Show 4 4 I 1 1 ER Y Mo r rn's iEru ETT Ia I Ill BY PERCY HAMMOND I Despite the presence pres nce of o Prohibition Prohibition there thre is still a good deal of hard drinking in fn the drama s So S. S far tar as I know there is as much liquor consumed consume 1 now in time the the the- theatres theatres atres atre s as there was before Total Totals Abstinence took look effect In last laG a s weeks week's new play for tor Instance Instance- What Vhal Women omen Do champagne Do-champagne champagne I was served at the tho winner table and Its hero a handsome and surgeon became a vic vic- victim victim tim of or Scotch Scorch high So far faras faras faras as the plays plas are concerned it is just as if J Mr had nev r lived nor legislated Whenever an actor needs nee s a the dramatists give ghe It to lo him In an institution devoted to holding the mirror up to nature this indifference to current cur cur- current current rent conditions seems little little- short of ot bootlegging You may recall re that at Just before liquor was abolished there was much despair among mong a time the d classes Persons who believed belle that I the tho decanter and the h goblet b wore I helpful Instruments U l of t human welfare wel wel- welfare v fare tare grew palo at the tho prospects of their retreat retreat- Life they thought I would be a crippled thing a bereft berett of ot its most interesting as as- Friendship would be bo hin hindered dered Romance curtailed Wit dulled and Song silenced There i would be Le e no more cakes and ale 1 It was also predicted that eco ece economically 1 Prohibition would ba b ba I calamitous What Vhal would become of ot the barrel makers the glass glass- glassblowers glassblowers I blowers blowe rs the drivers of o beer wag wag- wagons wage wagons ons the e bartenders and the hop I g anat r and rye r cultivators c and other aux aux- auxiliaries a of o brewing and distillation distillation I tion lion Only the savings banks the l I churches the landlords and an the chain stores it was WIlS said saki would be he benefited by this amputation of ot the most ornamental of ol Satans Satan's S I limbs Among those who brooded most mot I severely under the spreading of ot I sobriety's black bla k wings were the tho I people of or the theatre In those dark darl days das the Lambs' Lambs club a I headquarters of o American dra dra- dramatic I dra-I matte matic art was full of ot forebodings Entertainment was to lo be I out upon the time heel of ot i. i Without liquors liquor's adventitious aid al 1 it Il was Vas the Drama would lose much of o its ha e. e De Do- Deprived Deprived of ot stimulants the authors would not write so well the tho ac- ac actors ac actors I aC tors tOIS would not act so well and the audiences become lucid and amid ra- ra I would not not enjoy themselves them then selves so thoroughly The plots plo containing no scenes of o tipsiness would be sober and and pallid The Thc 1 penitentiaries and dancing floors I would be ue depopulated and the tho th harps harp's glum music tousle would succeed that of ot the saxophone 8 I The Tho devil by law last would Could t bJ ba I ousted from front every ery bevy of oC the lh grape rape and tho the hop deprived of ot its I skip and Jump Bacchus would be ejected from our lives as a bum bum and branded as at an un anold anold old soak But Hut like Ilke tho the fabulous ostrich the stage hides its head hoad from the chaos Here Is la the most serious cataclysm of ot recent years carll throwing as it Il does a large part pai p n nor i of or the tho western hemisphere Into Int dismay Thirst as well as famine is Bald fald to be a horrible thing American drama trama lovers otherwise reputable throng the 11 and Main Malts streets of the cities and suburbs asking with swollen tongues if It it is right for them then to tobo toI tobe be bo irrigated Their miseries I though immoral are understand understand- understandable 1 able and a fact What hal are arc they Y I to do 1 Suffer patriotically under I the time desert laws of ot a a. damp congress con- con conI I grESS or be traitors to the amend- amend amended ed constitution i n and pay tribute rl to i go rP fa the rum rows rather r h than the na national national lIonal legislature What hut are you ou to lo think of ot an un anart anart art which evades c as n. n the tho stage does its Ils responsibilities in III a a. predIcament pre pro predicament I its friend and ant ail 11 man and boy for tor these thelle 20 0 years earll am disposed to scold It as asa asa a a. pusillanimous and lawless pol poi poltroon troon Ilene we are arc confused at atthe atthe the crossroads looking for tor directions directions front from time the drama guide guille pot post potto to tell lell us which road to tako talco I IShall IShall Shall wo we drink and be bo merry in I disobedience to lo the rules and reg reg- regI I I or shall we bo be law law-aul i ing and content ourselves s with I I legal lebal milk shakes and an 1 coca colas cola a Every Lvery J er time a 11 bootlegger ap ap- approaches approaches p I my threshold I 1 wonder w if lC I 1 am am wrong in let bidding him to lo go away awa I get no counsel whatsoever whatsoever whatsoever ever from the tho authors and im Int- This blindness of ot the tho theatre to lO toa toa a a. reform of ot such lIuch vehemence is to those of ot us If It I any who look upon ullon it as a guide In let Lifes Life's B crises H lp may muy be de de- depended depended upon to solve aol most of ot J dilemmas Thera There ar nr ar J few that It does docs not n t I I simplify 1 The Joys jOs and sorrows of ot murder mur forgery theft and I in infidelity In- In infidelity fidelity are treated completely in all nil their varied aspects When hen Whenever Whenever ever you ou are nonplussed by rout rout- routine routIne ine me puzzles of ot conduct you can 70 go goto 0 to the theatre and have ha them cleared away Your lour clothing is ma influenced by What hal They Wear ilear ar upon tho limo stage and nd your OUr habits in the dining and drawing rooms are arc founded upon u on the lime polite pie pee pr cautions of or the actors and play play- wrights In case ase you OU wish to 10 know anything about Sex Set you can drop into any show shop and learn something If It it Is Romance Lust Religion Disease Homicide Kneecaps Self Sacrifice S Mot Mothe he Love IA Or the New Dancer that you wish trials to lo be Instructed In the Drama is like Columbia a com cone commodious commodious university But while all ail the other arts aria and sciences have reflected the I disappearance of o the flowing bowl the tho stage Ignoring the upheaval sits red-nosed red In to its Ils cups still sIll able to take a a. drink or to let It alone llono I believe that General Andrews and the government should put the drama on the tho water waler wagon along with time the rest of ot us |