THE AUDIENCE'S THEATRE

In laying his finger on the weaknesses of present day drams. Professor Baker yesterday also raised an interesting point in connection with the purpose of drama itself. He pointed out that the great dramatic of America today is a good theatre, giving good plays to an audience of eclectic taste. That fault of the day in American dram is the lack of standards a play being considered for its business qualifications rather than its art. The solution Professor Baker feels lies with more and more producers with a purpose beyond more money making; producers of the type of Winthrop Ames. Arthur Hopkins, and the Theatre Guild.

This brings up the question what is the purpose of the drama? Is it to educated, edify of amuse the audience. If it is maintained that is to educate above anything else, the cry, "highbrow" is raised and the play falls. If it purpose is to amuse, it falls under professor Baker's ban as being judged merely for its business qualifications. But if a play is not judged by its selling capacity, the same danger arises, as with "Little" the atres,--the danger of an appeal to the intelligentsia only and appeal too narrow to be representative. The audience cannot be educated through the medium of better plays alone. They have first to be educated to appreciate the better plays when they see them. Experiments on the professional stage are bound to be costly and often failures. It is through University cent5res of the 47 Workshop type that experiments can best be tried out, and if successful developed on the stage Unless gone about in some way such as this, attempts to raise the level of the American drama will be on the whole no more successful than attempting to raise one's self by one's boot-straps. Experiments on the professional stage without that scorned attribute, business success, can never hope to accomplish a permanent reform. Until the representative audience can appreciate a steady diet of good plays, the "Demi-Virgin" type of production will persevere. Unless this outside education of the audience can be accomplished, it may be necessary to apply St. John Ervine's heroic remedy a moratorium of the drama a closing of all theatres until the audience is ready to make the spiritual effort to meet the playwright halfway.