Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-02-05
National
Theater Views of
Henry Arthur Jones
CONTINUED from PAGE SIX

CONTINUED from Page six
though these pieces differ a little from one
another. and though one Of these poets APP
pears somewhat greater and more finished
than the other. stn only one decided char
acterisuc runs through the whole.
This is the characteristic of grandeur. fit II
ness soundness. human perfection. elevated n
wisdom. sublime thought pure strong in
tuition, and many other qualities that one
might indicate But when we find those
qualities not only in the dramatic works
that have come down to us. but also in
lyrical and epic works; in the philosophers;
In the orators in the historians and in an
equally high degree in the works of plastic |
art that have come down TO US we must !
feel convinced that such qualities did not |
merely belong to individuals, but were the |
current property of the whole nation and |
the whole period. Take Robert Burns: how |
Is he great except through the circumstance !
that the whole songs OF his predecessors |
lived in the mouth OF the people-that they |
were so TO speak sung at his cradle; that !
as boy he grew up amongst them, and |
the high excellence OF these models so per-
vaded him that he had therein a living |
basis on which he could proceed further?
Again why he is great but from this fact |
that his own songs at once found susceptl- !
BILE ears among his compatriots, that sung
by reapers and sheaf-blnders they at once
greeted him in the field. and that his boon
companions sang them to welcome him at
the ale house7'
Now will ask you to say how far these
underlying conditions exist in your Ameri-
can national life today?
In the arts Of painting and sculpture you
have some great modern masters-some OF
the greatest. But have they not mainly
derived their inspiration and mastery from
European schools. from having worked in
| a prepared soil7
Painting and sculpture, however, stand
on different basis of appreciation from
the drama The judges and patrons of
painting and sculpture in any country are
a few select persons with a more or less
trained knowledge of those arts. The judges
and patrons Of the drama in New York are
just the average swarms in Broadway; in
London they are just the average swarms
| in the Strand. We must ever keep in mind
that the drama is an affair of the crowd,
an affair Of the whole people The mo-
ment the playwright loses hold OF that fact
he finds himself benighted wanderer a
shepherd on the mountain side whose sheep
have run away from him.
| IL We nave al lHlIiitnH6ly ulIllCulI TASK
before us in fostering a national drama
in England, have you not a yet more in
comparably difficult task in America?
The best hopes for an American national
drama lie in your eager curiosity; in the
immense, generous receptlvity shown in the
ready hearing and welcome you give those
who bring you foreign material that you
may turn to account; in your large cosmo-
polltanism Of race and feeling; in the high
rewards you are prepared to pay for best
examples of any kind OF art. These are
great national qualities, and your possess
, sion OF them is a very hopeful sign that
you will ultimately succeed in developing
great national arts of your own,
/ Having made clear the aims of the ma
t!onal theater he turned to consideration
} of its duties. chief among which is the
working out Of its aims, the bringing up
OF the literary standard Of the drama to
5 point where il win meet with the re-
$ quirements Of the best. and not sacrifice
/ popularity. He suggests as an essent al
q that the national theater shall be literally
. subsidized. in order that It may meet the
: exigsneies sure TO arise. until such time
a as II has won public favor and compre-
+ hension, and has established sound tradl-
8 lions of authorship and acting. Other and
e obvious details of it's duties are suggested
$ and the whole is summed up thus:
e Great plays are not written in the sir
for an imaginary audience. They are writ
ten in an atmosphere OF great plays and
q great traditions, to be played by company
e Of highly trained actors before a highly
2 trained and appreciative audience Will
= you not be driven about to find attractions
Y that shall be OF much higher or more con-
q spicuous merit than the attractions offered
u by the commercial managers round YOU
Il Win they not still have the first choice OF
u what is in the marketY win you not every
e now and then oe obliged TO put up som.
y quite unworthy stopgap which will tend e
70 bring your whole enterprise into contempt
I, And when your work is brought before this
a, ultimate t0lhunal, the tribunal of cultivated
ia English si'9Nsng men OF letters, what viii
" the verdict bs2 II Is a high and severe tr
bunal Any author English or American
who brings his play to a national theatei
II must be prepared 70 face Il. Indeed n,
l. should write his play with the knowedg,
~ and the hope that this court OF appea
'e must be his final Judge / think / Sc,
many a writer OF successful plays, Englisl
n and American, flattered by the acclaim o
le the critics and the public, tripping up tn,
ID steps OF that court. his manuscript unde
X his arm, WIN not terribly disdainfu
u and ironlc smile be the only answer vouch
n safed him2 Is it worth while for a ma
" tional theater TO spend, season after sea
l. son. large sums OF money to produce play
d that can only provoke that terrible ironi
IA smile?