The Washington times., 1922-11-09
SEES
{ END OF HIGH
4 BROW PLAY .
Producer Declares Stage Can
not Mirror Life II Plot and
s:ii Player Ascend Beyond Levels
of Everyday Life.

+ the stage Is to mirror life IT
cannot go successfully far be-
u yond the realms in which every
day people walk. The appeal OF
the drama eiementally is to the
emotions. and emotions. springing
upwilied from the subconscious
self, are fellow-feeling processes.
not intellectual ponderings.
Based upon his experiences OF
twenty-one years OF stage produc-
tions. Oliver Morosco thus deduces
that the so-called high brow"
drama will never exert a popular
power In the doings OF the Ameri-
can stage. Shooting over the
heads instead of aiming at the
hearts" is the way he puts II.
Persons making up the average
audie nces in the theaters are those
contributing their share to this
everyday hustle we call life." says
the producer. students cheer at
!, the football games, not In the
classrooms. The excitement Of the
game stirs thu emotions. the class
room Is wholly an intellectual proc
ess and therefore is serious
/ business.
Tread some OF the most dra-
matte moments in history as re-
corded in history. And that's all
1t is. But see those same events
huma nized on the stage. The emo
tions work. ..'
1.-THE audience sees a play. 1t
Is a failure. When the audience
feels a play, It is success. The
emotions must respond and they
will not IL the play does not pre-
sent phases Of life which we recog.
nize as a part Of the human prob
lens.
A. "The American measure Of sue
cess is the dollar. The same golden
yardstick is applied to business.
art or the drama. Success today
is spelled $-u-c-c-e-s 1t begins
and ends with the dollar mark.
1.-THE success Of a business enter
: prise is based upon it's financial
rating. A painter or sculptor ar
rives' when millionaires begin buy
ing his pictures-maybe long after
the creator has starved to death.
In the theater the receipts deter
mine Success ...
1.-THE warehouses are filled with
artistic triumphs.' They lacked
the enduring alloy Of the base dol
lar. They did not open the emo
tional flood gates Of the audiences.
And when the emotions remain un-
touched, so does the pocketbook.
"'Art' often is pictured as living
IN a garret or crumbs with the
.croo-ell landlady pounding upon
the door. That landlady repre-
sents the dollar and IL about to
throw art into the street. The
picture Is unpretty, but true.
g Our foremost music organiza-
ltions, including opera, must be en-
i.dowed to exist. The drama Is not
20 advantageously placed. In his
hopeful strivihgs the stage pro-
,ducer looks to the pablic for sup
= port. He is thinking Of his audi
ences made up OF the average
,healthy-minded American. To cater
{ to the supercritical few and leave
3 the masses untouched would mean
Failure. After all, the primary
purpose of the theater is to enter.
tain. Some of the bored erudite
seem to forget that.
= There is an 'uplift' working.
.slowly, cautiously. We do move
in pace with changing tastes.
Naturally some are more daring.
They crave 'isms' and wallopful
reality. But such plays naturally
/, are limited In their appeal.
y $50 good human drama told by
human characters will be with us
for a long while"