LECTURE BY P. MACKAYE '97

Mr. Percy MacKaye '97 delivered a forceful and interesting lecture on "The Dramatist as Citizen" in the Union last evening, in which he made an earnest plea for the emancipation of the drama and the dramatist from the chains of commercial bondage.

The citizen today owes to his fellow-countrymen all the use he can make of his power, dependent on his vocation in the community, for some professions are more widely looked to for public benefits than others. We cannot claim that the theatre has been neglected socially or commercially; but as a civic institution it has been overlooked and ignored.

If we try to look into the future we can hope to see a large spacious theatre owned by the city, which has become the centre of the people's life. The theatre will have become a true delight. The actor freed from the hard work and the notoriety of today will devote himself to his art and fulfill the real duties of a citizen. We are beginning to realize that the theatre is not merely a place "for the wise to seek foolish gratification and the foolish to remain so." Let everybody help free the theatre from this commercial bondage. The opposition will be vigorous; but we must remember that there is a far greater issue at stake than merely the theatre. If art is to survive in the State, we must liberate it and make good citizens of its adherents.