the Statue Of
Liberty has rusted away, and some
legion Of conQuering Esquimaus en-
camps on the shapeless ruins Of The
New Theatre and the Metropolitan
Tower7
Mr.. Jones perceives the root OF the
matter as well as the main trunk Of ii.
The root Of the matter is habit. We
can't quarrel with him there Indeed. !,
for one. am not inclined TO quarrel with
him anywhere lie is doing a good
work; ne is doing il honestly earnestly.
and doesn't tire; he doesn't become dis
couraged He wishes his own country
and this country TO take the drama seri-
ously; but neither country is disposed to
DO anything Of the kind. The Greeks
lost their habit: We have never formed
It. We smile with some incredulity
and not a little pity when you suggest
that we learn IL. We Ike novelty: we
are always longing to be amused For
novel amusement we viii pay libera lly.
and viii dash in crowds after the pur-
veyor. We prefer TO take our amuse-
ments without pleasure.
Mr. Jones holds. as others have held,
that
Where an alliance between the drama
and literature exists. as In France and 10
some extent IN Germany, the theatre Is
tnoeec a popular pleasure and amusement:
but II is so on higher and different grounds
IRON tle grounds on which the theatre Is
a popular pleasure and amusement I'm Eng
land and !n America. The kind Of pleasure
which large class Of playgOers gef from
their native PLAYS IN those countries IL
quite different from the pleasure which
the majority Of theatregoers in Englnnd
and america get from their native plays
and this IS the reason that French people
rightly look with contempt on the theatre
and the drama In England and America
This IS the reason that while the English
and American stages are flooded with
French plays no English or American play
81 any serious pretensons IL ever success
. ful IN Paris, or Is ever regarded with any
thng more than a polite, good natured
smile J hope then that you will concede
level OF the drama In America or in any
country is 70 bring II into alliance with
literature.