The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-01-05

known actors and actresses in~,.,
ing Francis Wilson. Joseph -
son and Mrs. Fiske, attemptss s..
night the enterprise with A. ~
pendent actors association a. ts...
own, but 1t was not succa.sss,
These three, Of course. could ssss1
to be independent because nscsS.
would have gone to see them ~ i
they appeared in . tent on I 49,
lot. but few others in the srs.ss
association were So fortunate A.
the producers and managers fiid =.
fight back. They merely Offered -
more important of the rebels -
fat contracts, 60 that before H..
there were only three CT four reh.,.
left. s
This early lesson has such a M.
couraging effect upon recalcitr,..
players that NO attempt was msSs
to dispute the complete domipa,iss
OF the producers association ur,s,
the Theatre Guild suddenly CANA -
life two years ago. The guild W.
not formed to combat the thes,r.
trust. 1t has no such ambitiou.
idea. 1t hopes to get along ami.
peaceably with that organizatios
But it does want to be Independent
because 1t wants to produce the I'm
OF plays its members respect-sI.
kind Of plays that are an inspiratim
rather than an ordeal to the actin,
profession.
All Of its members are not Din.
ers; some of them are scenic artjrs
authors or producers, who bsvs
won high regulations in the CON-,
mercial theatre. But all OF thsm
share in the financial Interests a
the guild, and each one has one yuts
in deciding its affairs. In Other
words, it is a true cooperative n.
/: ciety. with drama instead Of gro.
ceries as Its product. Each Of thu
members working in the production
is paid a living wage and each q
them receives a certain percentaee
Of the box Office receipts, ACCORDING
to the value of his or her part-ths
important characters receiving
more than the smaller parts. Nis
the only society Of its kind in ths
world today, although its prototype
may be found among the varioua
players societies OF Queen Eli
abeth's time, including one in which
J, Will Shakespeare was shareholder.
Guilds Struggles.
When the Theatre Guild organ.
lied, its bank account CONTAINED
just $500. This, it decided, without.
salaries, would be enough to pro-
duce q play, but not enough to pay
for . theatre. Fortunately Otto
Kahn, who had lease on the Gar.
rick theatre, the little old fashioned
playhouse on Thirty-fifth street just
of Broadway. became interested In
the guilds purpose and donated the
theatre to them for six weeks. II
they made good they could pay him
a rental, he said, and if they failed
he would not charge them anything
i Well, at first, it looked IS il Mr.
Kahn would be out a good deal Of
money. The first play produced
Benavente's Bonds OF Interest
failed, possibly because it was one
Of those fatal vehicles, a costume
play, or possibly because it received
practically no advertising. The
guild could not afford to advertise
and so few people knew that TIL
play was in existence.
]. Undiscouraged, but a tri1e des
perate. the committee on plays and
management which meets ever
Tuesday, met every day and tried ID
find q new play to take the place d
. the Benavente failure. This early
, committee included Laurence Lang.
ner. Phillip Moeller, Relic Peters
Helen Wesley. Helen Freeman
} Margaret Wycherly, Dudley Digs
. and Lee Simondson, art director iol
the Metropolitan opera house.
It was Laurence Langner VIII
finally brought the committee thu
play it wanted. One afternoon b
was In Brentano's, feverishly goinl
. over the plays on the bookshelves
when he came across John Fefgu
| son" by St. John IRVINE.
II "Ervine," unused Langner, Il
| used to know that chap. Used To b
on that debating society 1 ATTENDED
in London. Avfully clever, as ] re
, call. -"
A week later, Mr.. IRVINE in Lon
don was surprised to receive a csblt
from the New York Theatre Guilt
: asking for his play. As he expla!ne
; later, Mr.. Ervine had never hear
J of the Theatre Guild, and he coult
not remember Mr. Langner, but h
decided that As his play had falls
conspicuously in London. he w0ul'
: not be greatly hurt if it failed II
. New York. and so he cabled bscl
his acceptance.
= This time the guild managed 7
do some advertising. and on tn
opening night it had every prom
: inent dramatic critic In New YOrl
: In its audience. AS q result tn
J, next morning, every paper conta.ne'
q glowing account OF John Fersu
, son" with frequent references to th
: splendid courage Of the guild in thu
: supporting art in the face of certhl
t financial ruin. This, while crafty
ing, was not encouraging. Hence
? it was with serious misgiving thu
= the players approached the theat7
) on the second night, but there the
= encountered delightful shock. 70
the line before the box Office reache
all the way down Thirty-fifth stree
4 and around the block. -
1 And SO began the success OF u
i in the New York theatre.