The Washington herald., 1911-11-13

l
them condemned the plays to be given
as outrageous libels both upon the Cath
ole Church and the Irish race.
Mgr. Shahan denied the current report
that he had asked Lady Gregory to visit
the university and deliver an address.
He asserted that any telegram purporting
to have come from him which read to
this effect was a forgery.
All Of those who criticised the plays
spoke particularly Of The Piayboy Of the
western World" and THE Birthright''
as among the most offensive.
Meetings, at which resolutions, were
adopted condemling the plays were held
by various Catholic. societies yesterday.
The Ancient Order Of Hibernians and
the United Irish society took kindred ac-
ton. Other meetings win be held during
the>week.
Lady Gresort's Reply.
Lady Gregorys reply to the critics fol-
lows:
IT am told we are being attacked by
circular distributed in Washington. That
Is not new on this tour. I feel sure
those who object to our plays must do It
on conscientious grounds and I am sure
they must have been misinformed or had
insufficient information. We were by no
contrary, our players had a tremendous
reception on their last appearance on
the stage before they sailed and a great
send-ofr at the station. Dublin is very
proud Of them and proud Of knowing we
have had such a success in America
THE only grumble I have heard from
Dublin for a long time Is that we are
staying away these winter months. We
have been much pressed to stay all
through the winter because Of our success
in Boston and elsewhere.
I'VE do not profess that all the plays
We give can please everybody. The Irish
proverb says If you wish to grow old
you must eat hot and cold and 50 a the
ater that had stuck to providing for any
one class of people would have died long
ago. Unionists have objected TO my
plays, The Rising of the Moon and The
! Gaol Gate and to Mr.. Yeats Kathleen
nj Houllhan.' Dublin Castle officials OBJ
tected to Mr.. Shaw's 'Blanco Posnet.' A
section Of Nationalists objected to The
Playboy of the Western World That is
the only play there was serious opposi-
| ton to. and that is no longer manifested
in Ireland. That play was denounced to
the mayor Of Boston, MIR. Fitzgerald, an
Irishman, and he sent his secretary to
report on its performance. The report he
gave was wholly in its favor. At Provi-
dence local Irish committee made state
ments against the play to the police COM
missioners. The commissioners them
selves attended the performance and pub
| lished a statement that they had seen
| nothing objectionable In the play and had
enjoyed every moment Of t.
Cites david Garrick."
THE accusations made against the
play were shown to US at Providence.
One was that drunken men were repre-
scented upon the stage, which was an
offense. I do not myself make any Of
the characters Of my plays drunken, but
noticed at the coronation performance
last summer, given for the royalists In
England at the time and chosen by King
George and Queen Mary, that one of the
selections made was the drunken scene
in David Garrick' where Sir Charles
Wyndham plays q drunken man all the
time. r.
guage used In The Playboy.' Now the
English censor, who Is so delicate that
he forbade Mr.. Shaw's play. 'Blanco
Posnet,' to be given In England, because
Of some strong expressions used by
'BlancO' before his conversion, only took
ofrense at one sentence in The Play
Wnen II WIS BuDInlIIe0 10 MIN. ne
struck out the words describing English
soldiers as khaki cutthroats' and said
the expression must be removed, to-
gether with any others that might be
considered herogatory to his majesty's
forces. That sentence had never been
objected to in ireland, and SO. as said.
1t is hard to please everybody.
The Providence self appointed censors
pointed out various phrases they objected
70 k,,yT hes In fk1a nj al hrnI
they are never used on our stage, as our
prompt. copy shows.
Players Are Catholics.
IT may mention that our players are,
without exception. Catholics. and are
| held in the highest esteem not only in
Ireland, their native place, but In Lon
don, Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester.
and, indeed, wherever they have played.
The extraordinary purity and delicacy
their acting are especially appreciated
No one who knows them personally CT
who has seen their work could for q mo-
ment think Of associating them with any
| thing Of an indecent or immoral tendency.
I'VE believe and know that our theater,
taken. as q whole, has added to the dig
nifty of ireland. It Is watched with the
greatest interest and appreciation on the
continent Of Europe; Australia and South
Africa are trying to found repertoire
theaters on its model. and the desire to
do so is being very widely expressed in
! America in intellectual ,centers and edu-
cational institutions especially.
AFTER the attacks made, II Will be only
fair II all Of our countrymen who have
heard of these attacks will come and
| Judge for themselves. am sorry per-
sonally the attacks have been made"