The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-04-07

'happy ending insisted on by mana
gers who feel the pulse of the public
The blind Louise. in "The Two Or
phsns, will get her sight back, mover
fear. Even The wicked Oliver, In
"As You Like It. must turn over a
new leaf and marry pretty girl.
An audience composed entirely OF in
dividuals who have no belief IN ghosts,
will vet accept the Ghost in :. Hamlet
as fact. Bless you, they have seen
him, The crowd accepts the disguise
of Rosalind, and never wonders why
Orlando does not recognize his love. To
this extreme credulity OF the crowd is
due the long line Of plays that are
founded on mistaken identity,-Harccs
like "The Comedy Of Errors and
melodramas like "The Lyons Mail,
for example The crowd, too, Will ac-
cept without demur any condition pre-
cedent to the story OF n play, however
impossible it might seem to the MIND
of the individual
There is this TO be said about the
credulitY of an audience, however,
that il will believe what IT sees moro
readily than what it hears. 1t might
not believe in the ghost of Hamlet s
father if the ghost were merely spoken
of and did not walk upon the stage. If
q
cnce of the generosity or the treachcry
Of one character or another, he should
not waste words either praIsing or
blaming the character, but should pre-
sont him TO She eye in the performance
Of a generous or treacherous action.
The audience hears wise words from
Polonius when lie gives his parting
admonition TO his son; but the same
audience sees him made fool of by
Prince Hamlet, and will not think him
wise,
The fact that crowds eyes are
more keenly receptive than its ears is
that in the theater action speaks
louder than words. it also affords
reason why plays of which the audi.
ence does not understand a single word
arc frequently successful. Nine. Sarah
Bernhardt IS thrilling performance or
ola Tosca' has always aroused en-
tbusiasm in London and New York,
where the crowd, as crowd, could not
understand the language of the play,
Another primal characteristic Of the
mind of the crowd is its susceptibility
to emotional contagion. \ cultivatec
individual reading "The School for
scandal at home, alone, will be in
tellicently appreciative OF its delicious
humor: but il is difficult to imagine him
laughing over il aloud. Yet the same
individual, when In a theater crowd.
will laurh heartily over tins very play
largely because other people near hlm
arc laughing. too. Laughter, tears. en-
thusiasm, all the basic human emotions,
thrill and tremble through an audience,
because each member OF the crowd
feels that he is surrounded by other
people who are experiencing the same
IN m
n play il is hard TO keep from weeping
IL the woman next 10 YOU is wiplng
her ewes. and still harder Is IT To keep
from laughing. even at n sorry jest, n
the man on tho other side Is roaring IN
vociferous cachinnstion. Successtul
dramatists play upon the susceptibility
of a crowd by serving up raw inorsels
Of crude humor and pathos Tor the un~
thinking to whecLe apd biuDber over,
knowing that these members OF the au-
dience will excite their more phlegma'
rio neigbbors BY contagion. Scene
like the football episodes IN :" The Col
lore Widow and Stronghcart, or
the battle in 1.-THE Round-Up,' are
nearly ALWAYS sure 70 raise the Tooi;
for If is usually sufficient TO set every
boav on the stage a-ehecriDg IN order
TO make the audience cheer too; by
sheer contagiou. Another and more
classical example was the speeches
triumph of Henry VS. return Vietori.
ous. in, Richard Man Sfcld s sumptuons
production OF the play. Here the audi
ence felt that he was every inch -
Ming. for il had caught the fervor o,
the crowd upon the stage,
But not only is the crowd more emo
,;onal than the individual; IL is also
more sensuous II has the lust OF the
cve and of the car,-the savage's love
of gaudy color, the ehild's love OF
soothing sonnd IL is fond OF haring
aaCs and blaring trumpcts. Hence the