New-York tribune., 1919-12-21

would have to be under an ,h,.,.s,
autocratic dictatorship. II a'ey con,g'ey
flourish under any form of sus":,M no.
tlon because subsidization ;nss:.sss ;:aiss
means the right of some ons ~ :a'Is
fere in the direction, and no e,ts.a's .aes
of this sort, says Hopkins. can pslss rsssss
carry the mistakes of more tbs.oT
man. It. would take years Of ras ..., W.
perfect the organization. The S;na Maa
might have to work thirty-sir hns*s'
day, but at the end of five vs.ss avufss
shoul have an art theater az In. =.
that q" any country.
We have huge amount Of ,...
art that is beating at the doors - s..e W.
theater. we have actors anxione y. ~'
press themselves in great plays~.s..:' ..'
most of all, Hopkins believes thu. s
have audiences for the great nlar. v, ',
all the world. What we have m,
ever, is any theater at all adeop,.a' WV
the mechanical requirements ~ .. !"
repertory scheme. All our .h...s.' .a'
are built for single long-run rsa;..' mod.
tions, with shallow stages and room !.
the wings ard the flies for tho srnuu u
tenances and scenery of only sins. s
play. Mr.. Hopkins might even now ts /.
alternating Redemption" with "rs.
Jest if to bring "Redemption1 ;n,s .s
the Plymouth Theater it were ',,. NV.
necessary to carry out the en,;,s
production of "The Jest" The imnn.
sibility of nightly carting full prs
duction to a storehouse in another ~
of the city in order to bring in ano.b.,
play is obvious.
The newer theaters of the ci+v mas,
all built for single productions hn,
none Of the older is at all be..s.
equipped. Producing with the modsr,
sensltlveness to stage design is an ey.
tremely modern growth Repertors
companies of the past gave little al.
tention to scenery. There were stand.
ard interiors and standard outdoor
scenes, and these suffced for ever
emergency. But Importance of stare
design is very great in the modern
theater, and no art theater could spb.
slst on the meager equipment of III.
old stock companies.
A repertory theater would need
stage with ample spaces on each aldo
of the proscenium arch, with gres-
depth of stage and with plenty Of
room in the flies for hanging drops. i
should be equipped to hold at least SIX
productions for immediate use. l.,
should have adjacent storerooms
where scenery could be easily reached
and disposed of. Its workshops should
be on the premises. A producer who
makes lnfrequent productions does no.,
mind greatly the Inconvenience Of as.
sembilng his scenery from various
parts of town. But the Requirements
OF repertory theater would demand
complete and integral growth sof re-
production in the theater.
Doesn't modern production make 70,
simplification of detail-and isn't il
possible to give varied repertor,
with only fixed set for background :
Mr.. Hopkins was asked.
"Simpification of effect. yes. bu
not Of detail said Mr. Hopkins. "Th
finer productions of the Continent ar
subtly and finely detailed. The Mos
COW Art Theater's scenery for Ham
let from Gordon Craig's designs, tool
two years to prepare Hamlet had per
haps only forty performances that sea
son, but 1t is always at hand-a uniqu
and extraordinarily beautiful set for US
at any time during the season."
No repertory scheme will be possibl
without a theater specially built 70
the purpose. The proscenium arc
should be of moderate size, but tn
stage should be very wide and deer
The seating capacity of the auditorium
should be no more than twelve hun
dred. The scale of prices should ru
from $3.50 to so cents, with an abun
dant allowance of so and IS cent seats.
any wellwisher of the repertory idea vii
build such a theater. Hopkins promiss
to lease it from him. provided tn
rental is moderate one.
And under these physical conditions
Hopkins believes that he could in fys
years carry the repertory theatel
through to financial as we'll as artistic
independence. There is no phase Of
the long-run theater he believes. halt
so stable, commercially, as the roper
tory ort fhpotar