The New York herald., 1921-07-31
Thinks Bright Dramatic Day Will Dawn Here,
but Playwrights Must Have More Than
an Idea---Upstart' Stars Make Public
Suspicious - Cohan Can't See
Ibsen, but Loves Shaw

evitable result of trying to strengthen a
play by half baked star nowadays"
There is nothing under the sun which so
much interests Mr.. Cohan as the causes that
led to his retirement from the theatre But
he believes that the allegiance, of the actor
to unionized labor will in it's way have a
good effect. 1t will clear the air in the thea
tre which is very necessary. That the
actors themselves will soon see the error Of
their way, he does not doubt The radical
element among them, he thinks has misled
them to degree they did not realize
Feels Intensely Trouble
Unionfzing Has Brought Theatre
"Of course" he says, biting his upper lin.
and speaking with an intensity that all but
kept the words from passing through his
partly opened mouth this thing is going to
straighten itself out. There is no doubt Of
that. But the bitterness this row has en-
gendered will last for years. Nobody who is
not in the profession can tell how deep it
has sunk into mems hearts. They talk about
1t now as If it were something fresh that
had happened yesterday, so vivid is their
feeling about the troubles that the union
has brought into the theatre"
Mr.. Cohan keeps on staring out into For
ty-ffth street, or, rather, far beyond it, fur
ther even than Forty-second street which
the strike. No other subject can bring the
look Of gravity into his face or start the
tremulous drawing down of the upper lip as
the discussion of the strike. He would, in
spite of the pain which the thought causes
him, rather talk of it than anything else
But he was led back to the actor
He hasn't only himself to blame for the
lack of skill which is common to most of
them to-day" he said "They not only try
70 in
while. but they willing to let the man
ayers compel them to do the style of char
acter in which they make a success 1t
happens after while that their services
are in demand only for certain roles. When
there are none Of these they are without
employment. Managers, of course call on
them only when they have a part to be
acted similar to those in which these men
have already been successful. So you see
how this specialization works around in a
vicious circle for the actor and his art"
Mr.. Cohan sees no place in his vision of
the greater and glorified American theatre
for the co-called bedroom" farces
The man who produces them well as
the public that sees them are alike dis
grace to the American theatre But there
is possibly less stigma on the theatregoers
Look in on the third fourth night OF
one of these shows. You win not find a
kind of man there. These men are to be
identified by their habit of carrying about
pictures which they show secretly, stories
they tell under their breath or salacious
bits of newspaper printing typewriting
they Draw out Of their pockets. The ear
marks of this kind of person are easy to
recognize. 1t is not the theatregoers who
support these plays. I am sorry to say that
they do make money for their producers.
ma ha do q mil of
them. And he is the one man who does not
have to prostitute his position in this way,
he Is a Snowman in every sense of the
word and could make just as much in any
kind of play. These pieces after while
seem to poison the people who deal in them.
The French originals which they were
once modelled had some humor. These
American pieces have only their dirt"
Why the cities outside of New York have
so little interest in the theatre to-day is
another question that Mr.. Cohan thinks he
can answer.
1.-THE public lost all confidence in the
promises of New York managers" he said.
"after they had been for years sending poor
companies In the New York successes They
kept getting worse and worse Go in and
clean up was the motto of the managers
So the cheaper the actors the better. Mr.
Harris and / used to pay more for our
Il
wanted to keep the confidence of the
public In the smaller towns But the aver
age manager thought only of what ne could
get out of the towns and give as, little as
possible in return. So the end came. The
public deserted the theatres for the moving
pictures, where they could at least see the
actors the manager promised. Now there
is no public for No. or No. 3 companies
anywhere. The poor old goose has beer
killed"
What This Popular Actor
Thinks of the Ibsen Drama
Any playwright with many ideas about
the theatre as Mr.. Cohan reveals must
have his own theories as to Ibsen in the
playhouse 1bsen the great. unacted.
II have read the Ibsen plays and seen
most of them. Whether l read them or
saw them on the stage, l always in
terested. But 1 have never been able to
focus the Ibsen drama in its relation to our
practical theatre. In other words, IL has
seemed to me that the Ibsen drama is dis
tinctly literary and not of the stage.
SHAW" here Mr. Cohan's smile was more
comprehensive and sincere than 1t had been
at any other time; "Shaw / love-"