New-York tribune., 1918-12-14


Hamilton l2no' PIP 52s. Henry Holt & Co
lssh. iamo, pp. MN IS Little. 5''Te Brown nu &
faH ART THEATRE ny Sheldon chency l2no.
Whatever may be the facts with re-
gard to al. American dramatic re-
it's lack will not be because
of any lack of books heralding its
coming. The last five years have Wit
messed a vcritablc deluge OF works
upon the drama, the theatre, stage
decd, everything connected with the
stage except the art of acting. IN
three books recently issued from the
press only one of them touches upon
this obsolete subject, except that Mn
Clayton Hamilton does give d very
sympathetic discussion Of the art of
Nine. Yvette Guilbert. a great actress
indeed, but one unconnected with
the spoken drama Mr.. Hamilton
calls his latest volume "Problcms
Of the Playwright" and in il
he deals with various phases of the
modern theatre. Seriousness is the
outstanding fact of all that Mr.. Ham
ilton attempts. He is a well-read
grounded in it's established technique,
and believer in that technique He
is no revolutionist, no radical-even,
alas, in his poetic references. There
is so much that is excellent in the
volume that We wish his literary al
lusions had been less terribly trite:
most of these seem borrowed from a
condensed version of Familiar Quota
tons"
Pinero end Jones are the gods of
Mr.. Hamilton's modern dramatic
armament. Tennyson seems to be his
favorte poet. Mr. Hamilton is certain
ly Victorian: some unkind souls might
dub him mid Victorian. He is also a
lover of Barrie. He loves all Barrie
even the shoddy Barrie. He also loves
the superlative. Mr. Pinero is the finest
dramaturgic artist still living. Mr..
Calswort}y is a great man, etc u,
short, Mr.. Hamilton has one of the
requisites of genius--he is in spirit
close to the child-the child that is in
the sophomore.
Yet it would be unkind to leave Mr..
Hamilton here, even if he does adore
Pinero and belittle shaw. If he is often
the sophomore who likes the well-made
play. he gets many a shrewd cut at
The other sophomore who placards his
superiority with borrowed Shavian
brllllance. He declares that the ad-
mirers of Shaw are middle-class, that
the true aTistocrat prefers Pinero, lust
as he prefers Tennyson to Browning.
Lower class, middle class, upper class
MIR. Hamilton uses these terms as
gllbly as any class-conscious I. W.
w. Yet when he writes
mo dramatist who lacks the
primal gift of spontaneous and alb
solute creation-however brilliant be
his talents as a critic-can finally be
ranked among the greatest For
this reason, the plays of Bernard
Shaw will ultimately be regarded as
inferior to the plays of J. NJ Barrie,
and the best plays of Pinero and
Jones, and the few good plays of
Galsworthy. All these other dramatists
have brought us face to face with
many characters whom we know to
be alive, and Bernard Shaw has not.
We can all of us-lower, middle or
upper class, as we may think our
selves--cry "Amen!" 1t is good. too.
TO find that Mr.. Hamilton has not
been taken in by Mr. Percy MacKaye,
though he evidently likes that pom
derous poets "The Scarecrow."
"Problems of the Playwright" contains
much good matter, much sound sense;
it is little heavy in style, a little
obvious in illustration, but it is we'll
worth reading.
Louise Burleigh's "The Community
Theatre" with predatory letter by
Percy MacKaye. is an extended d.
gest Of the work so far accomplished
in our various pageants and little
theatres, with plea and a plan for
the further development of the art
theatre. 1t is an unpretentious volume,
which ought to be of some interest
to the revolters from The commercial
theatre.
"The Art Theatre" by Sheldon
Cheney, is a more extended and more
same theatre. There is in the book
lot Of fub-dub about synthetic
Ideals" and "rhythms," and "stylza-
kion" and q dozen other preciosties by
which so many Of the supporters of
the modern theatre movement sur
round their subject with a mystic
hedge, penetrable only to the initiate,
BUT there is also a lot of information
and some remarkably good photo
graphs of stage settings. The chapter
on acting comes as relief after the
opening pages of rumble e-bumble. 1t
gives sound advice as to the need for
clear enunciation and distinction of
bearing. The portion on stage settings
Is also admirable, and while giving
Gordon Craig and Adolfe Appa full
credit for their innovations, it does
not reject the more practical work of
the newer scenic artists, taking up
particularly the settings of Sam
Hume, of the Arts and Crafts Theatre.
in Detroit. The general progress of
this most interesting playhouse takes
up a good part of the book and forms
an interesting example of what our
American dramatic revolutionists
have been able to accomplish "The
Art Theatre" is a book of marked
merit when once it settles down to
facts.
"In the Fourth Yea" by H. G.
Wells (12mo, the Macmillan Company,
is a discussion, in characteristic Well