Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-02-09
SEEING ROME WITH
MR.. BERNARD SHAW
Humsnizing Antiquity as the British
Playwright Does II in ''Androcles and
the Lion"-Humor and Inspiration
Instead of Romance.
BY KENNETH MACCowAN

4
~ astonish us with a realistic King Arthur,
with bauncelot and Gulnevere done in the
terms of a modern problem play. There will
be bravery. courage, high daring, love, ALL
enacing passion. But there will be the touch
OF reality in it, too. There will be a host OF
the interesting commonplaces of that life
the people Of the play will have the every
day interests OF their time. And against all
that, the power and beauty of the story will
stand out all the sharper
When playwrights do this with every scene
In the Old World from Rameses to the Revo-
luton, and from Attic Greece to attic Grub
street. then we shall revvify romance as well
as antiquity.
The very obvious reason why we have al
ways written of our ancestors in the tedious
old vein OF stlh phrases and crushed rose
leaves is because they never taught us better
Not that they didn't write comedies about
the things of the day, but they wrote OF the
public things, not the everyday things. Ars-
tophRnes lampooned Socrates and the philos-
ophers, joshed the lawyers sneered at the
politicians and the militarlsts, and Mollere
lampooned the learned" professions that
knew nothing. But those were all transitory
things that pass with the passing of time and
come again in new garb today. They were
too ephemeral and not ephemeral enough.
When the elder men wrote of the individual
life of their people they wrote only of fervid
moments OF great love and great faith and
great trial. We have never written of the
true, everyday life OF the Old World, because
the Old World itself never wrote of it for u.s.
And in the face of the grubbing scientific
trend of today we have tired of their ro-
nance and herocs.
Seeing Antiquity With Shaw
Just when the costume piece. the historical
drama and classic play have gone absolutely
dead, far as the public is concerned, the
scientists of the museums have reawakened
antiquity for by giving up little time
from the official affairs of the Queen of Sheba
for the furbelows of her handmaidens And
now playwright who would like to call him
self a scientist too is discovered doing the
same thing for the theatre in very delight
full and irresponsible way. 1t is not John
Masef1eld, though that poet has experimental
most nobly with 1t in his prose play of Roman
politics, "Pompey, the Great" 1t is that
most popular of English playwrights who
has four plays on view in Philadelphia this
week-"Pygmalion," THE Dark Lady of the
Sonnets" THE Admirable Bashvie" and
The Doctors Dilemma"-while fifth, can
drocles and the Lion" furnishes New York
with the text upon which this homily is
based.
Shaw has always been rather fond of lay
ing hands on the romantic past and subduing
1t to the image of what it may have been.
THE Dark Lady" shows Shakespeare pick
ing up little phrases here and there. "The
Devils Disciple furnishes a prosaic Revolu-
ZIONIST of '76. Caesar and Cleopatra" gives
the Roman general the mental infirmities to-
ward badness and such that Mommsen mar
rates All this, of course, with a mixture OF
levity and the greatly grave which reality
very likely contained and which Aristophanes |
delighted to fling, all a-leap, into his Attic
"Androcles" goes farther into the Aristo- |
phanic, we'll the antiquarian, than any
thing Shaw has done. Into the familiar story |
OF the man who pulled a thorn from lions |
paw in the forest and was saved from death |
in the Coliseum by the fortunate fact that |
the same lion had been delegated to eat him. |
the playwright has flung the gravest rehec-
tons on God and the most amusing of de-
tails concerning the everyday life behind |
the scenes" at the Coliseum.
Behind the Scenes" at The Coliseum
1t is surely possible, even absurdly likely,
that the Editor" or custodian of the gladia-
tors, animals and martyrs, had a 'call boy
to announce what act" as we should say. was
next on the program. And 1t is equally prob
able that IL he entered quondam 'greenroom"
to announce, mo. 6. Retarius versus Secu-
tor" those gentlemen would primp up in
mirrors fixed for that purpose just inside the
doors No doubt these professionals" quar-
relied among themselves and had their pri-
yate jealousies for the centre OF the stage.
And II Lavinia, Christian, who was also
talked with the Editor and other
ha I'm TA da. |
tails OF the profession" the scene might
have run something very like this:
Iavina--win they really kill one another?
spintho-Yes, il the people turn down their
thumbs,
Tine Editor-You know nothing about 1t,
The people indeed Do you suppose we would
Kill man worth perhaps so talents to please
the rlnrah? should like to catch any OF
my men at it,
Lavinla-Then is nobody ever killed except
The Editor-If the vestal Virgins turn
down their thumbs, that's another matter.
They're ladies OF rank
T.Ayinia-Does the Emperor ever interfere7
The Editor-oh, yes he turns his thumb
up fast enough II the Vestal Virgins want
TO have OF his pet fghting men killed.
Androcles-But don't they ever just only
pretend to kill one another? Why shouldn't
YOU pretend to die, and get dragged out as IL
you were dead; then get up and go home.
like an actor?
much There will be no pretending about
the new lion; let that be enough for you.
He's hungry.
The harsh reality OF being a Christian when
II the world was Pagan had its humors
such religious forerunners were the laughing
tock of the average people then Just as
much as any political forerunner today. An
roeles' wife. MegaeFa. looked on his Chris
ianity as quite as disreDutable as we once
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