New-York tribune., 1911-11-19
THE PLAYGOER
Season of the Irish Players at
Maxine EIIiOtt'S Theatre.

Theatre the playgoers OF New York VIII
begin a new and pleasing experience II
NAV puzzle them a little at first, but it
will please them. 1t may shock their
sense of the conventional, hut that Will
be q GOOD thing. II may disturb their
complacent spirit, but that will he net
ter thing. The Irish Players. who VIII
then appear. are as remote from the con-
ventional methods of stage playing as
the PLAYS in which they will appear are
remote from the conventional dramas OF
Irish life and from the convenuonahteS
of the dramas of other lives than IRISH
Tho plavs have been much discussed III
the prints Of this land-much more even
than the players-and a good deal OF the
discussion has been thrown forward by
The Incorporate zeal of persons who
seem not to have read the plays they
blurtcd against nor to have seen the
plaving of them But this is as may be
and in accordance with the practice Of
the hour.
The characteristic Of the Irish Players
-ond by the Irish Players is meant the
lin IS their delicious and, if it may be
said. their trained simplicity. They VIII
break the hearts and shatter the spirit
of those restless gentlemen, the pro
duccrs." who cucumber the American
stage and litter it with so much cheap
confusion. The Irish Players do not
Eayc their eyes forever upon individual
effects" They consider first Of al, and
aIwavs. team work" as the phrase goes.
New York has never seen a company
like this of tho Irish Players, and no
citv in this land has ever brought forth
"a company similar i'm accomplishment.
I'm training and in purpose; nor is any OF
our cities likely to do so for Ions time
TO come.
For the first thing to consider is the
purpose which gave this company Of
players their being as artists Of the
stage. That purpose is the creation and
upIuiIdinC of a national drama. national
not i'm the political sense, nor even, #
YOU must state it So in the religious
but national i'm the expression and in
tcrrrctation Of the imaginative spirit Of
N
aeiuativc people, a people in whom the
poetic strain still lives. Perhaps YOU
know what John NJ. Synge Gt seems well
in these parts to say that the pronuncia
tion is "SingD says on this point, for
Synges plays. which are the principal
works in which these Irish players viii
ho seen. have been the foremost agencies
.; ..ff 1p mol
mont which is identified with the Abbey
Theatre. Synge says in the conclusion
off his preface TO The Playboy Of the
western World: "On the stage one
must have reality and one must have
JOY: and that is why the intellectual
modern drama has failed And people
have grown sick Of the false JOY Of the
musical comedy that has been given
them in place Of the rich Joy found only
in what is superb and wild In reality. In
g. good play every speech should be as
fully favored as a nut or apple, and
such speeches cannot be written by any
one who works among people who have
shut their lips on poetry. In Ireland,
for a few years more, we have a popu
lar Imagination that is fiery and mag
nihccnt and tender; so that those Of US
who wish 10 write start with a chance
that is not given 10 writer's in places
whore the springtime of the local life
las been forgotten and the harvest is a
memory only. and the straw has been
burned into bricks
The lips Of the Irish peasantry have
no. yet been shut on poetry" The lips
of the American people have never been
opened upon poetry and in that reason,
# i'm no other, will be found an explana-
tion for the existence in Dublin Of a ma
tioual theatre, the Abbey: OF a newly
froVing ana cnriching national drama.
az 90 company of players differing i'm
method. iH aim and in achievement from
amy company Of players that ever
nourishod i'm this country. or that is
likely 10 flourish here until the popular
outlook upon national legend and his
tory and contemporary life. and the re-
lation Of these 10 art. 10 dramatic art,
shall become so far unlike the outlook OF
to-day that the outlook OF to-day shall
be unrecognizable.
or the Irish Players much has been
said about their capacity for the pres
,ntation Of types and Of definitely and
quantity individUalized characters; and
what has been said has been said with
deserving on the part Of these players.
But the work which makes this praise
possible has not been done. and is not
done. because these players are great
players or actors Of unusual fineness Of
perception. A company Of great play
ers would probably make a mess Of what
these people successfully attempt be-
cause. unlike this Irish aggregation, a
troupe Of theatrical "geniuses' would
never pun together. It's component
parts would not subordinate themselves
20 the peculiar requirements which have
msdo the Abbey Theatre in half dozen
years unique and among the most
famous playhouses OF the world.
Even in the matter Of stage business"
these newly arrived visitors TO New
York are refreshingly unlike the actors
who belong here or who usually come
here from abroad II they know the
usual tricks and traditional methods so
beloved by the usual and even by the
exceptional run Of stage folk whose
names and features are familiar TO our
public. they know them only 10 avoid
them. The restlessness which is an un-
fortunate attribute Of modern acting
and Of the busting producers who