The New York herald., 1921-05-15

little prosperity to his impresarios. But
Strindberg-.
Continental Play Again.
Has the successful career of the
Theatre Guild turned the attention OF
managers once more to the continental
drama? Archibald Selwyn even went to
Europe to look the field over and
came back with some treasures in his
bag. Perhaps the old pre-war exodus
will soon be seen again. Then the
managers hurried away in May and
returned in August with long lists of
plays that were rarely II ever acted
In full. Those they did produce were
usually SO little to the taste Of the
public that there was little or no profit
In the venture. 1t seems nowadays
incredible that the late Charles Froh-
man in one season produced six plays
from the French with only a loss Of
time and money as the result of this
enterprise.
Then the pendulum. In the man
agerial manner, swung in the opposite
direction. There must be only Ameri-
can plays by native authors. An ava
lanche Of them was dumped In a few
seasons on the American stage. Crook
plays, plays with surprise endings and
surprises of all kinds. for that matter,
except in any kind of merit: farces,
bedroom pieces ad nauseum, white
slave. rural and every other species of
drama came to trial. They were not,
as whole inferior to the foreign sup
ply. Nor were they selected with any
keener judgment.
The Theatre Guild here met with 'ts
prosperity merely because II offered
the public plays of foreign origin.
There are as many mechanical French
farces. dull English comedies that
could not arouse a smile outside of
London and futile Hungarian dramas
as there ever were. But the play
readers Of the Theatre Guild select
their repertoire with good judgment.
They do not try this play because II
ran for six months in London or that
cne because the author Is the most
popular in Berlin. They seek quality
In whatever they present, whether It
had its origin here or there.
The managers who used to shovel
In plays by the ton made their in
vestments on the strength Of foreign
popularity, the vogue Of the writer or
the possibility of this or that star
finding a role in the piece. Undoubt-
edly the plays which the Theatre Guild
has given at the Garrick Theatre were
at times accessible to the commercial
managers. Probably they had the first
chance at them. How regretful they
must have been when the artistic per-
formance OF these plays at the Garrick
Theatre made them notably success
full Half the failures OF foreign plays
In New York were attributable to the
manner of their performance.
The Native Play Favored.
or course there r. no denying the
truth Of the managerial doctrine that,
other things being equal. the drama
with the American theme written by
the native author. will be more sue
cessful than any other But 1t must
be more than merely American. Any
work so splendidly native in every
way as "Lightnin' and "The First
Year" are faultless specimens of their
kind Here are sympathetic and com
prehensible subjects combined with the
most sklful treatment Such plays are
certain to be more valuable to their
producers than any works OF foreign
authorship that ever existed. But II is
not only their Americanism that lifts
them so far above the average.
The success Of American managers
has not been altogether confined to
the Theatre Guild. Mr. Belasco has
had triumph with "Deburau," and
will in the future again lavish his in
comparable skill on a new drama by
sacha Guitry. Mr.. Ames found more
success than he has known in years