New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-09
London, June 10.


eanpot be answered in sentence nor in
letter. but one answer is inevitable:
-. the art Of presenting plays TO the
ia, was AT its best when Irving
,od Of the Lyceum. There is no rea-
.on 70 suppose it had ever been so per-
<.a, before. There is nothing in the
..ose work Of to-day which surpasses or
els 1rvinss. So that. if we judge by
49, hos, which must always be the best
nav NJ Judging, we may admit that the
.,o,e as whole has made advances and
,s+ hold that the glory Of Irving remains
.,,dimned. In truth, the advance is
largely due to his influence and example,
az everybody knows.
Rut the stage means several things.
The writing Of plays, the producing OF
NAYS and the acting of plays have each
20 he taken into account when YOU try
% form a Judgment on the dramatic
conditions either Of Yesterday or of to-
asv Both here and in France the
dramatic author is supposed to have
come through a period of evolution. and
the theories on which he works are no
,onger those Of the md-Victorian or
Third Empire days; nor is Angler or the
Younger Dumas now the model of later
authors. Here in England. l suppose.
Sir Arthur Pinero would he named as
one Of those who first broke away from
traditions and The Second Mrs. Tan
ouerav" marked a period Of transition.
But SIR Arthur Pinero. whose skill i'm
construction put him and kept him at
the head Of play-Writers. has been fol-
lowed by men who despaired Of rivalling
him in mechanism, and therefore re
solved to do without it. How else are
we TO account for Mr.. George Bernard
Shaw. 10 whom not order but anarchy is
heavens first law? or for Mr.. Gals
worthy who thinks a play ought 10 he a
treatise on criminal law and the dis
cjpline of prisons. and embodies his ideas
in Justice? or for Mr.. Granville Bar
ker, who outbids Mr.. Galsworthy and
strides TO the front with Waste Of
which abortion is the keynote, as prosti-
tuition was in Mr. Shaws Mrs. War
ren's Profession? 1bsen has popular
lied the squalid and repulsive side of
life and English writer's have borrowed
from the Norwegian. forgetting to Dor
row at the same time the imaginative
use he made Of his material and the
dramatic value he gave to things essen
tally unsuited 10 dramatic treatment.
And We are asked TO believe that Eng
lish Ibsens without Ihsen's genius are to
he. or are already. the heralds Of a new
dramatic era.
The producing Of plays has proceeded
or similar lines. with some brilliant ex-
ceptions Mr.. George Alexander. at the
St Jamess Theatre gives MS plays by
living authors. for whom he has done
more than any other manager. He
stages them with unfailing skill with a
broad knowledge Of effect, with re-
serve in the use Of dress and decora-
ton and with a sure sense of what is
dramatic and what is not which remind
you Of the Theatre Francois. OF course.
no one puts the two theatres on d level
The conditions are different; the Eng
lish and French publics are different;
the standards of criticism arc unequal
Il is enough 20 say that in each case the
aims are the same, and that Mr.. Alex
ander has carried his dc far as they can
probably be carried in a capital where
art means much less than II means in
Paris in a theatre which has no state
subsidy, and i'm a community where ac-
tors and actresses able and willing to
take their places as units in a perfect
ensemble are none too numerous. Re-
member that Mr.. Alexander was a col
league and pupil Of Irving. Then con
slider that ne has been manager Of the
81 Jamess for tWenty-One years, and
that his money success is as remarka-
Die as his loyalty TO his art 1t is
book open 10 him who will read in II.
but the number Of managers who have
taken a leaf out of the volume is not
yet great
Memories in such matters. as in some
others, are apt 10 be personal. and in
dealing with actors and actresses they
become more personal still. True. their
appearances in this or that play are
freely, though as rule too briefly, dis
cussed in the papers. but TO consider an
actresses career as whole and assign
htr place is none the less delicate
matter II might be less delicate if the
professional critics would say more
about tie acting If n piece even if they
% not say Jess about the piece itself.
There are. however. certain artists who
have pretty We'll settled place in Their
Profession. There are others whom II
has become q custom TO praise, no mat
Ter what they do. There are others
whose reputation is still in the making.
one and am they expect criticism
10 be d oulogy, which is not always pos
Nole Then if you try to speak Of them
as body and say whether as a body
'hey are better or worse than those Of
an earlier period. nobody is much the
wiser for that There are other diff
'ulties Of which 1 will mention one,
arising ont Of what may be called the
strictly orthodox view of the stage. 1t
IS an Illustration to which ! respectfully
invite the attention Of those who wish
]" take catholic views and of those who
do not
We We're discussing the recent produc-
Uoh Of "The Count of Luxembourg" at
DAYS Theatre and the. temperance of
MISS Lily Elsie. one Of the company
WAS IN ...,. . t.-.t.-.. xt,,o.. 1,{a