Show r. r j THE INADEQUACY OF SCENERY t One of the tho reflections compelled by bythe the engagement of Mr Air Charles B. B w. w J Ha Hanford ford just closed in this cIt city is Js S j that scenery may be as much a detriS detriment detri detri- S 5 ment as a help On Thursday evenIng even even- i Ing lag as the tile curtain raised on a scene f of Egyptian magnificence one of the theS thet t S stupendous columns caught in the f lifting fabric and hung there in the shadows flapping airily back and forth while a stage hand ran out and S. S tried to pull it loose looses and then then rang I V Viv down own the curtain so the tho massive massi iv granite or equally equall- massive e basalt I f 3 c could be bc draped again into place 5 S When hen the greater Sal Salvini came to the United States with his wonderful play lay Samson the point was even cn S more distressingly revealed re Of course the climax of the Samson pret pre pre- tI jl S t s Is that tha rending ot of the pit pit- ot the tho temple and the the slaughter slaughterS of t the the thousand thousands assembled above S missed nothing in the majesty I S I of or tho the character His very elY walk was that of tho the Strong Man of the Bible Dible There was history and romance and S human nature and go godlike like worship in every utterance of his unmatched S voice But when ho laid his hands bands on onS t S the pillars of the temple and when 1 they ther toppled weakly over not over not all the ravening growls or shrieking thunders S of or the tho orchestra not all the thc memories of solemn things not all the recognition U tion n of dramatic unities s c could Uld sate The appeal to scenery was a 5 5 w weakness akness S The old oM Greeks didn't have ha any scenery They tried to make their auditors complete the picture their theirS S acting began As tho the teller of stories sitting in your our den or across from S you j in the smoking car or In the decorum decorum de de- de- de corum comm of your our dinner table r relates an anS S Incident and calls on you ou to supply the necessary accessories for the theS S completion of fancy and the perfect perfect- ness of tho the talc talc talc-so so those Athenians fit lit word and action and made you seeS seo see and hear and feel the tramping of S hosts the destruction of Troy the S 5 wandering of Ulyss tf ff th the Uie e loves of I Dido the sirens and ana the jo joys s 's of ot home return So they did with the comedies comedies cornS com corn S edies and the tragedies of all their writers Maybe the they counted on an anS anau au audience familiar with tho the lines lInes fa fa- fa S S in the sense sensa of stud study and understanding un But in any event ent they theyS S did Id not pretend to erect their walls s S S S on cn the stage or prove pro with tapestries that Cleopatra's court was splendid Possibly the modern stage stag Is forced to piece out the picture which lack of information by the audience cornS com corn S But it is 15 very cry Inadequate In Inthe Inthe the big things it does not convince It is much in Madam radam Butterfly It ItIs Itis is everything e in the spectacular plays S But that is because you want to se seI se see I I a the tho scenery because It Is ta designed S and cx executed to be a part of the show S That Is not true of the portico of Cleopatra Cleo S patra valra at the edge edgo of the Nile It Is not true of the Roman forum S r Oh it may be tolerated But if good acting can make mako one forget that thata t a certain monument is cloth and a tomb is painted paper paper can can not the S S willing milling interested mind of the auditor go farther and itself construct a n bettel betS better bet bet- S ter tel scenery |