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Show ( . . H ; IF THEY WERE O ! HERE TODAY ( i VJB AL.L, admire tho $ fl I P- Shakespearean play; i: s, lomo of i)8 aro fond J of It; those of us who ;' "" T Rr6 not daro not con- ;; " fess It, Wo know that 1 L V. ' In the great bard's j S works are gems and 2 Jewels of philosophy and wit, and beautiful :'' thoughts such as arc found nowhere else. We admire the wonderful Imagination, the colorful i weavo of his romances and the masterly do- 4 Hneatlon of character. Wo know that he Is !J tho master poot and dramatist of all time Thero Is no other worthy to be classed with j him. For centuries ho has stood alone, and ';: o It will be In tho conturles to come. For cen-; cen-; turles tho Shakespearean has been tho stand-:i stand-:i ard of drama In every portion oftho civilized globe. Ho was born In England, but he be- longs to no ono country or age. The world "2 claims him. Wo all admlro his works, and i yet )t If Shnkcspcaro were alive today; if ho wcro . unknown; If none of his plays had been read ij or produced, what then? Would he have any troublo getting a man-'? man-'? r.gor to put on Hamlet, or Itomco and Juliet. ' or Julius Caesar, or Othello, or Twelfth Night j or Merchant of Venice? 5 Or, If ho had the money or backing to produce pro-duce tho play3 hlmsolf, would tho public take' 1 to them? Think over these two queries. "Put a punch Into it. Mako it Bnappy. Tho publlo wants excitement In big doaeB. Smash 'cm : between tho oyos." These 'aro the rules which . povern tho lltoratur and drama of today. It Is tho literature and drama which the public domands, and what the publlo demands it f gets. t There aro producers porfectly willing to put ' on Shakespearean plays if tho public will sup- i port them. Tho producers are moro than will ing; for they don't have to pay any royalties on such productions and the royalty Is ono of tho largest expense Items of the producer. ', Sut gottlng back to the original query. If Shakespeare wero alive today how would ho write his plays? There Is little doubt but what ho would bo Influenced by the trend of medern literature. He couldn't help It. Therefore he i would write In tho vein of tho present day, just bs ho wrote In tho vein of his own day. But how would his characters bo transformed into modorn personages? r Easy enough. You will find tho prototype v of "Julia." "Portia." "Viola." "Julius Caesar." , -Dcsdemona." "Iago" and hundreds of others : ii . , within a dozen blocks or wnoro you resum ' True It is. 'you might not recognize llioin l lrst'ln their modern cluthes and In niodori. setting The people of this century are Ute ' same as tposo or Shakespeare's time, wltn r I Venues .1. former day they" did not sup- K ,.ICSS nu loehng and emotions w '" fc 'Vhu.. it a .cry .over-llke and romantic "' - i -, " " K m l a Roineo to climb the garden wall to sigh un- . dor tho balcony of hla Juliet. In this modern mod-ern day If any young mun were found sighing under a young lady's balcony window, especially espe-cially tho window of a young lady to whom he had never been introduced, lie would be arrested ar-rested as a "Peeping Tom." and. If ho told the truth, he would be sent to tne observation ward of the City .Hospital. But there are modern "Romcos" and "Juliets." although moro conventional man the hapless pair of Verona some hundreds of years past. And If Shakespeare were living today he would know Just what to do with them. Instead of listening from a balcony to "Romeo's" sighing, the fair "Juliet" would slip out soma evening and go Joy riding with him. or she would meet him at the corner drus; store or cafe and eat Ice cream or drink wine If she were as unconventional as the lass o. Verona her father probably would compla;r to tho excise commissioner that his daughter Ifi, had been frequenting cafes. Ucr father would be a powerful politician and would havo Influence enough to close the cafe which soM drinks to his daughter. Tho affair would get In thepapcrs and create considerable ncandal This would be tho natural trend of events 3s far as the real "Juliet" wero concerned, but th modern "Juliet" would act differently. She wouldn't be near so unconventional as "Juliet Capulet." She might go Joyriding and she x might slip away some afternoon and go to a suburban town with "Romeo" and bo marrle 1 secretly. But there'd be no sleeping potions or stuff like that, and the play would end happily. "Romoo" and "Paris" might have a fist flght over "Juliet." hut It wouldn't bo over her dead body. Modern sweethearts believe thero are plenty of others, as evidenced by the dlvorco courts. Tt was considered eminently proper In Shakespeare's time for various noble families and their followers to get out In th streets and flght, but now our best famlllea aro not supposod to do this. There would have to be considerable changes made in the plot of the" lovors of Verona, but It could be done easily. And how about the Merchant of Venice? Th modern "Shylock" would absolutely refuse to bo made the goat. You wouldn't find hi v tottering out of ihe courtroom, a broken man The modern "Shylock" would appeal the case and ho would have a sco-e of reasons for thr appeal. Tho Judge wasn't properly qualified: tho Judge was prejudiced, which could be easily proven, and the judge was a woman. -Thcss aro only a few of tho grounds for an appeal. And then there .vould have to be numerous other changes In this delightful play. For Instance. "Rnssanlo." in modern life would be f - Tii iiin uu undisguised fortune hunter. Wu nave fortune for-tune huntei-a In high society, but tlivy aro not as trunk concerning , their Intentions as they wore hi Shakespearian c!aj&. Then fortune hunting was enilnanily respect-ublo respect-ublo nud indulged In openly by the best, people peo-ple .Vow Ii li- an eminently ri'sporinblf pu'" nun b:ii one i" km' 3npp''d to nniwnncf'lhiii he is 5 '"t f court a younp woman lie ,liuh r - i-.yk-- into some oil- r -i ,.ns W' ' '$$f Mi. 1 Wti H I '" . " reireshment anC suddenly . r ""'' ' Wf '. l I 9 feSw becjme aware of a hiuky. y ,. dfr' '' 'A MB iH pt&. J$ig&M?r b uecoat. c'' I m W&&A iH & 5S... ' X mW a ,V i II W$B H ' 'The modern Shylock' would calmly in orm Judge P -"Ttia that he w-ulcl appeal the case." never utn, uut m after nor on account of lits'r money. , Such luiotuagu todny would bo very tourae, to nuy tii loam. Portln." mirht besoras cngagod to 'Bns-sonio' 'Bns-sonio' in the modem version, nd thon whoti she lernad he was. phly after her fortune sh? rould vrofcahlv" tranfr her w.es'jh apd- af-f-r-unnm to "Ampfth',"' whu up to ije liut n plaxa the, nariTofthu Kk . .-... " . ' :"".'; ''- -' . -C-J''" ' ; "l'Drtla." would be a suffrage-tic. Also a. college col-lege girl, and she would have her degree. Sho would make formal -app'.lceuon to become a member of the bar association, and the b. a. ould flrmly, ard pollte!y. tell Jjer there wa.i :o chancei "Pcri'.a." or.o cunnot help fearing, fear-ing, would stir up all sorts or trouble In modern.-surroundings. Yati.and 1 imvc." bot.i sec. her prototype on nu.-hrotis occasions. "Jlamlct" and '"Deacle:siona"r Well, they .vouldn't have much chancu today. Rven nakespeare would have troublo titling then m a modern setting. Beth of them would lv tent by their folks to some nice, quiet letrci 1n the country, where tho handsome ground) ro surrounded by high wars ar.d thero aro ron bars on tho windows. There Is no plac or cither In tho modern diuma unless the. .ro used cs minor characters In some roarlr.;; farco or slap-stick burlesque snow. ,. Thero are prototypes of tho adventuresome "Viola" In everyday life, but tno barJ himself him-self would have trouble placing her In a hlgn-flagg? hlgn-flagg? drama. She belongs to tao days of th" ' "iO-5o-30 thriller. In w.hlch the heroine or the soubrctto don male attire, cither through choice or force, and must pass as iC man. Sh never looks like a man nnu never even re scniblcs the "male apoelcs, bui nevertheless sh dons stylish male clothes nnu has all sorts of roman'tlc adventures and generally has as a friend some man she falls In lovo with, who Is very much surprised when h is told. In the last act. his " hoylsh-looktii companion la really a girl. in the modern high-class drama Lhc aud.-tnco, aud.-tnco, quite accustomed to the erotic drama might have Its suspicions'! but in tho 10-'Jo-3'J druma the audience Is moro wholesome aud it knows very well tho hero Isn't wjso untl ho Is told, or rather until ho sees his erstwhile boyish companion clad In a styllhh pink sat.: !ress and diamond necklace. Tho fair "Viola," ect down In a modern elf. couldn't long cheapo tho keen scrutiny of tho metropolitan police. Sho would wander Into some cafe for a little refreshment and then suddenly sho would become awaro of the law. .he mighty law. In the porson of a husky bluo-i bluo-i oat. who brusquely takes down her name and address for future reference. 'Othello"? "Say," observos the tlteatru-a' manager to tho bard after he has perused ,.i modern version of tho play! "ive don't want to stir up any racial riots. This wholo play Is an nrginncnt for segregation, as I sec it It might tako In somo plaeoa If you had Jack Johnson playing the leading part but, goo-1 night!"' 'And. frankly, thcr wouldn't be much chanco for "Othello" and tho gentle "Dcsdomona." "Julius Caesar" would co fine. Shakespeare could write a great modern political play on ihls theme. There have been political plays and plays of politics, and they havo boon groat money getters, but Julius Caesar la the father of thorn, all. The. knifing of a politician by other politicians Is as old us politics Itself, and tho sleek "Brutus." the smooth "Antony," tho envious "Casca." the wolllsh "Casslus" and tho man who has served hla country and then broken Into politics, nil are familiar to tho people, of all times arid countries. The ToniP'iJt would make a nice spactaculxr fairy play fur the children, with un sort of electrical effects and a lot of pretty girls, gro-tewiUeV''om,,lRn!' gro-tewiUeV''om,,lRn!' aml V0P,'!n, njK- TbiM vrry W its or Winder wpcltJ ,Ue rey vrtin:,"for &onie nwivy-wcighl. comoJ)un "and m K $ r'"- wtD By ws Amwf&H fMvfiise vhimmex H "Romeo and Juliet would be joy-riders." M would a iip-io.irlng fcirco with fow changes Wceptln the text. Tho modern vorsion of Moasuro for Measure would tako, among that class of patrons of tho theaters who don't cara how strong their drama Is served up. ' Tho Tfeming of the Shrew In modern surroundings sur-roundings would take wcll especially with the male part of tho- audience. Uut thuro would havo to bu numerous change; because tho tho-ator tho-ator eaten more to the female of tho species than the male. "Pctruchlo' Is u sort of "rough i.eck," and 1 think tho way Shakoapenro would treat the thumo In a modern way would bo for " Katharine" to lam him and administer n ion' of vunecj' of civilization to her rlp-ro.ir-, Ing mate. Tliat. would probably catch the fancy w . ' .- v-' ..;. Ti ; "' ' of the women. "Rosalind" was a rather romantic girl, but fvhc always appeared 4o have moro common H sense than tho other Shakcspcarcan,lasiilcs who IH took to men's clothes. In the modern vorsion H sho and "Cclia" would probably go out West and buy a ranch, and "Orlando." "Jacques" H and tho rost of the male characters of Aa You H Like It would Reside on u neighboring ranch. H Thoy might even go to the Mexican border H and a. brush with Mexican bandits would fur- M nrsh some cxcltemont. . " H Timon of Athens, of course, would bo easy H In Its modorn setting. "Tlmon" is common in M .modern life, and so aro "Lucjus." " Lucullus. ' M ."Sempronious",and "VontldlU3." -N'o ' troublo H .with that, pla'y.' H |