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Show Ordynski' Urges International Theatre Chain A .H )NST ICR pluyhouse hi . .New York and another as large tp'be built lri , .- Warsaw. 1'oland. which arc to Cecil each other, is the grandiose Idea of Richard Ordynski, stage director of the Meirovolltit'i Opera House and n-preseiuntive in America or Max Relnhard'.. said by- many good judges to be the tlrst' figure in the world of the then u. l-'rom his conception ot the Grossm Schancrinituux. with a capacity of 5.000. which Is l br- oppned in Berlin this spring, ihc Siamese giants of Ordyn-ski's Ordyn-ski's imagination apparently have sprung. 'It is not a fiction." said Mr. UrdynskU as he took the opportunity ot developing his ideas to a group of stage directors of modem mod-em tendencies: "It Is already under way in Poland, encouraged by Padercwskl and many liln-r notable men there, while tho plana. . .'a'" as outlined. have roused genuine interest among the capitalistic group bore. "Last year, for the first time In five yearn. 1 was able to go home to see my dear old-father old-father and mother-. 1 was- advised to put It off one year owing to conditions, but i could not wait.' and it was well I did not. Padercwskl wna in Paris, and he asked me to go to Warsaw on his special train. En route we talked over these swelling plans, and my heart was made glad to see how cordially the great man considered and welcomed wel-comed them. Artists Asked to Help. "National playhouses both are r Intended to be. and for them will be devised great dramatic spectacles drawn from the history of either country. These spectacles are to be something nuite new. anil perhaps the name 'spectacle' will be discarded as non-descHptivc. non-descHptivc. Dramatic, musical and other artists are to be asked to give their services for as little fee as possible for a six wecka season, first in Warsaw and thn in New York, while the great scene painters, stagp directors and conductors will do their beat work for the glory of their nation and will ask little more than their expenses. For other parts of the year the houses arc sure to be utilized for concert, drama even vaudeville Reinhardt. who is more than a clever producer he Is a good business man knows what he is doing when he builds those big but simple houses. He knows that the public will support them If the price of admission Is low. , "In Toland the big house will be a State institution. In other words, the nation will tome lo lt rescue in the event of its not paying its cNpenrfes in any season. A large iwirt of the money needed for construction will come from America. "Poland is desirous of utilizing tho Ideas that she has gained from this great America. Amer-ica. You have taught us great things and how to look at them In a great way. Your very buildings fill us with awe on account of their size; the vast expanse of your country coun-try Is inspiring to us. Yes. we have learned much from America, and wo shall learn more to help us build along big lines when this Joint theatrical enterprise Is running "Next season steps will be taken here to Interest tho Poles in America In tho plan. All sorts of entertainments are to be givon f financing it. and we are confident, of course, that the America end will be carried car-ried through without trouble as soon as It i perceived that Poland Is in earnest. Following Fol-lowing the' year 1020-1921 J will be free to r.cvote all my time to getting the conception concep-tion wrought- into fact. Till then I shill br- with the Metropolitan, and only the time that Is my own can be given to my dream. "I have now ocen ,"-iht years in your 'counyiy which I admin tind love more and more as l' come to"kiibw ii. better. I camo lien? in 1D12 with 'Sumurun.' which was done n. the Casino.. I was tlwu the representative representa-tive 'or Max Reinhardt. "Tell us' something pr-rsonal about Koln nardt how old Is he. what are his habits o.' work and Is It easy :o work with him?" "He is ten or twelve -'ears older than I um." -said Onryiibkl. "nnc I nm 41. Reln-liarilt Reln-liarilt . is truly a wonderful, international Mag" man; his knowledge of the craft .n itho;it bounds and he is as great an artist in' everything else that pertains to the boards, 'studied under him for two years, but in that time I went :o Russia and came to America for him. His llrst great success was In 'J00. when he produced Gorky's 'Night Lodging' at the Ivielnc. Ills mind is p. strange mixture of classicism and ultra-modornism. ultra-modornism. "His position since the revolution is even more important than before. lBcsidcs bis superartlstic side he It- a rlever business man , cf and knows what the public wants. Ills giving, giv-ing, 'Young Germany' ij-" chance in tho thon-ttv.ias thon-ttv.ias made him anhnmejiitoly. rich man. "To be connected with Keinh'nrdt wjs a tortuuate accident for me. but it was an accident. After my graduation I was a professor pro-fessor of modern languages in tho I'nlver-sit. I'nlver-sit. of. Cracow, where I taught for eight years. My brother Llaidsla w. who died during dur-ing the war. was on actor, and I had done a good deal of writing as a dramatic critic. I '. was with Reinhardt when ho put on Oedinus, and Sumurun.' and both these plays I took to the various great Continental theatres. "Naturally I learned by experience how things were done. In the various cities I had the good fortune to meet the leading brains of the modern theatre. I made the acquaintance in London ot Gordon Craig, for whom I contracted a great admiration. Eccentric lie is called and he Is accused of Impractinl idealism. But I do no.t agree wltsi either of these Judgments. To my mind he figures as a man who wishes to throw out of the theatre all the trash, perishable and te-v. R.1CHAR.D ORDyNSK.1 WHO PLAINS CO-OPERATIVE THEATRES or NATIONAL. DRAMA IN WAR-SAW ffPcT NEW YOR-Ki . ephemeral, that has heaped around It to Impede Im-pede Its onwnrd progress. I am not a Jovpr of tradition and 'would Infinitely, prefcr to put on a plere that has not acerri'ecf anyof those barnacles. Not as Difficult a It Appear. ' But given a free hand the problem ot Improving the living theatre is not the intricate in-tricate problem that Mr. Craig and other theorists evidently believe. In the ten years of Reinhardfs supremacy (he Continental theatres have been progressive. However, more than a few dreamers and Imaginative artists ore required to bring It to within tho bounds of perfection. But no one can deny that the influence of Reinhardt Is -b-vlous in the artistic aims of the leading theatres of New York, as it is in Kurope. "The ideas of dreamers will be us:d In producing the great works of the world, aa ' T think T see them in the chain of national houses beginning with those at Warsaw and New 'York. Without such men the plans would nover fructify. We have in Poland a Secretary of Fine Arts 'in the national Calr-inet: Calr-inet: he is most enthusiastic about the plan and it will not languish from anv liicit of Governmental interest. "I want to say. now that I ha'o the chance, that mv work here, co hard that it may he called double work, has nevertheless been a const? nt pleasure to me. "As soon an a score Is given me 'I study It. seeking lo learn how the composer visualized vis-ualized It. To give birth to his vision Is my desire, and in accomplishing It as well as r can I seek to subordinate myself. It las been n record of great )lans carried out, i am free to say. with tho cordial help of everybody concerned. "I have found Slgnor GattI always ready to listen and to sympathize: ho has held rp my arms always. II has been the same with the great singers of this Institution from1 Caruso and Farrar down to the least important: from them all I have received cordial aid. Tills statement Includes the chorus, and that Is a great statement to make. In a body of polyglot persons, 130 in number, it would not be strange ta find some who were fllffirltc. but this has not been the case. Always It has been a g'rewt pleasure to work with thorn: they arje Jntcr--csted and their hearts aro In the result.' "When you ask me to go into details about the proposed great plan of sister theatre.' In Polund and In this country I can scarcely, be expected to answer, for 'my own work"ln this field Is too far off. This is one of the things I do know that the a dmls.il on charge to the National Theatre, as It is to be carried car-ried on In Warsaw, will lie very low. almost as low as some of the cheaper picture houses charge here now. "It is not expected to mak money at first. for how could a great hou? built to seat S.000 and Hiarglng from ten to twenty cents fo, seat? be a money maker? Subscriptions will be sold, as I understand the plan now to be, for the six weeks' season. There will be n change of bill every week, and the likelihood like-lihood is that until the' now spectacles of Ms-tory Ms-tory are ready tho kind of play In use will be represented by the 'Orestes' of Aeschylus, the 'I-'ausP of Goetbo. hakepearei '.lulhn Caesar' and 'The White Savior' of Tlaupt-mann. Tlaupt-mann. The same blll. with scenery brought over from Poland, but with American and English actors, arc likely to be dona at the proposed American house." Mr. Ordynski took breath and smiled. "I rarely talk so much." said hef "but,(my hopes for these national houses- are -so fervent that I never tire talking on tho subject." |