El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-02-08
MISS ALICE FITZPATRICK TELLS
WOMEN.S CLUB VALUE OF THEA TER
IN THE DEVELOPING OF CHILD LIFE
By

Three years ago. another children's
! theater was opened in New York City.
( by William X Vanderbilt The first
play presented here was the 'Racketty
! Packetty House by Frances HOdsOn
I Burnett Among the class Of plays pre-
scented as suitable for children are The
Little Princess. SNOWY hite.' Dick
! Wilmington The Forest Ring vii
liam Tell The Prince and the Pauper.
The Poor Little Rich Girl Little Lord
Fauntleroy.' Little Women. King
Cole 'Editha's Burglar .Shakspere's
The Tempest and AS You Like It All
|; were selected for the aim of educating
the Imagination while presenting great
ethical truths Every good play eN-
emplifies the rigid connection between
mems morals and their fortunes. show
ing that fate is largely determined by
character
Miss Fitzpatrick said it would be I'M
wise to sustain this movement through
the public schools because this would
weaken its influence for good. owing
TO the compulsory atmosphere that. at
best. accompanies the school idea
However. she said the school should
have a direct connection with the move
ment so that the slow. timid child could
be given encOura cement and brought
forward. The admission tickets should
be distributed through the schools and
school houses having auditoriums
could be used for the presentation OF
the PLAYS.
Make a start I'm Fl PasO.
Il would like to see a start Of this
kind made in FL Paso-" said Miss Fitz-
patrick. using the school buildings
here having auditoriums- But, unless
the movement were backed by pfilsn-
throDic individuals or organizations.
with the money for the costumes and
necessary expenses. the participation
in the plays would be limited to chill
dren whose parents would be willing TO
Of he
However. all the children could then
have the opportunity Of Witnessing
suitable plays By satisfying the al
most Unsuitable desire of the child for
entertainment. it would, in a measure,
check the going OF children TO insult
able moving picture shows and insult
BILE plays. where they learn things
they should not know at their age. be-
cause they are not mature enough TO
understand the problems presented and
so mlsinterpret life The cheap picture
show is becoming a menace TO child
hood. because parents permit their
children 10 attend them indiscrimin-
ately. No one should expect a child
who has been given only dime novels
and sensational yellow journals as its
literary food, to be able TO develop a
digestion for the great literary writers
in prose and poetry. SO a child fed
vaudeville shows. can not be expect
ed to develop into a man or woman A..
desiring clean and eIevating drama
Realizing the value OF dramatic en-
tertainment for the child in Lamar
school" said Miss Fitzpatrick. we
have tried to present one worthwhile
play every year Last year Queen Es-
Their was given II was Witnessed BY
over 1900 people. mostly children This
year We are hoping 10 present The
Prince and the Pauper' Among the
plays given in the history Of the school
are The Birds Christmas Carol
'Editha's Burglar William Tell Miles
Standish.' The Blue Bird Scenes from
the Odyssey scenes from Tdyles of the
King Jeptha's Daughter. The Pied
Piper OF Hamlin.' Alice In Wonder
land and The Wizard OF o. We have
found that a play is a vitalizing influ-
ence in the life OF a school So would
the city find. II there were an educa-
tional children's theater. It would aug
ment the number of self reliant. al
truistic children and conserve their
leisure time The children's theater IS