Pueblo chieftain., 1921-01-05
ART TR|UMPHS IN THE THEATER

cause people would have gone to SOC
;hom had they appeared in a tent ON
a vacant lot. but few others in tn0
actors association were 30 fortunate.
And tho producers and managers dlH
not fight back. They merely Offered
.hc moro important Of tho rebels very
fat contracts. so that before Ions thgr.
were only three or four rebels left.
This carly lesson had such-a discour-
aging effect upon rcgalcitraut players
that no attempt was made to dispute
tEr complete domination OF tho pro-
ducers' association until the Thcafc-
Guild suddenly Camo to life two year
ago Tho guild WAS not formed foo
combat tho hcatcr trust, 1t has no
such ambitious idea II hopes to Erf
along quite poaccably with tho orSau..
zation. But II docs want to be Ind
pendent because IT wants 20 Produ.0
the kind OF plays its members rcsp'r.
tho kind OF plays that are an Iusplr .r
tiou rather than an ordeal to the a a-.-
Ing profession
All OF It's members are not player.
some Of th0m are scenic artist,
authors or producer who have won
hiEh regulations u tho commercial
thCatcr. hut ail OF them share In tho
financial interest of thC guild. and
each has ono vote In deciding It's af-
fairs. In other words it is a true ,o-
operative society. With drama insL.1I
- groceries as its product Each OF the
NJ CmbCrs working Iu us production iH
paid at living wage and each OF them
receives certain percentage OF the
box office receipts according TO tho
value OF nia or Hrr part-ttc import
ant chtraCtCra .cCulv!nE more 'Aan
tho smaller pIrta. IL is III only SOC
eirty OF IFS KIND IN the w0flf TODAY,
"Itho its prototype may be found
among tho various player sociotics OF
Queen Eliza brihs time. Including ono
in whicu wan Shakespeare 'V.,s a
shareholder
when tho Thcatcr Guild organized.
its bank account contJincd just $500.
This, 1t decided without sallrirs.
would h" enough 10 produce play.
but mo- enough TO pay for s thcat.r.
Fortunately Mr. otto Kahn. who had
a lease on tho GJrrirk Thoatcr. far
little pl4-iIE hlpnrd playhouse on
Thirty-ufth street just OF Rroadwag.
became Interested in the Guilds pur-
pose and donated tho thCatcr TO them
for sis weeks. lf they made good
they could pay him "a rcntal. nc said.
Hhd u they failed he would not charss
thIm. anything.
Wen, at first. it looked as II Mr.
Kahn would be out a good deal m
HH." hNhN Ut e8lNf.IH
BsnaFcnt7'a Bonds Of Interest" fail
cd, possibly because lSwas ono OF
those fatal vehicles. a costume PLAY
or possibly because 10 received p.ar-
tically no Advertising Tho guild could
rot afford 10 advertise. and 40 low
peoplc knew that the play waa II
existence
tndiscouraEsI. bat = trino Deeper
ate. the committee ON plays and
mana cement. which mects every Tue.
DAY, mot every day and tried to find
now play 10 take tho place Of the
Eenavenfr failure. This carly com
muc' Included Laurence I7nEucr,
Phillip Moollor, RoIlv Peters, Helen
v. oEtloy Helen rrcoman. Msrsarrf
Wyohcrly Dudley Digs and Leo
Simondsor. ART director Tor tisa Metro
poittan Opera House.
II was Laurence LanEnCr who final
IS brought tho committee tho play DO
wanted. ono afternoon hc was tn
ircntan"'s. fcyCrlshIy going over the
plays on rho hooEshcIvcs. whom he
came across John Ferguson" by s.
john Eryine.
Erviuc. mused LanEucr. Il used
to know that chap. Used to bo ON
that debating society attended In
London Awtully clever. as recall"
\ wcok lItcr, Mr. Erviuc in Lon
don was surprised to receive a cable
nom tho New York Thcatcr Guild
asking for his play rs he explained
'aior, Nj, Erviao had never heard OF
The Th'l'Dr Guild. and hn could not
rcmombcr Mr. LHnEucr hut no ie-
oid"d that ds his play has failed con-
81 icuougiy In London. he wou'd uut
tc greatly hurt tf H. failed in New
York. aud 90 hc cdbled back his nu-
CuptauCc
This ,imo tho Guild managed % do
some advertising. and on tho opening
night IL h7d every prominent dramatic
critic iu New York in it's audience
As a result, tho ncNt morning. cycry
paper contained ia glowing account uf
john ferguson with frequent refer
'nr"s TO tho splendid courage of tho
Eui'd In thus suppo'- ing art tn the
ia'" OF certain financial ruin. This
while gratifying, was not encouraging
iicnco, 1t was with serious misEiyius
mat Tho players approached the
thcaicr ON tho second night. but there
thoy encountered. a delightful shock
For III" line before tho box office
reached all tho way down Thirty-nt,h
street and around The block.
Aud 81" hcEHu the success OF ART
IN the New York Thcstcr.