Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1921-01-10
Triumphs in 1heater
ny Frederic J ,fsshin

nipht the New York 1heat Guild con
tin,lcs to place above i,s box niIoe window
n sign reading "Sold Out" surprising
truth IL becoming more and more self
evident Namely, that the average
thnatrcpoer n just rs eager tn spend his
money 10 see good play Ms bid one
The play which the guild in now pr
scntina In such crowded houses h Bernard
Shawp "Heartbreak IInuse." II Il I'M
qucstionably Of the 'hiphbfow' typo, be-
lieved in Broadway theatrical circles 10 be
so fatal To the success Of the box office
Furthermore II IL not the only play Of
high artistic merit which ia drawing
capacity houses he thia season. There
are at least six ohes. including The
Mob and The Skin Game, both by
John Galsworthy, Samson and Delilah
by the Danish playwright. Sven LANCE
THE Woman Of Bronze" by Henri kiste-
hackers THY Name - Woman which
is Karl Sclouheff'a Der Weibateuefel.
and Mixed Marriage, 81 John Fl
vines lateat contribution
Incredible ~ il may seem. the public a
clearly and regularly registering = loud
hurrah for Art E.ither II has suddenly
| changed its mind about " hat Il likes on
the stage, or al along the big theatrical
producers have been wrong For years,
they have been perfectly sure If what the
people wanted to see in the theatre We
know what you want, they told us firmly
You want tn be entertained. southed
| iickled. shocked. uplifted and excited
but Won do not want 10 be made 30 think
Most af the plays we give you are bad
but that's why they succeed
The fret that on AN average Of 90 per
cent Of these sire-fire hits hsve failed
| iniserably month or SO after their pro
| iuetinn he's had no effect on this theory
| concerning the tastes Of the public The
| fact that literally millions of Americans
| ere now enrolled in community dramatic
| clubs. where thew learn to distinguish
good PLAYS from bad ones. has likewise
| made no impression in commercial theatri-
| eel circles. Still. theff il hope Tho men
| at tho head uf the thcstre industry have
not much faith ia the intelligence IT the
| public. but they have infinite faith n the
zach receipta 81 the box office And this
| sensun ia conclusiyelY demonstrating
that ar' ia triumphing over twin beda
| lingerie. spirit raps. Iet-N- ETinl-the
Murderer Equations. and the uanal prot
Of feebl musical comedies
rHF rHrArrn oufEp.
/ IL great nnpeitrr. 4 Is believed this
sudden rise and popularity II well ten
| dramas IL duo ~ he work q the New York
| Theatre Guild For n production IRVINE g
| John Ferguson the guild first proyed IN
| tho Now york theatrical word that 2
| nav might hc good aud e tho same time
| a commercial success In other words
| thrv show Il the public that 4 Feaily vac
capable If rpTree atine SOMETHING good
Il Il got tho chance
The immediate result was that several
nroadwaY producers were compelled 70
90 hastily through their deaka and bring
forth one ~ two ~ the hundred Or moro
evrolleut fiava that had bern living there
nnnrtircd fnr months. and ~ consider
proslurtnp them 10 was risky veHtnrr
however, So when Tho Lost was PIT
on e. cornrrfa 4 - tho artistic fame u
8.tnhn Ferguson i contained the trr
safely popular Harrymorez Lionel and
iohp enough ~ carry almost any plsy
IN Nap York while Ethel Barrymore
was tnlt il Ina Afkina play Deolassa
because n too vas considered risky an
account ol its unhappy ending Later
| ipnp barrymore was transferred ~ the
prir,tx ,,lav The Red Fnhe given tht
Ameficae title II The Letter 81 the law,
rnd Elsie Ferguson was temporary
anatrhrd from the MOVIES 90 appear ~
Arnold BcnncttE dramatizatlon ri his
Hook 81 Carl0ttg
Al of these PLAYS proving successful, fhr
producers arc taking bigger chances thus
SEASON which accounts for The unusually
iatgc number 81 good plays to be seer
.Ihr Ing producers yoii sec. cannot AFFORD
to have the Theatre Guild get away with
ali tho dramatic art laursIs, because tbs
guild u the one small hut important com
. t,et,for of the organized labor industry
J / Al tabs a m ergrri
that tho theatre industry is completely
controlled nv an association Of producer
aud nana *, who own all Of the princl
pal theatr throughout the country anf
| hence virtually control all OF the players
Tor while YOU may he m extremely Popu
lar star. YOU cannot get people 20 COM
= and sec you unless YOU hire a theatre ant
: the only way you can hire a theatre IN
I good location in any fair-sized city
through this managers and producers
association.
FIGHTING THE TRUEF.
Years ago. when these associated pro
dueera first began buvlng up all of th
n available theatres, few well-known actor
and actresses, including Francis Wilson
Joseph jefferson and Mrs Flske ,attempte
70 fight the enterprise with an independent
actors association OF their own, but It wa
: not successful These three, OF course
:, could afford to be independent bccaus
people would have gone to see them ha
they appeared in tent on q vacant io'
: Int few Others in the actors assoclatio
we're so fortunate And the producers an
:, managers did not fight back They merel'
:. offered the more important OF the rebe
:, very fat contracts, 50 that efore Ion
: there were only three or four rebels lett.
= This early lesson had such dlscouraf
ing effect upon recalcitrant players that n
attempt was made TO dispute the complet
domination of the producers assoclatio
until the Theatre Guild suddenly came {
= life two years ago The guild was nc
" formed TO combat the theatre trust. II hs
= no such ambitious idea. II hopes 20 g,
along quite peaceably with that organiSl
tio1 But il does want to be Independent
> because it wants TO produce the kind {
= plays its members respect--the kind {
nlays that are an inspiration rather tina
an ordeal TO the acting profession.
All of its members are not players; son
of them are scenic artists, authors or pr
!. dllcers, who have won high regulations
the commercial theatre But all Of the
nd share in the financial interests OF the gull
and each one has ono vote IN deciding ]
or affairs. In other words, 1t Is true c.
IS operative society, with drama instead
le groceries as its product. Each OF the men
of hers working in the production Is paid
h ST ham fxrsaT