The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-03
BY MYRTLE MILES


 When "The Havoc" the vehicle in which Mr. Henry Miller is appearing this winter, was presented in Birmingham his audi enee was largely representative of local intefest in the Drama league. These col umns heralded the coming of "The HaY- oc' as the first play of the season 10 bear the indorsement of the Drama League of America. This indorsement had been sent to the Cadmean Circle, which is the oldest literary organization of the city, and one of the several that are mak= ing study of the Drama league prepara- tory to the establishment of local branch. The bulletin gave brief resume of the play, touching upon the afs9iheh' and giving critical analysis In d para graph. Many attended the play because of the favor in which it was held ey the league. Afterward 1t was the subject or much criticism, public and private The Cadmean Circle, wishing for more light oa the viewpoint of the league wrote to Mrs. A. Starr Best, president of the Drama League of America, who in turn wrote to Mir Henry Mitchell Webster, an authority on the purpose of the league
 To the question put by the Cadmean Circle through Mrs. Phillips, as to why the Drama league had recommended The Havoc" MT. Websters answer speaks for itself, and will be read with vast inter- est by all those who are considering the formation of a branch of the league here. The letter follows:
 Evanston, H., January IS, 1912.
 Dear Mrs. Best
 I am in receipt of your note lnclosing the letter from Mrs. J. II, Phillips of Bir- mingham, which I have read with in- terest and with some little surprise. Be- fore attempting to furnish, as you sug- gest I do, the grounds on which the committee bulletned this play, l want to ask you to bear me witness that almost every play the committee has bulletined has seemed, for one reason or another, unworthy of that distinction to some of tho good friends and supporters of the Drama league; and that, on the other hand many of the plays which we have omitted to bulletin have been productive of similar protests on the part of persons who have attended them and enjoyed them and thought them amply deserving of tho official support of the league. In word, you will have found out that there arc as many minds as there are people.
 The committee readily agrees that "only good plays should be buletlned" But, having agreed to that. the only thing it can do Is to proceed thoughtfully, and in good faith, and according to its best lights to decide what plays are good and what are not. It can't hope that all subscribers to the league bulletin every where will agree with its Judgment, and 1t doesn't. ask them- to refrain from pro testing when they disagree. As matter of fact, there is hardly a member of the commmittee itself who has not, occasion ally, seen a bulletin issued over his nega- tive vote. or seen play, which, In his Judgment, was highly meritorious, refused a bulletin by the other members of the committee. When that happens the mem- Der of the committee puts hls case as strongly as he can and then bows as good naturedly as possible to the opinion of the majority. -
 When I said that I experienced a certain amount of surprise on reading Mrs. Phil lips letter it wasn't because she, nor the Cadmean Circle, nor it's friends, dis
  worthy bulletin. My surprise came when she said: 'Our best women and meR were Jnortiied to have been numbered among the audience. Now if the play going committee con tented itself with merely issuing a state ment that this or that is fine play and everyone ought to go to see it, then it would be readily understandable that our friends might be astonished and morti fled at finding themselves numbered | among the audience at play we had so recommended. But the bulletin which | the committee issued in this, as in every other case, wasn't a mere blind admoni- | tion to go to the play. It announced | this particular play as a sex play upon the familiar triangle of wife, husband and lover It stated that, in it's opinion, there was certain amount of unnecessary brutality in some of the scenes. Further more the bulletin stated just what the committee conceived to be the merit of the play; that it deal with this trite and shabby situation with blunt satire that was refreshing and antiseptie in it's quality The authors treatment of the situation. so the bulletin said, satirized the conven- tional wronged husband of the stage who indulged in the conventional hysteria and "vindicated his honor" in the conventional way. In the opinion of the committe the moral effect of this treatment was on the whole, though unnecessarily brutal per- haps, healthy and therefore laudable
 In word, the bulletin told exactly what kind of play the play was. pointed out what seemed to the committee defect, and stated, with unmstakable frank ness the grounds which the committee found for praise.
 can easily understand how many per sons could dislike this kind of play h. deed, in general I dislike it myself. can even understand how what seemed to the committee to be it's saving quality should seem to other people ain add- tonal fault. But l am at a loss to un- derstand how anyone could have read our bulletin and then been surprised and nor tfed to find himself in the audience. x
 The committee doesn't pretend to be a censor of the drama. It doesn't believe