The sun., 1915-12-19

whcr" one may l,"p ones car very
clusc to natures heart.
For the average man Judges play
far more 10y the 'ntclligcncc uf IN"
heart than hN that of the head. lie
wants poetic Justice done. virtue re-
wardcd, vice punished and happy
ending" perhaps. but true criticism
aud fine acting can gradually educate
an ever increasing public into a
pleased acceptance and appreciation
Of the deep thing we call tragedy.
Prof. Dickinson is more than right In
assuming that theatrical public is
here. like a flock without a shepherd.
ready and waiting to have its instinc-
tive feeling for. truth sustained and
justified The travelling Company
system. with its star" and satellites,
has utterly broken down and the
movie. poor apology az Il ~, is yet
filling a gap until a return to a bet
ter order Of things. This may come
in a collective effort in subscribing TO
the theatre or in the voluntary dra-
matte associations that seem to he
springng up all over the land. The
theatre really appeals to all. And a
subscribed for theatre. conducted
somewhat like the municipal ones Of
France or Germany. Is we'll within the
bounds of possibility. Nor would
many years pass before such would
become self-supporting.
Paying well deserved tribute to the
efficiency of vaudeville in comparis on
with the legitimate drama. Prof. Dick
inson goes on to analyze the reasons
M N ~pl lla ~ h.
is a kind and yet a Just Judge. In
the syndicate system. which with IFS
heavy Capitalization organized the
entire country as tributary to one
CITY," Prof. Dickinson finds as others
have found. the secret Of deep mis-
chief:
Every legitimate theatre in every pro-
vincfal city was compelled 20 pay its
tribute to the central power in New York.
Tho result Of this on the side OF organiza.
tion has been appalling. In the space OF
| fifteen years the provincial theatres have
deteriorated from local amusement enter
prises serving the community that fosters
them to helpless creatures of distant
master. The inevitable came quickly and
, with telling forre. As the theatre was or
ganized out OF touch with its appre-
hensible social units Il soon ceased to serve
served htfully by an Intelligence hundreds
of miles away. dwinded in character and
amount. The cry went up that there Is
no support for the higher types of amuse.
ment and the process OF stimulating by
| ARTIFICIAL means an already alienated and
perverted public taste went on. The
system was an impossible one from the
start. and every effort to bolster 1t up
carried IT further into the irremediabis.
hlC hat ,xAt
call the collapse of the one night stand. a
deterioration traglcal In the history Of
our small towns and fatal to the sinew of
our drama.
An admirably true summing up OF
cause and effect. The syndicate sys-
TEN is really out of touch. and can
never be in touch, with the mass OF
would be playgoers. Back of local or
ganlzation. which IL absolutely neces-
sary. lies the basic truth that nearly
all persons like to act or to see acting.
Children act spontaneously in their
self-devised games. calling upon their
elders for generous applause. and chill
dren OF a larger growth equally de-
light In the mimic life. AS Prof. Dick
inson truly says: THE living play
must be presented by an institution
which itself lives in the social life Of
the district" Thus We see in all our
large cities spontaneous dramatic as
sociations. which are the nursing
grounds Of a coming American drama.
The time may not be just yet. but it
is surely coming and cannot he so
very far distant. And for those who
still invincibly love the play Prof.
Dickinson's pleasant book is both ius-
tification and encouragement.