DRAMA 227 



DRAMA 1 



For those who watch the course '->f events in the theatrical world from a dispassionate 

 standpoint, the history of drama, in England specially, during the last few years is full 

 of interesting and significant points. On the whole, the general tendency must be ad- 

 mitted to be both promising and healthy. Indeed, as compared with previous periods of 

 dramatic history, it would seem that a new spirit has come over English Drama a little 

 vague and chaotic perhaps in character, and not thoroughly understood even by con- 

 temporary students, but, nevertheless, presenting several important features. 



The New Realism. The new spirit tends distinctly in the direction of greater simplici- 

 ty, and a sincerer realism. It is now being claimed for the British stage that it should 

 represent British life as it is actually lived, and give us faithful transcripts of real exist- 

 ence indeed of the melodramatic structures of romance. From this point of view it is 

 interesting to observe the success of two pieces, " BUnty Pulls the Strings " at the 

 Haymarket, London, a success, both dramatic and pecuniary and " Hindle Wakes," 

 performed by the Manchester Repertory Theatre, which was without doubt an artistic 

 success. " Bunty Pulls the Strings," by Graham Moffat, has enjoyed a vast amount of 

 popularity, not because it tells an exciting story, but because it reveals with admirable 

 veracity the daily life of Scotsmen and Scotswomen. In " Hindle Wakes," by Mr. 

 Stanley Houghton, we deal with a veritable slice of life, " une tranche de la we," taken 

 from the experience of Lancashire folk. It is a singularly faithful transcript, in which 

 the dramatis personae are obviously modelled on life types, and the story has all the more 

 trenchant force because we are certain that it represents a definite experience, and not a 

 more or less imaginative creation. If we contrast plays of this description with some 

 of the conventional dramas produced at the leading London theatres, we observe that, 

 in however tentative a form, a divergence in ideals is taking place between the so-called 

 commercial theatre and those who are aiming at other and more artistic ends. The 

 commercial theatre is regulated by the box office. The younger school of dramatic 

 writers aim at truth sometimes in very uncompromising fashion. The contrast in 

 aims and dramatic methods is easily illustrated if we put side by side a melodramatic 

 piece like " Bella Donna " to which reference will presently be made in the St. 

 James's Theatre, and either of the two plays just referred to, " Bunty " or " Hindle 

 Wakes." The first is a drama more than a little artificial and conventional; the two 

 latter aim at simple veracity. There is a similar contrast to be found between two other 

 interesting non-commercial plays " Rutherford and Son," by Miss K. G. Sowerby, 

 and " The New Sin," by Mr. B. Macdonald Hastings, as compared with pieces like 

 " The Perplexed Husband," by Mr. Alfred Sutro, or " Jelfs," by Mr. H. A. Vachell. 

 The last class of dramas is, at present, favoured by theatrical managers, who, natural- 

 ly enough, guide their policy by the records of their " booking " and the demand of the 

 libraries. The other class represents a newer movement which, indeed, is not indigenous 

 to London but comes largely from the provinces. For a curious feature of the present 

 situation is that London is no longer the dramatic capital of England. Some of the most 

 interesting recent plays have either come from the provinces, or been acted by private 

 societies for the benefit of special audiences. 



7mA Players and Others. Thus, during the last two years, the metropolis has con- 

 stantly been invaded by groups of players belonging, as Matthew Arnold would say, not 

 to " the centre " but to the circumference. Early in February 1912 Mr. Rutherford 

 Mayne brought out " The Drone " at the Royalty Theatre, in order to prove that the 

 drama is alive in Belfast as well as in Dublin. In June the Abbey Theatre company, 

 whose business it has been for some time past to recommend native Irish drama, played 

 at the Court Theatre not only some old accepted favourites, but some new studies of life. 

 Mr. Synge's " Playboy of the Western World," which has had a mixed reception in the 

 land of its birth, as well as in England and America, has now become tolerably familiar 



1 See E. B. viii, 475-546. 



