Show i decadence I 1 j 9 x ajr j at 1 I 1 0 1 a ahat abon al I 1 the 4 stage t e I 1 1 j ZD EDITOR ITOW the drama kama alt IN af least jea 1 strai iba 7 ye the he opinion of ah old who ho I 1 be ben th the stage for a pst past general ne lob A Alove love for ri liem with wih spirit f 1 c sm baide baiden ba dei de n i lemd ed it the hearty old gnora generation tion of play goers a ha passed aay Wi yanI in their paceco pa cece have a race rape of am lear lour critic critics who prate triumphs wand and correct costumes and the ind of the drama enery I 1 are A re you sure that modern sets acte and revolving flat dais beat the simpler pictures of earlier vars A As corlia of but in the icentry of our young days there was wits a sort of free mansoury of convention when we saw a vine c clad lad cottage wilif aru a rustic porch poran em lem cowered bowered in real paper in in the abade of 0 F s dumpy chestnut tico we knew icat it at once asche as he abode ot 0 A poor but honest fam family lly we in hoew ew it Plit herld the melancholy f faber a ther in in the black frock coat ac and black hose who uttered querulous complaints in a thin baritone voice that seemed to come from hia his fitow ach and whose face was se seamed amed wei over ali ift W wrin crinkles les sap supposed posed to be the result 0 of care and aad anxiety bilt which were really produced by burnt cork and hairpins hair hilr pins jve ve knew also thai that this unhappy man ruan would nave have a pious we in a washed out print diess and 9 white hite and that ehe she would quote scrip scripture turo gallel forthe benefit of the koda go da in the gallery y and try to keep be lachrymose old husband h out of the by b I 1 11 paying courage Cour aee jars per U courage coura ia 1 1 we knew know loo the there re would d be a talf 1 suky jk out filth the tg bat hat ota of a cow r bay the velveteen coal co and bear beir kin skin vest of a hacH woodi man the scowl of a bandit andthil and the moustache ora dude dade and who would pass poet of ir pie time cursing the rich or finding fault with the rela lona of labor and capital in 10 this beet best of or worlds and wi we knew that this dia dis contented young person would have havi a aristee who would be a allm and H complexion flauta curls and the white et biame aume a ume always affected by the daughters of poor but honest bonest enie ia in the paling days of the tho drama I 1 aay tir when we used to see this ibis cottage we knew that ahse th sa people were standing behind the dumpy clumpy chestnu tree trees waiting walting for their cues IdIs at as well as a we knew thai that after ft a nial confab betI between veen the ibe old 7 1 man ia ole nis wife and aud his son that the h old I 1 nad y kulild BO go aftin in tears the young man lounge across across the bridge at the was elways abridge at tatt tsu birk 6 generally benc rally ida or lilian would come trip pini out of the cottage porch w with a small basket on her arm and pose her tier old papa while he be explained to her that he lie was not her that he had picked irr up tip when she was a helpless cheeld deserted by her wealthy and unnatural par parents lents and leit to die ia in yonder woodi al AP these things we saw as eoon soon as we act set eyes ey e aduron upon the rustic cottage iu in the tile woodland W 0 land set and now sir beautiful as some of the modern scenes are you must au ld it jt ia is impossible to predict from the appearance 0 of f any biage sta ge domicile what kind of a family livee there or what kind of df games that family will be up to with regard to characterization ration w why by in the rood good old days when an actor came on in a new anew suitor suit of clothes and with a light colored moustache e and en an expression of bland urbanity on hia h a face we knew him bi in at a t once for the good young man who never went astray and we relied upon him to win our sympathy by going adae act journey over the course that the poets say never did run smooth and that ultimately by the discovery of a strawberry mark on hia his left j eft arm he would be ble recognized as a duko duke or ara a marq marquis dis claim the band hand of the damsel in white walk with her down to the footlights and a say Y something pretty about the value ef 0 f true love and the of osgold gold gentl trien mente ts by the way always ac accepted ceped without prejudice to their salaries we ive are left under the pleasant impression that tho the young couple are safely embarked upon that utopian course of life known ae as liv ine ing happy together ak on the other hood hand when a fellow I 1 made hie ent entrance ranco to slaw slow and mysterious fidd lings and had an clabo waed moustache of c raven hue and ana a pair of ele eyebrows brows like leech leeches ti wi we D intuitively judged him to be a villain of the blackest dye and were prepared to see tice him doall do all kinds good young man in the light pante cants and gloat over them in a fiendish manner that ie is over the wicked deed deeds not the pante pants and we were open to bet odda odds that be would mako make the running in llio aho first four sets 1 but would be pumped out in the run homec hor flo and finally fall a prey tb t 0 re inore ind nemesis if it he hp did alo io get blabbed stabbed by an accomplice or shot by alfo ali 0 o copic cople frodi froth the back of the ae and wo we were aho also vice overreach itself and that virtue would ba ho triumphant I 1 kt lint are those thing rb r b now file properties like the tc enery ael get mixed up in a moat most manner anner rn the villain geta bold hold 0 of thai the light moustache and the he crank frank dot do de t oa canor and the heroia Art actually dally allowed to have it ot hlavoc hal or 1 a bAaT Olce you navor nev CA aaa tell irell arenow dW 1 ie 4 IJ up IQ to nor lio bow 4 rellow id and A 1 nd all alii come como 01 me the modern craze for probability 1 I if we want reo libbi which to a only another name for rov why 99 11 nye can inh 10 in 01 qt reefs but we want Wone we need edro alcea nd 1 oa 01 and Ils tl no a orn ne overtook forero for pro bab habit lilly liy iti ili the ar 11 N eghte or the no novel vel a of dm ae we want artime to malte make ua laugh something to wake us laugh 1 aad and r something to to stir out an enid bearta hearts into lato m a grand heroic raire a dut dat do we pet get them now hae has become of the taro bandt k I 1 ap I 1 arpe green i n velvet I 1 jacket AA an I 1 1115 arpa rdse dt ae 18 4 the mob noble the d drinken ru I 1 sentinel the cow gicand pert andl hV proud rua valet islet where la is the thi invincibly bailo r caie sion idao be ito distressed 1 beauty T w arry ft a couple of aeu bute luis like strawberry baskets ba double hand nd rhth ith all the Ora piratical wab the tb the dupere fugers eu fu pere pers 1 could provide pi oVide ide where Is that derial cap bild griped pet alren and brat led seab sea b boota hg see ee hu hit blacck beard and fc eagin a obear beat ii bis 1 38 beruff saying silence co wen wencal fal da on board 0 td the eagle bayle mj my will is law 1 you ceitlin I 1 debarb ad to lore lOy loyying bing 0 never ag hold him by hit his men in a cave sene with brandy brandyl gifts tor for stools anda powder chear for where they play cards and drink grink out of empty horn cups and mint hl ito for the rot storm and the battle and the breeze and down with the parton parson the lubber and aid the lout out for the smugglers life fortne alers lifets not for euch such aa as these ho hoi hol ie is not notor for each such ai as thee i there are now no nautical dramas drain worthy of the name no broadsword combats cum bate the sailors now ulay be uke real sailors eai lors but they are not the bilon sailors of thirty years aco igo brave jack n now 0 wd a daye ays when be he finde ends the wicked sting glint with hie his I 1 an an instead of fighting a combat why in iii the good old days the thet jolly rr would have produced a couple of boop hoo piron iron edwords from the side wings and he h and n hive fought fough tall all round the stage in sij eight time buhour but OUT dramatists seem to fisheno fis yeno spirit in these di degenerate generate days then our murders were bor horrible A favorite method of pet formich the I 1 I 1 happy a P py dispatch was waste td knock the thi OAN m over the hea head d with a shovel or snarling then them the cn me has H as made fearfully ir realistic by a generous g nerous I 1 us se of wet wi rose pink pint in ini the modern waynoma way nota A single aroa of tb egory ii to he 40 seen in ancient days it would have taken half I 1 a of red ta the t he murdered victim ghosts again we never see 1 m decent 9 ghost abst now there used to beonia beo niu interest when a murdered man used to etal kinto oth ahls is 11 slayer and hiss out euch such nords axi as dark or light day oraf or lit i 1 my spirit der noer shall abill quit thy sight I 1 1 h and when p th the fired e d his hi pis pig lol at aa apparition ap and aari t the e ia latter ter used to glare a ghastly ki glare and I 1 1 a sepulchral ila I 1 hal ha I 1 ake a a marble out of offia bia mouth and throw it oa on the at stage a go it made one sh shudder adder and at th the e name time acknowledge that a play without would be like eoda so a without brandy brand y I 1 am approaching mans allott allotted bd time on earth AIRI anil VA t at 0 1 seeing oue one of the a go good our melodramas played as they were wont t to 0 be b played I 1 would be e there r let e the n night be of the wettest or the price double t the e usual figare an and coun count at a richer aricher feast than I 1 could have by y any of your modern dramas supported by joll all the stare stars in the theatrical firmament hut but the mill cannot grind with the water that is past and the days that have fled will neer never come again the legitimate drama ia is dead dead agoa as door nail and the inimitable charles dickens telle us that that was the deadest cfall of all naila 1 OLD |