“THE THEATRE & ART”

Hokitika Guardian, 18 November 1927, Page 4

“THE THEATRE & ART”

(By X. If. in the Otago Daily Tunes

That the drama, oldest of all the ! arts, and one ttint has more iniliionca lin every phase of our daily routine than any other, smndd receive -so little j tangible oumirngeinent and absolutely no subsidisation from the State, will always he a source of astonishment to those interested in the nntions’s inlel- ■ leetnal progress. AVe build galleries to bold the world's most beautiful paintings and sculpture. AVe have magnificent libraries. AVe cultivate the public’s taste in music by giving first-class concerts at which often only an optional collection is taken. In fact, vast sums are expended in the upkeep of these institutions—usually with gratifying results. But how many people are able or willing to avail themselves of those benefits compared to tlie crowds that daily throng our theatres ■* In fact. Hie important position held by the theatre in respect to both the cduoptional and moral standards of the people is seldom realised to a proper extent. We have only to study the history of dramatic art throughout the ages to comprehend how ejose an affinity there exists between the character of tlie individual and tlie kind of play that lie attends. The criminality of this absence of State support becomes obvious, for. while admitting tlie prominent position of tlie theatre as an educational factor, and therefore vital to tlie welfare of tlie community, we take no steps to prevent, hut rather encourage, tlie production of American plays, revues, or films, whose criterion appears to he 1 the narrowness of the margin by which they escape tlie censor’s ban. Tt requires but a short stretch of the imagination to foresee the kind of pictures that would he hung in our galleries, the kind of hooks that would compose our libraries, and the kind of music that would lie played at our concerts, if their seletion depended entirely upon tlie general public. Tt is logical to conclude, therefore, that the same control should he exercised over the drama. However, no such tiling exists. This art is flagrantly exposed to all tlie abuses of commercialism hearing the whole stigma associated with that word used in its baser meaning.

The remedy does not lie in apathetic despondency. It is useless to deplore tlie passing of the good old days and to spend our time foretelling tlie eventual disappearance of all better class plays. AVe must make an effort to counteract those evil tendencies which arc caused mostly by the exigencies of modern life, and try to educate the theatregoing public in the same way that w.> have endeavoured to elevate their taste in the other arts. Nor is it necessary to enumerate all the various ways in which great assistance might be rendered to those few actors who are willing to sacrifice financial gain for tlie improving of the art, save to say that perhaps the greatest asset would be the institution of municipal theatres, which, properly organised, would certainly herald a revolution in the drama. Before taking any definite steps towards the fulfilment of these schemes, however, it is necessary for us to entirely reconstruct our views on the theatre ; to look upon it no longer as a convenient medium whereby to alleviate the boredom of a"dull evening, but place it on the same level as the other arts and revise its influence to ha

greater than any of them. Let us take example from the fact that all great epochs in the annals of learning have been remarkable for the important part played by the drama. The Greek civilisation, wliiili, in many ways attained a higher degree of perfection than any other, fostered playwrights and actors worthy to hold their place with the world’s most famous genii. It would also he well to recollect that the Renaissance left its mark in English history most strongly in the form of a prolificacy of great dramatic works, and then lie will inevitably remember that Shakespeare, almost universally acknowledged to lie the greatest poet of all time, directed his energies nearly entirely in writing for the theatre.