{"numero_id": "bm-bmtnaau-1918-08-01", "volume": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01", "ocr_sha256": "401f12ffcd3bbdb830b126d77807e1cfc75b93c73be4c5759e6422ffda69f173", "source_tei": "https://github.com/Princeton-CDH/bluemountain-transcriptions/blob/main/periodicals/bmtnaau/issues/1918/08_01/bmtnaau_1918-08_01.tei.xml", "source_mets": "https://github.com/pulibrary/BlueMountain/blob/main/metadata/periodicals/bmtnaau/issues/1918/08_01/bmtnaau_1918-08_01.mets.xml", "url_numero": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01", "articles": [{"article_id": "bm-bmtnaau-1918-08-01-c001", "article_bluemountain": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01#c001", "volume": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01", "ocr_source": "OCR Blue Mountain (ALTO), transcription TEI : lignes lb/@facs", "texte_sans_correction": true, "page_debut": "17", "page_fin": "17", "image_debut": 1, "image_fin": 1, "pages_selon": "pagination imprimée relevée dans le METS Blue Mountain (ORDERLABEL) ; [n] = page sans folio restituée", "url_article": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.2.1", "titre_corps": "EDITORIAL NOTE", "titre_sommaire": "EDITORIAL NOTE", "signature_source": "", "controle": "bornes données par la structure logique METS/ALTO de Blue Mountain (blocs ALTO de chaque constituant)", "pages": [{"page_pdf": 1, "page_imprimee": "17", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.1", "debut_caractere": 406, "fin_caractere_exclue": 1079, "texte": "EDITORIAL NOTE.\n\nON PLUNDERING.\nThe Theatre is irresistible: organize the Theatre.\nMatthew Arnold.\nFOR years we have struggled to.oust Vulgarity from the\nTheatre.... vulgarity and stupidity.\nWe are but a handful.... we are, in short, the artists.\nYou rulers refuse our work but think we have nothing to\ncomplain of.\nComplain is a mild word to men and women whose very\nhome is being plundered:... suffering from a worse spirit\nthan even that which you are fighting against today.\nWhen are you, the Authorities, going to empower us to\nstop it?... For we alone can stop it.\nWe have energy:... why not help us to help ourselves...\nand so put a branch of your business in order?"}]}, {"article_id": "bm-bmtnaau-1918-08-01-c002", "article_bluemountain": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01#c002", "volume": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01", "ocr_source": "OCR Blue Mountain (ALTO), transcription TEI : lignes lb/@facs", "texte_sans_correction": true, "page_debut": "17", "page_fin": "17", "image_debut": 1, "image_fin": 1, "pages_selon": "pagination imprimée relevée dans le METS Blue Mountain (ORDERLABEL) ; [n] = page sans folio restituée", "url_article": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.2.1.1", "titre_corps": "ON PLUNDERING", "titre_sommaire": "ON PLUNDERING", "signature_source": "", "controle": "bornes données par la structure logique METS/ALTO de Blue Mountain (blocs ALTO de chaque constituant)", "pages": [{"page_pdf": 1, "page_imprimee": "17", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.1", "debut_caractere": 423, "fin_caractere_exclue": 1079, "texte": "ON PLUNDERING.\nThe Theatre is irresistible: organize the Theatre.\nMatthew Arnold.\nFOR years we have struggled to.oust Vulgarity from the\nTheatre.... vulgarity and stupidity.\nWe are but a handful.... we are, in short, the artists.\nYou rulers refuse our work but think we have nothing to\ncomplain of.\nComplain is a mild word to men and women whose very\nhome is being plundered:... suffering from a worse spirit\nthan even that which you are fighting against today.\nWhen are you, the Authorities, going to empower us to\nstop it?... For we alone can stop it.\nWe have energy:... why not help us to help ourselves...\nand so put a branch of your business in order?"}]}, {"article_id": "bm-bmtnaau-1918-08-01-c003", "article_bluemountain": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01#c003", "volume": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01", "ocr_source": "OCR Blue Mountain (ALTO), transcription TEI : lignes lb/@facs", "texte_sans_correction": true, "page_debut": "17", "page_fin": "19", "image_debut": 1, "image_fin": 3, "pages_selon": "pagination imprimée relevée dans le METS Blue Mountain (ORDERLABEL) ; [n] = page sans folio restituée", "url_article": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.2.2", "titre_corps": "A PLEA FOR TWO THEATRES", "titre_sommaire": "A PLEA FOR TWO THEATRES", "signature_source": "EDWARD GORDON CRAIG", "controle": "bornes données par la structure logique METS/ALTO de Blue Mountain (blocs ALTO de chaque constituant)", "pages": [{"page_pdf": 1, "page_imprimee": "17", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.1", "debut_caractere": 1081, "fin_caractere_exclue": 2488, "texte": "A PLEA FOR\nTWO THEATRES.\nby EDWARD GORDON CRAIG.\n1915 Florence.\nII.\nA DURABLE THEATRE.\nDedicated to the Tired Business Man.\n\" SHUN THOSE STUDIES IN WHICH\n\" THE WORK THAT RESULTS DIES\n41 WITH THE WORKER\nLeonardo da Vinci.\nMSS. South Kensington Museum, 111, 55.\nWHAT is a Durable Theatre ?\nWe shall have to imagine one\nas none exists.\nFirst of all it would contain a durable\nDrama. Not a number of fairly durable\ndramas; one Drama, unchangeable.\nSuch a drama would have to be beyond\ncriticism, and would have to be what\nthey assert the Shakespearean drama is\nfor all time. To be more durable\nthan the Shakespearean drama it is\nlikely that it would have to be\nreligious. Religious dramas, if not\nplayed in London or New York, are\nstill alive and being enacted in many\nquarters of the globe and have lived\nfor very many centuries. Perhaps not\nbecause of the religions themselves, but\nbecause of the vitality and nobility in\nthe works.\nA glance at the history of the Drama\nwill give you the examples. But it is\nmore than likely that if we today in\nthe twentieth century produce a Drama\nwe shall want it more durable than any\nof those.\nIt is possible that this drama might\ntake a week to enact. It is possible\nthat it might take a month. I will go\nso far as to say that it might possibly\ntake 365 days.\nSaying this shows you that I do not\nmean a drama which complies with the\nconditions laid down by Aristotle and"}, {"page_pdf": 2, "page_imprimee": "18", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.2", "debut_caractere": 0, "fin_caractere_exclue": 7277, "texte": "broken by his pupils. lam trying to\nthink afresh, although it may occur to\nsome of you that I have thought of\nnothing new; for, considering more\ncuriously, we might find just such\ndramas already in existence. We think\nthe Panama Canal is a new idea; but\nno doubt if we were to search we\nshould find its parallel three thousand\nyears back. Yet no one laughs at the\nidea of the Panama Canal just because the\nIdea is so vast; therefore when the day\ncomes and the man appears with the\ndrama lasting 365 days, we must not\nscout it because its proportions are\nimmense.\nThe Drama, the Durable Drama,\nmust deal with Truth.... W (or Rea-\nlity,.... if you prefer at first so to call\nit), and not with fantastic things.\nAs my other writings show, I lean\ntowards the drama of silence just because\nI believe in and long for a durable\ndrama. And I cannot help but still\nbelieve that the most durable drama\nwill be one of silence.\nStill, I have in the course of my\nexperience come across what I believe\nto be a written drama which has, I\nshould say, the durability of an Aeon.\nThe drama must be universal so that\nthere would be no desire to destroy it\non the part of any one nation. It\nwould be everybody's property.... yours\nor mine.\no o PLACE. o o\nWHAT of the Place in which such\na Drama would be preserved ?...\nIt will be called the Theatre, but it\nwill not resemble any theatre known to\nus in history, in ancient times or now.\nI take it that the theatre itself will\nbe architecturally as superb as the\nnoblest pyramid known to us. There\nmay be one or a hundred examples of\nthis theatre, but all will be alike in\ngeneral form if not in detail. I take it\nalso that it will be built of the most\ncostly materials, our care being lest we\ntarnish or spoil it in any way.\nA walk through Florence or Venice\ntogether would show us places erected\ndurably to record the acts or thoughts\nof men, and we should find many\nnoble buildings. I would not urge\nthat we should take our measure from\nsuch as these. We should surpass\nthem. It is possible, or nothing is\npossible ; and we can remember that\nthe church of Saint Mark at Venice is\na good building ; the Baptistery in\nFlorence maybe is another. Maybe\nthey became so through the desire of\nmen to build shrines in which durably\nto record things they held precious.\nThe size is not of paramount\nimportance; but, great or small, it\nmust be precious if it is to be durable.\nI cannot persuade myself that we\ncould ever reach an age in which we\nshall cease to value rare and precious\nmaterials. The cock in the fable\nfound nothing valuable in the pearl,\nbut at present we are not living in a\nfarm-yard, and there is no reason why,\nwith care, we should come to do so.\nA durable theatre would help to\npostpone that day indefinitely.\nBut do not let us be vague about\nthese materials. Let us name them\n.... gold, silver, copper, bronze, brass,\nsteel, and other precious metals; dia-\nmonds, rubies, emeralds, and other pre-\ncious stones; lapis-lazuli, alabaster, cry-\nstals, ivory, ebony, malachite, marble,\nmosaic, glass stained with precious co-\nlours, silks finer than we have yet made ;\nand all these materials put into the\nright hands.\nTo decide upon the general form of\nthis building many minds would\nco-operate: and, after the general form\nwas once established, the thousands,....\ntens of thousands of artists, craftsmen\nand so forth, the workmen and the\ntradesmen, would bring their powers to\nbear upon the details.\nThe broad lines would be laid down;\nthere could be no departing from them;\nthey would be clearly defined, not\nrambling nor cramped ; but each would\nbear the impress of each individual\nmaster.\nWere there many theatres, the stage\nof this one could differ from the stage\nof that within certain limits, and the\nrequirements would dictate those limits.\nAfter that everything would be free, so\nthat the invention of the architect would\nfind free play.\nJust to give an example of what I\nmean we have only to look at the\nchancel, the pulpit, the cross, the\nrood-screen, the lamps and the canda-\nlabra of a cathedral. These are but a\nfew objects among many, and in Asia,\nin Europe, in America and in Africa\nthe requirements have dictated the\nbroad lines. Within those requirements\nwhat a range of liberty the artists have\nhad !\nOr, if you wish for another example\nwe can think of a ship. You cannot\nin designing a ship dispense with, or\nget away from, the general form of the\nkeel; it is impossible; but you may\nhave as many different keels as there\nare different leaves to different trees.\nIn what we call the Decoration of\nour theatre, I mean the stage decoration\ntogether with the lighting and the\ncostumes, all would be just as durable\nand as precious as the building itself.\nThere would be no attempt to produce\nwhat we call 11 theatrical illusion n. For\ninstance, we should not paint a tree,\nor put up an imitation tree so as best\nto copy in colour and texture area\ntree. No more than in a cathedral they\nput up a wooden copy of the originall\ncross. Doubtless the cross on which the\nSaviour was crucified was an ordinary\nand rough wooden structure, but when\nit reaches the cathedral it becomes a\nprecious work of art, in no way\nrealistic.\nWhy do they make this transformation?\nBecause it is too good a thing ever to\nbe able to be imitated; because it\nwould be said they were pretending to\nput the rea! cross. Everyone realizes\nthis in relation to an object made holy\nby thought.\nWhat is to prevent us from treating\na tree, than which, as part of Divine\nnature, there is nothing more h01y,....\nand, what is more, more j0y0u5,.... in\na like manner ? Not that we should\nallow even the symbol of a tree to\nappear on our stage merely as something\nto look at; unless the drama demanded\nthe presence of such a symbol no tree\nshould be put there. But if there is to\nbe a tree, or a fountain, or a fire, we\nshall have to be made aware by the\nmajesty of each that each one is of\nparamount importance, and this can\nonly be done by fashioning symbols\nin each case something suggesting and\nstanding for the real thing. And let\nme repeat it.... made in precious\nmaterials.\nAnd the vestments.... To convince\nyou that costumes can be worth\npreserving, I need but take you to\nNotre Dame at Paris or to Moscow\nor Pome where they guard gorgeous\n\n(I) Truth. But what is Truth? Shall\nwe waste three more centuries trying to\nfind an answer to this idiotic question?\nWould it not be better to get along with\nour work, and to work so hard at the\npreparation for the representation of the\ndrama dealing with Truth that, when it\narises, we are ready? Again, may not\nour very activities in preparing for the\nwork produce the answer so much\nhankered after ? Instead of hanging\nabout and hankering, let us get on with\nour work so that exercise may quicken\nthe longing and fill up the time usefully.\nAll the old truths give way and become\nthe modern lies; the Greek, the Eliza-\nbethan, and all these modern truths\nwhich seem to aspire to be called the\ntruth of doubt; these too will pass and\nbecome lies. I see no durability in the\ncollection of modern plays wherein\neverything is doubted, from the power\nof God to that of a penny whistle. Had\nPenelope sat down and doubted as to\nthe return of Ulysses the house would\nhave been in a nice state on his arrival!\nPatience!"}, {"page_pdf": 3, "page_imprimee": "19", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.3", "debut_caractere": 0, "fin_caractere_exclue": 4412, "texte": "vestments of gold and silver cloth\njewelled and embroidered into priceless\nworks of art, nor point to the dresses\nof the ancient Japanese Theatre where\nthe No was, and is still, performed.\nTo make so well that each following\ncentury desires to preserve what has\nbeen so well done.... should be the\nnatural way of making such dresses as\nwe need in cur Durable Theatre.\no LIGHTING. o\nTHE lighting of our stage and our\nauditorium, what of that ?\nShall we install the electric light ?\nWell, the electric light is one of the\nwonders of today, and not its least\nwonder is its great beauty. But there\nis something very distasteful about the\nwires. Perhaps we shall arrive at a\nwireless electric light. Anyhow, to\nexclude the electric light because it is\nup to date would be far from my\npurpose, which is not to avoid what is\nup-to-date, but to secure what is best.\nStill, the sun is no bad illuminant.\nDaylight has not had its day.\no PERFORMERS. o\nAND the performers ? What of the\nactors, as they are called, and very\nwell called ? Do not fear that I am\ngoing to spring an Ueber-Marionnette\ninto the midst of them. If he arrives\nit will Le no case of my bringing him\nthere, but because no one can prevent\nhim from coming. I have no desire\nto thrust forward an unwelcome\nFrankenstein into the midst of such\ndurable and precious things as we have\nalready arranged for. It is likely that\nthe drama of which I have spoken\nwill demand the services of man as\nperformer ; I have been told, (since I\nwrote of the Ueber-Marionnette), of a\nrace of actors that existed (and a few\ntoday preserve the tradition), who were\nfitted to be part and parcel of the most\ndurable theatre it is possible to conceive.\nWhen I heard of this I was astounded,\npleasurably astounded. I was told that\nthis race of actors was so n0b1e,....\nsparing themselves no pain, and austerely\ndisciplining themselves.... that all the\nweaknesses of the flesh were eradicated\nand nothing remained but the perfect\nman. This race was not English or\nAmerican, but Indian.\nI am not sceptical. I think I would\nsooner be proved wrong in all my\nbeliefs and theories, than think man\nunable to rise to any standard known\nor to be known.\nAnd so I accept this information,\nnew though it be to me, and will\npresent it here as a possibility; I will\nhope for it, even with my eyes and\nears amazed at what they see and\nhear coming from the Western actors\n.... even Western wire-pullers.\nIf the Western actor can become\nwhat I am told the Eastern actor was\nand is, I withdraw all that I have\nwritten in my essay nOn the Actor\nand the Ueber-Marionnette 11. W\nStrange that this Eastern land, so\nbelieving in the power of man to\nbecome divine, should make so many'\nid 015,.... so many beautiful id 015.... for\nIdols are Ueber-Marionnettes.\nIn the event of man being unable\nto return to that ancient standard of\nthe East, there is nothing open for us\nbut to fashion something which shall\nrepresent man in this creative and\ndurable art which we are contemplating.\n* * *\nTV?HAT I have just described on\nVV broad lines as the Durable Theatre\nwill not greatly illumine the mind of\nany man in a great city today who is\nunable to detach himself from his\nsurroundings. This explains my dedi-\ncation. Even an artist may have daily\nduties to attend to, and I can conceive\nnothing more irritating, when in the\nmidst of such distractions, than to be\ntalked to about a durable theatre.\nBut we all of us go away to the\ncountry now and then. We sometimes\ngo fishing on the lakes, or climbing\nmountains, and sun and wind and\nskies refine and quicken the mind. I\nam inclined to believe that in no one\nis it more acute than the city man\nwhose daily occupations, year in and\nyear out, are like those of a galley\nslave. He is chained to his oar at\nwhich he tugs and tugs and tugs. I\nknow big business men who have told\nme their desire to be freed from those\nchains, yet have admitted their inability\nto know how to free themselves.\nAnd we must not forget that it is\nwe for whom they are rowing. We\nsit at ease in deck chairs while their\nsinews are cracking and their hearts.,..\nBut as I say, in the country, returning\nto Nature for a while, their greater\nlongings are liberated, and it may be\nthat our Durable Theatre will be built\nnear those places to which they go.\nAnd now of the Perishable Theatre.\nTo be continued.\n\n(i) See 11 On Art of the Theatre\"\npublished hy William Heinemann: Lon-\ndon, /£//."}]}, {"article_id": "bm-bmtnaau-1918-08-01-c005", "article_bluemountain": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01#c005", "volume": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01", "ocr_source": "OCR Blue Mountain (ALTO), transcription TEI : lignes lb/@facs", "texte_sans_correction": true, "page_debut": "17", "page_fin": "17", "image_debut": 1, "image_fin": 1, "pages_selon": "pagination imprimée relevée dans le METS Blue Mountain (ORDERLABEL) ; [n] = page sans folio restituée", "url_article": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.2.3", "titre_corps": "TO THE EDITOR OF THE MASK", "titre_sommaire": "TO THE EDITOR OF THE MASK", "signature_source": "Gordon Craig", "controle": "bornes données par la structure logique METS/ALTO de Blue Mountain (blocs ALTO de chaque constituant)", "pages": [{"page_pdf": 1, "page_imprimee": "17", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.1", "debut_caractere": 2490, "fin_caractere_exclue": 3785, "texte": "TO THE EDITOR\nOF THE MASK.\nMy dear Semar.\nI have just been reading the proofs\nof the second part of my 11 Plea for\nTwo Theatres n entitled n A Durable\nTheatre n. I see that it is dated 1915.\nDo you know, I would sooner read\nthe nonsense in my favourite journal\nthe B Daily Mail n than read this\nB Durable TheatreB bit over again.\nI hope you will add a note in your\njournal to say that it is not to be\nat all seriously. Maybe part\n3 Will be a little better. / Aope so.\nWhat an abominable style, t001..,\nas commonplace as the ideas.\n>ls /or /Ae Idea itself... /Aa/ o/ a\nDurahleTheatre.... Aou? appalling I Can t\nyou see it ?... a sort o/ eternal earnest\nof nothing....\nReally,... and to think that in 1915\nthat coas my s/a/e o/ mind. What\ncould I have been thinking of?\nWell, so long as you publish some-\nthing to tell the audience that it's\nall right and that I'm quite cured of all\nthought of any such thing, you can go\nahead and print. .... Otherwise I should\nbe obliged to ask you to spike the\nguns.\nYours faithfully,\nGordon Craig.\nTJ/e cannot approve of or agree with the\npreceeding letter, but we can hardly\nrefuse Mr. Craig's request, so publish\nit. All the same we feel, to quote Te-\nrence, //m/, \" What comes from this\nquarter, a.s much gain\nand believe our readers will echo our\nopinion."}]}, {"article_id": "bm-bmtnaau-1918-08-01-c006", "article_bluemountain": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01#c006", "volume": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01", "ocr_source": "OCR Blue Mountain (ALTO), transcription TEI : lignes lb/@facs", "texte_sans_correction": true, "page_debut": "19", "page_fin": "20", "image_debut": 3, "image_fin": 4, "pages_selon": "pagination imprimée relevée dans le METS Blue Mountain (ORDERLABEL) ; [n] = page sans folio restituée", "url_article": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.2.4", "titre_corps": "CONCRETE VILLAGES", "titre_sommaire": "CONCRETE VILLAGES", "signature_source": "Irin-Magé", "controle": "bornes données par la structure logique METS/ALTO de Blue Mountain (blocs ALTO de chaque constituant)", "pages": [{"page_pdf": 3, "page_imprimee": "19", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.3", "debut_caractere": 4414, "fin_caractere_exclue": 6754, "texte": "CONCRETE VILLAGES\n\nIF I am not utterly mistaken there\nseems to have been some slight feel-\ning shown of late towards a certain\nugly hard and fast, go-by-rule spirit\ndisplayed in certain lands, especially\nGermany.\nThe thing complained of, ...and how\nrightly too, ...is that to say to a People\n\" You shall live like this and you shall\nwear this and you shall do this n, and\nto say it harshly, is not exactly what\nany of us want.\nMay I therefore draw attention to\ncertain proposals to supply men with\nhouses all of the same pattern... flat...\nugly... inhuman places. May I even\nwhisper that s&id proposals are being\nput into execution ? May I say I con-\nsider this the most autocratic piece of\ntyranny thought of for centuries?\nAnd this comes from America.\nWhile reading over these proofs a\nlady jotted down the following question:\n\" How can it be 4 tyranny' if it isn't\nobligatory to live in them ? Autocratic\ntyranny is surely when a thing is en-\nforced without any choice left ? n\nBut of course it is tyranny, and of\nthe most devilish kind.... for it makes\nugliness cheaper than beauty ....and\nbrings ugliness to the door free of all\nextra charge: ....it insinuates ugliness\nunder the guise of n the latest thing n,\nn the most practical thing n; nTry it, n\nit says; 11 if you don't like it we refund\nthe money 11.\nNot tyranny? ....of course it is ty-\nranny, and quite the latest Democratic\nbrand; nothing open, if brutal: but se-\ncret. Suggestive..,, ten times worse\neven than the brutal. For centuries we\nhave been happy to build our own\nhouses with wood, plaster, stone, or a\nmixture: the cost was rather high. Now\ncome these dealers in Homes who\npropose to build for us. Readymade\nhouses.... all one height.... all alike\ninside and outside, except that there\nmay be two or three sizes.\nNothing the matter with good con-\ncrete.\nIt's the building whole villages with\nit that is the evil.\nI live in an Italian village. On re-\nceiving photographs of these concrete\nhouses, I have shown them to the\nvillagers. Not one man or woman\nwould live in them rather than in their\npresent old tumble-down but Human\ndwellings. Their feeling and their mind\nrejects the hard ugliness.... the uniformity.\nThe n Literary Digest n from Ame-\nrica brings the news that n concrete\nhouses cast in pieces and then assembled\nare apparently both practical and inex-"}, {"page_pdf": 4, "page_imprimee": "20", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.4", "debut_caractere": 0, "fin_caractere_exclue": 1122, "texte": "pensive B .... n this method is now\nbeing used for the first time in a group\nof dwellings in Youngstown, Ohio B.\nLife is being made more and more\nhideous. The Cinema is allowed....\nstill allowed. It is an inhuman thing.\nFolk have taken to wearing B ready\nmade B clothes: dress too has become\ninhuman, for it has lost its shape and\ncolour which are the two essential ele-\nments of its humanity.\nAnd now concrete houses are being\nallowed. The man or men who may\nbe permitted to introduce this scheme for\n8 ready made B houses and those who\npermit it, are consciously or unconscious-\nly more terrible tyrants than any who\nhave preceded them.\nIf Mr Wilson permits such a thing\nin America, uttering all the while all\nthe fine things he is now saying, he is\neither one of the most stupendous ty-\nrants ever dreamed of or he is as\nblind as a bat.\nFor nothing else could account for\na ruler, with the good of his people\nat heart, permitting so subtle an inroad\nof the ugly, hard-and-fast, go-by-rule\nspirit, which, while condemning it in\nGermany, we countenance, and too\noften even encourage to spread, in other\nlands.\n\nIrin-Magé."}]}, {"article_id": "bm-bmtnaau-1918-08-01-c007", "article_bluemountain": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01#c007", "volume": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01", "ocr_source": "OCR Blue Mountain (ALTO), transcription TEI : lignes lb/@facs", "texte_sans_correction": true, "page_debut": "20", "page_fin": "20", "image_debut": 4, "image_fin": 4, "pages_selon": "pagination imprimée relevée dans le METS Blue Mountain (ORDERLABEL) ; [n] = page sans folio restituée", "url_article": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.2.5", "titre_corps": "ROYALTY V. VULGARITY", "titre_sommaire": "ROYALTY V. VULGARITY", "signature_source": "I. M ; James Russell Lowell", "controle": "bornes données par la structure logique METS/ALTO de Blue Mountain (blocs ALTO de chaque constituant)", "pages": [{"page_pdf": 4, "page_imprimee": "20", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.4", "debut_caractere": 1124, "fin_caractere_exclue": 4576, "texte": "ROYALTY V. VULGARITY.\nI.M.\nJames Russell Lowell.\nA lady who was for ten years the\nclose companion of Queen Marie\nof Roumania and English governess to\nthe Princesses wrote the other day in\nthe New York Tribune with great\naffection and understanding of the Royal\nFamily she had been obliged to leave\nbut lately.\nOnly one word in her whole delight-\nful paper that 1 cannot understand....\nSpeaking of the grace of the Rou-\nmanian Court,... its freedom from stiff\nceremonial, and how accessible at all\ntimes are the King and Queen to the\nvery least of their people, she adds:\n® Luncheon is the most democratic\nfunction imaginable B.\nBut Miss Milne has drawn such a\nroyal picture that we know what she\nmeans. Still, why should the grace and\nbeauty of Royal people, their hospi-\ntality, their B recognition of the very\nleast of their people 8.... their simple\nfine manners, in short, be called ' de-\nmocratic * ?\nWhy should these qualities ever be\ncalled Democratic since they are the\nrare, not the usual, qualities?\nIf a cobbler or a fisherman invites\nme into his hut ...,and 1 often am\naccorded that privilege,... and if he asks\nme to sit down and share his meal, and\ndoes so in a gracious easy natural\nmanner, it is Royal. Royalty is a vein\nof precious ore which can be traced all\nover the earth; but it is precious, not\nevery-day. os6£ not Sijjxov.\nThe Every-day is the vulgar, the\nsnobbish and the sick..;, hard.... dry....\nc01d.... mean....\nIf any so-called Royal person should\nbe lacking in the royal qualities ....it\nwould be a pity ....nothing more.\nAnd to be surrounded by snobs\n....vulgar folk ....sick folk ....hard, dry,\ncold and mean natures, is to run a\ndanger of losing the natural Royal qua-\nlities. ... that is all.\nBut it does not change Royalty.\nNeither will pretension add a jot to\nthe true worth of an honest Democracy.\nIt is the Tradesman who has dam-\nned the fine old face of Royalty....\nbut he seems to be now damning the\ngood honest features of Democracy and\nno one seems to protest.... Or is this\nanother of our mistakes?\nYou have one tremendous foe to\ntackle ....Vulgarity as oosed out by\nTrade, Plunderers and Place-seekers; and\nremember this:... that same vulgarity\ncan look deucedly refined and talk in\na most distinguished manner.\nIf you put another nation in order\nand all the while allow Vulgarity to\nswamp your folk at home it seems to\nus that you make life worthless and\nendeavour a farce. Do you notice\nthat our modern rulers who talk to us\nabout the world being free for Demo-\ncracy do not seem to have recognized\nas a fact the existence of this vul-\ngarity ? Suddenly some day they will\ncatch sight of it ....and then the fruits\nof liberty will of course deck the trees\nof the earth.\n11 Some dayB should not be tomorrow:\n....it should be NOW. When some\neffort, ....even some sign of it, is made\nto prevent vulgarity having a free\noutlet through the Theatre, swamping\nmillions of people who go there, then\nwe of the Theatre, who are watching\nvery carefully for a sign, will acknow-\nledge that there is something more\nthan words in these stupendous modern\nutterances of Democratic leaders.\nWhen something more than words\nreaches us -... when a hand of true friend-\nship is stretched out to our branch of\nPublic Service, then and not till then\ncan we know that Demos and Theos\nare one and the same thing.\nPURITANISM, BELIEVING ITSELF QUICK\nWITH THE SEED OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY,\nLAID, WITHOUT KNOWING IT, THE EGG\nOF DEMOCRACY."}]}, {"article_id": "bm-bmtnaau-1918-08-01-c008", "article_bluemountain": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01#c008", "volume": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01", "ocr_source": "OCR Blue Mountain (ALTO), transcription TEI : lignes lb/@facs", "texte_sans_correction": true, "page_debut": "20", "page_fin": "20", "image_debut": 4, "image_fin": 4, "pages_selon": "pagination imprimée relevée dans le METS Blue Mountain (ORDERLABEL) ; [n] = page sans folio restituée", "url_article": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.2.6", "titre_corps": "IGNORANCE", "titre_sommaire": "IGNORANCE", "signature_source": "", "controle": "bornes données par la structure logique METS/ALTO de Blue Mountain (blocs ALTO de chaque constituant)", "pages": [{"page_pdf": 4, "page_imprimee": "20", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.4", "debut_caractere": 4578, "fin_caractere_exclue": 5506, "texte": "IGNORANCE.\nIN B The Century B for May last,...\nand n The Century B is supposed to\nbe a well-informed magazine.... we find\nthis brilliant passage in an article on\nn The New Art of the Theatre n by\nSamuel A. Eliot Jr.\nH The stippled discretion and mas-\nB sive simplicity of Urban's Germanic\nn Art; the cold balance, the light and\nB shade design of Gordon Craig, reflected\nn through his warmer tempered pupil,\nB Hume B.\nWho is S. A. Eliot Jr. ? Why don't\nhe study a bit ? He might then learn\nat any rate never to write like this.\nBut what is n The Century n about?\nCannot it afford to pay for articles on\nthis n New Art of the Theatre B by\nmen who have studied it? For years\nThe Mask has made it unnecessary for\nsuch blunders to be perpetrated.\nThe Mask does not pretend to be\na powerful organ like R The Century 8....\nit does not hope ever to live as will\nB The Century 8:... it would hate to\nlaugh at B The Century 8.... Must it?"}]}, {"article_id": "bm-bmtnaau-1918-08-01-c008a", "article_bluemountain": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01#c008a", "volume": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01", "ocr_source": "OCR Blue Mountain (ALTO), transcription TEI : lignes lb/@facs", "texte_sans_correction": true, "page_debut": "20", "page_fin": "20", "image_debut": 4, "image_fin": 4, "pages_selon": "pagination imprimée relevée dans le METS Blue Mountain (ORDERLABEL) ; [n] = page sans folio restituée", "url_article": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.2.7", "titre_corps": "[Sans titre]", "titre_sommaire": "[Sans titre]", "signature_source": "Mark Twain", "controle": "bornes données par la structure logique METS/ALTO de Blue Mountain (blocs ALTO de chaque constituant)", "pages": [{"page_pdf": 4, "page_imprimee": "20", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.4", "debut_caractere": 5508, "fin_caractere_exclue": 5615, "texte": "Mark Twain.\nOne of the most\nstriking differences\nbetween a cat and\na lie is that a cat has\nonly nine lives."}]}, {"article_id": "bm-bmtnaau-1918-08-01-c009", "article_bluemountain": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01#c009", "volume": "bmtnaau_1918-08_01", "ocr_source": "OCR Blue Mountain (ALTO), transcription TEI : lignes lb/@facs", "texte_sans_correction": true, "page_debut": "20", "page_fin": "20", "image_debut": 4, "image_fin": 4, "pages_selon": "pagination imprimée relevée dans le METS Blue Mountain (ORDERLABEL) ; [n] = page sans folio restituée", "url_article": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.2.8", "titre_corps": "[Sans titre]", "titre_sommaire": "[Sans titre]", "signature_source": "", "controle": "bornes données par la structure logique METS/ALTO de Blue Mountain (blocs ALTO de chaque constituant)", "pages": [{"page_pdf": 4, "page_imprimee": "20", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.4", "debut_caractere": 5617, "fin_caractere_exclue": 5871, "texte": "I EXPECT TO PASS THROUGH.\nITHIS WORLD BIT ONCE. ANY\nGOOD THEREFORE THAT I\nCAN DO, OR ANY KINDNESS\nTHAT I CAN SHOW TO ANY\nFELLOW CREATURE, LET ME\nDO IT NOW. I WILL NOT DE-\nFER IT OR NEGLECT 1T... FOR\nI SHALL NOT PASS THIS WAY\nAGAIN.\nAn Old Chinese Writer."}]}], "pages_ocr_originales": [{"page_pdf": 1, "page_imprimee": "17", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.1", "texte": "HP LIC UAQF\nIUL ..Vi/\\OIV\nA MONTHLY LEAFLET OF\nTHE ART OF THE THEATRE\nPRICE ONE PENNY\nVOLUME EIGHT: NUMBER FIVE\nADDRESS- BOX 444. FLORENCE\nIF YOU UPHOLD THE THEATRE HONESTLY,\n1 LIBERALLY, FRANKLY, AND WITH WISE\nDISCRIMINATION, THE STAGE WILL UPHOLD\nIN FUTURE, AS IT HAS IN THE PAST, THE\nLITERATURE, THE MANNERS, THE MORALS,\nTHE FAME AND THE GENIUS OF OUR COUNTRY.\nHENRY IRVING\nADDRESSES ON ■ THE DRAMA \".\n\nEDITORIAL NOTE.\n\nON PLUNDERING.\nThe Theatre is irresistible: organize the Theatre.\nMatthew Arnold.\nFOR years we have struggled to.oust Vulgarity from the\nTheatre.... vulgarity and stupidity.\nWe are but a handful.... we are, in short, the artists.\nYou rulers refuse our work but think we have nothing to\ncomplain of.\nComplain is a mild word to men and women whose very\nhome is being plundered:... suffering from a worse spirit\nthan even that which you are fighting against today.\nWhen are you, the Authorities, going to empower us to\nstop it?... For we alone can stop it.\nWe have energy:... why not help us to help ourselves...\nand so put a branch of your business in order?\n\nA PLEA FOR\nTWO THEATRES.\nby EDWARD GORDON CRAIG.\n1915 Florence.\nII.\nA DURABLE THEATRE.\nDedicated to the Tired Business Man.\n\" SHUN THOSE STUDIES IN WHICH\n\" THE WORK THAT RESULTS DIES\n41 WITH THE WORKER\nLeonardo da Vinci.\nMSS. South Kensington Museum, 111, 55.\nWHAT is a Durable Theatre ?\nWe shall have to imagine one\nas none exists.\nFirst of all it would contain a durable\nDrama. Not a number of fairly durable\ndramas; one Drama, unchangeable.\nSuch a drama would have to be beyond\ncriticism, and would have to be what\nthey assert the Shakespearean drama is\nfor all time. To be more durable\nthan the Shakespearean drama it is\nlikely that it would have to be\nreligious. Religious dramas, if not\nplayed in London or New York, are\nstill alive and being enacted in many\nquarters of the globe and have lived\nfor very many centuries. Perhaps not\nbecause of the religions themselves, but\nbecause of the vitality and nobility in\nthe works.\nA glance at the history of the Drama\nwill give you the examples. But it is\nmore than likely that if we today in\nthe twentieth century produce a Drama\nwe shall want it more durable than any\nof those.\nIt is possible that this drama might\ntake a week to enact. It is possible\nthat it might take a month. I will go\nso far as to say that it might possibly\ntake 365 days.\nSaying this shows you that I do not\nmean a drama which complies with the\nconditions laid down by Aristotle and\n\nTO THE EDITOR\nOF THE MASK.\nMy dear Semar.\nI have just been reading the proofs\nof the second part of my 11 Plea for\nTwo Theatres n entitled n A Durable\nTheatre n. I see that it is dated 1915.\nDo you know, I would sooner read\nthe nonsense in my favourite journal\nthe B Daily Mail n than read this\nB Durable TheatreB bit over again.\nI hope you will add a note in your\njournal to say that it is not to be\nat all seriously. Maybe part\n3 Will be a little better. / Aope so.\nWhat an abominable style, t001..,\nas commonplace as the ideas.\n>ls /or /Ae Idea itself... /Aa/ o/ a\nDurahleTheatre.... Aou? appalling I Can t\nyou see it ?... a sort o/ eternal earnest\nof nothing....\nReally,... and to think that in 1915\nthat coas my s/a/e o/ mind. What\ncould I have been thinking of?\nWell, so long as you publish some-\nthing to tell the audience that it's\nall right and that I'm quite cured of all\nthought of any such thing, you can go\nahead and print. .... Otherwise I should\nbe obliged to ask you to spike the\nguns.\nYours faithfully,\nGordon Craig.\nTJ/e cannot approve of or agree with the\npreceeding letter, but we can hardly\nrefuse Mr. Craig's request, so publish\nit. All the same we feel, to quote Te-\nrence, //m/, \" What comes from this\nquarter, a.s much gain\nand believe our readers will echo our\nopinion."}, {"page_pdf": 2, "page_imprimee": "18", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.2", "texte": "broken by his pupils. lam trying to\nthink afresh, although it may occur to\nsome of you that I have thought of\nnothing new; for, considering more\ncuriously, we might find just such\ndramas already in existence. We think\nthe Panama Canal is a new idea; but\nno doubt if we were to search we\nshould find its parallel three thousand\nyears back. Yet no one laughs at the\nidea of the Panama Canal just because the\nIdea is so vast; therefore when the day\ncomes and the man appears with the\ndrama lasting 365 days, we must not\nscout it because its proportions are\nimmense.\nThe Drama, the Durable Drama,\nmust deal with Truth.... W (or Rea-\nlity,.... if you prefer at first so to call\nit), and not with fantastic things.\nAs my other writings show, I lean\ntowards the drama of silence just because\nI believe in and long for a durable\ndrama. And I cannot help but still\nbelieve that the most durable drama\nwill be one of silence.\nStill, I have in the course of my\nexperience come across what I believe\nto be a written drama which has, I\nshould say, the durability of an Aeon.\nThe drama must be universal so that\nthere would be no desire to destroy it\non the part of any one nation. It\nwould be everybody's property.... yours\nor mine.\no o PLACE. o o\nWHAT of the Place in which such\na Drama would be preserved ?...\nIt will be called the Theatre, but it\nwill not resemble any theatre known to\nus in history, in ancient times or now.\nI take it that the theatre itself will\nbe architecturally as superb as the\nnoblest pyramid known to us. There\nmay be one or a hundred examples of\nthis theatre, but all will be alike in\ngeneral form if not in detail. I take it\nalso that it will be built of the most\ncostly materials, our care being lest we\ntarnish or spoil it in any way.\nA walk through Florence or Venice\ntogether would show us places erected\ndurably to record the acts or thoughts\nof men, and we should find many\nnoble buildings. I would not urge\nthat we should take our measure from\nsuch as these. We should surpass\nthem. It is possible, or nothing is\npossible ; and we can remember that\nthe church of Saint Mark at Venice is\na good building ; the Baptistery in\nFlorence maybe is another. Maybe\nthey became so through the desire of\nmen to build shrines in which durably\nto record things they held precious.\nThe size is not of paramount\nimportance; but, great or small, it\nmust be precious if it is to be durable.\nI cannot persuade myself that we\ncould ever reach an age in which we\nshall cease to value rare and precious\nmaterials. The cock in the fable\nfound nothing valuable in the pearl,\nbut at present we are not living in a\nfarm-yard, and there is no reason why,\nwith care, we should come to do so.\nA durable theatre would help to\npostpone that day indefinitely.\nBut do not let us be vague about\nthese materials. Let us name them\n.... gold, silver, copper, bronze, brass,\nsteel, and other precious metals; dia-\nmonds, rubies, emeralds, and other pre-\ncious stones; lapis-lazuli, alabaster, cry-\nstals, ivory, ebony, malachite, marble,\nmosaic, glass stained with precious co-\nlours, silks finer than we have yet made ;\nand all these materials put into the\nright hands.\nTo decide upon the general form of\nthis building many minds would\nco-operate: and, after the general form\nwas once established, the thousands,....\ntens of thousands of artists, craftsmen\nand so forth, the workmen and the\ntradesmen, would bring their powers to\nbear upon the details.\nThe broad lines would be laid down;\nthere could be no departing from them;\nthey would be clearly defined, not\nrambling nor cramped ; but each would\nbear the impress of each individual\nmaster.\nWere there many theatres, the stage\nof this one could differ from the stage\nof that within certain limits, and the\nrequirements would dictate those limits.\nAfter that everything would be free, so\nthat the invention of the architect would\nfind free play.\nJust to give an example of what I\nmean we have only to look at the\nchancel, the pulpit, the cross, the\nrood-screen, the lamps and the canda-\nlabra of a cathedral. These are but a\nfew objects among many, and in Asia,\nin Europe, in America and in Africa\nthe requirements have dictated the\nbroad lines. Within those requirements\nwhat a range of liberty the artists have\nhad !\nOr, if you wish for another example\nwe can think of a ship. You cannot\nin designing a ship dispense with, or\nget away from, the general form of the\nkeel; it is impossible; but you may\nhave as many different keels as there\nare different leaves to different trees.\nIn what we call the Decoration of\nour theatre, I mean the stage decoration\ntogether with the lighting and the\ncostumes, all would be just as durable\nand as precious as the building itself.\nThere would be no attempt to produce\nwhat we call 11 theatrical illusion n. For\ninstance, we should not paint a tree,\nor put up an imitation tree so as best\nto copy in colour and texture area\ntree. No more than in a cathedral they\nput up a wooden copy of the originall\ncross. Doubtless the cross on which the\nSaviour was crucified was an ordinary\nand rough wooden structure, but when\nit reaches the cathedral it becomes a\nprecious work of art, in no way\nrealistic.\nWhy do they make this transformation?\nBecause it is too good a thing ever to\nbe able to be imitated; because it\nwould be said they were pretending to\nput the rea! cross. Everyone realizes\nthis in relation to an object made holy\nby thought.\nWhat is to prevent us from treating\na tree, than which, as part of Divine\nnature, there is nothing more h01y,....\nand, what is more, more j0y0u5,.... in\na like manner ? Not that we should\nallow even the symbol of a tree to\nappear on our stage merely as something\nto look at; unless the drama demanded\nthe presence of such a symbol no tree\nshould be put there. But if there is to\nbe a tree, or a fountain, or a fire, we\nshall have to be made aware by the\nmajesty of each that each one is of\nparamount importance, and this can\nonly be done by fashioning symbols\nin each case something suggesting and\nstanding for the real thing. And let\nme repeat it.... made in precious\nmaterials.\nAnd the vestments.... To convince\nyou that costumes can be worth\npreserving, I need but take you to\nNotre Dame at Paris or to Moscow\nor Pome where they guard gorgeous\n\n(I) Truth. But what is Truth? Shall\nwe waste three more centuries trying to\nfind an answer to this idiotic question?\nWould it not be better to get along with\nour work, and to work so hard at the\npreparation for the representation of the\ndrama dealing with Truth that, when it\narises, we are ready? Again, may not\nour very activities in preparing for the\nwork produce the answer so much\nhankered after ? Instead of hanging\nabout and hankering, let us get on with\nour work so that exercise may quicken\nthe longing and fill up the time usefully.\nAll the old truths give way and become\nthe modern lies; the Greek, the Eliza-\nbethan, and all these modern truths\nwhich seem to aspire to be called the\ntruth of doubt; these too will pass and\nbecome lies. I see no durability in the\ncollection of modern plays wherein\neverything is doubted, from the power\nof God to that of a penny whistle. Had\nPenelope sat down and doubted as to\nthe return of Ulysses the house would\nhave been in a nice state on his arrival!\nPatience!"}, {"page_pdf": 3, "page_imprimee": "19", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.3", "texte": "vestments of gold and silver cloth\njewelled and embroidered into priceless\nworks of art, nor point to the dresses\nof the ancient Japanese Theatre where\nthe No was, and is still, performed.\nTo make so well that each following\ncentury desires to preserve what has\nbeen so well done.... should be the\nnatural way of making such dresses as\nwe need in cur Durable Theatre.\no LIGHTING. o\nTHE lighting of our stage and our\nauditorium, what of that ?\nShall we install the electric light ?\nWell, the electric light is one of the\nwonders of today, and not its least\nwonder is its great beauty. But there\nis something very distasteful about the\nwires. Perhaps we shall arrive at a\nwireless electric light. Anyhow, to\nexclude the electric light because it is\nup to date would be far from my\npurpose, which is not to avoid what is\nup-to-date, but to secure what is best.\nStill, the sun is no bad illuminant.\nDaylight has not had its day.\no PERFORMERS. o\nAND the performers ? What of the\nactors, as they are called, and very\nwell called ? Do not fear that I am\ngoing to spring an Ueber-Marionnette\ninto the midst of them. If he arrives\nit will Le no case of my bringing him\nthere, but because no one can prevent\nhim from coming. I have no desire\nto thrust forward an unwelcome\nFrankenstein into the midst of such\ndurable and precious things as we have\nalready arranged for. It is likely that\nthe drama of which I have spoken\nwill demand the services of man as\nperformer ; I have been told, (since I\nwrote of the Ueber-Marionnette), of a\nrace of actors that existed (and a few\ntoday preserve the tradition), who were\nfitted to be part and parcel of the most\ndurable theatre it is possible to conceive.\nWhen I heard of this I was astounded,\npleasurably astounded. I was told that\nthis race of actors was so n0b1e,....\nsparing themselves no pain, and austerely\ndisciplining themselves.... that all the\nweaknesses of the flesh were eradicated\nand nothing remained but the perfect\nman. This race was not English or\nAmerican, but Indian.\nI am not sceptical. I think I would\nsooner be proved wrong in all my\nbeliefs and theories, than think man\nunable to rise to any standard known\nor to be known.\nAnd so I accept this information,\nnew though it be to me, and will\npresent it here as a possibility; I will\nhope for it, even with my eyes and\nears amazed at what they see and\nhear coming from the Western actors\n.... even Western wire-pullers.\nIf the Western actor can become\nwhat I am told the Eastern actor was\nand is, I withdraw all that I have\nwritten in my essay nOn the Actor\nand the Ueber-Marionnette 11. W\nStrange that this Eastern land, so\nbelieving in the power of man to\nbecome divine, should make so many'\nid 015,.... so many beautiful id 015.... for\nIdols are Ueber-Marionnettes.\nIn the event of man being unable\nto return to that ancient standard of\nthe East, there is nothing open for us\nbut to fashion something which shall\nrepresent man in this creative and\ndurable art which we are contemplating.\n* * *\nTV?HAT I have just described on\nVV broad lines as the Durable Theatre\nwill not greatly illumine the mind of\nany man in a great city today who is\nunable to detach himself from his\nsurroundings. This explains my dedi-\ncation. Even an artist may have daily\nduties to attend to, and I can conceive\nnothing more irritating, when in the\nmidst of such distractions, than to be\ntalked to about a durable theatre.\nBut we all of us go away to the\ncountry now and then. We sometimes\ngo fishing on the lakes, or climbing\nmountains, and sun and wind and\nskies refine and quicken the mind. I\nam inclined to believe that in no one\nis it more acute than the city man\nwhose daily occupations, year in and\nyear out, are like those of a galley\nslave. He is chained to his oar at\nwhich he tugs and tugs and tugs. I\nknow big business men who have told\nme their desire to be freed from those\nchains, yet have admitted their inability\nto know how to free themselves.\nAnd we must not forget that it is\nwe for whom they are rowing. We\nsit at ease in deck chairs while their\nsinews are cracking and their hearts.,..\nBut as I say, in the country, returning\nto Nature for a while, their greater\nlongings are liberated, and it may be\nthat our Durable Theatre will be built\nnear those places to which they go.\nAnd now of the Perishable Theatre.\nTo be continued.\n\n(i) See 11 On Art of the Theatre\"\npublished hy William Heinemann: Lon-\ndon, /£//.\n\nCONCRETE VILLAGES\n\nIF I am not utterly mistaken there\nseems to have been some slight feel-\ning shown of late towards a certain\nugly hard and fast, go-by-rule spirit\ndisplayed in certain lands, especially\nGermany.\nThe thing complained of, ...and how\nrightly too, ...is that to say to a People\n\" You shall live like this and you shall\nwear this and you shall do this n, and\nto say it harshly, is not exactly what\nany of us want.\nMay I therefore draw attention to\ncertain proposals to supply men with\nhouses all of the same pattern... flat...\nugly... inhuman places. May I even\nwhisper that s&id proposals are being\nput into execution ? May I say I con-\nsider this the most autocratic piece of\ntyranny thought of for centuries?\nAnd this comes from America.\nWhile reading over these proofs a\nlady jotted down the following question:\n\" How can it be 4 tyranny' if it isn't\nobligatory to live in them ? Autocratic\ntyranny is surely when a thing is en-\nforced without any choice left ? n\nBut of course it is tyranny, and of\nthe most devilish kind.... for it makes\nugliness cheaper than beauty ....and\nbrings ugliness to the door free of all\nextra charge: ....it insinuates ugliness\nunder the guise of n the latest thing n,\nn the most practical thing n; nTry it, n\nit says; 11 if you don't like it we refund\nthe money 11.\nNot tyranny? ....of course it is ty-\nranny, and quite the latest Democratic\nbrand; nothing open, if brutal: but se-\ncret. Suggestive..,, ten times worse\neven than the brutal. For centuries we\nhave been happy to build our own\nhouses with wood, plaster, stone, or a\nmixture: the cost was rather high. Now\ncome these dealers in Homes who\npropose to build for us. Readymade\nhouses.... all one height.... all alike\ninside and outside, except that there\nmay be two or three sizes.\nNothing the matter with good con-\ncrete.\nIt's the building whole villages with\nit that is the evil.\nI live in an Italian village. On re-\nceiving photographs of these concrete\nhouses, I have shown them to the\nvillagers. Not one man or woman\nwould live in them rather than in their\npresent old tumble-down but Human\ndwellings. Their feeling and their mind\nrejects the hard ugliness.... the uniformity.\nThe n Literary Digest n from Ame-\nrica brings the news that n concrete\nhouses cast in pieces and then assembled\nare apparently both practical and inex-"}, {"page_pdf": 4, "page_imprimee": "20", "url_page": "https://bluemountain.princeton.edu/bluemtn/?a=d&d=bmtnaau191808-01.1.4", "texte": "pensive B .... n this method is now\nbeing used for the first time in a group\nof dwellings in Youngstown, Ohio B.\nLife is being made more and more\nhideous. The Cinema is allowed....\nstill allowed. It is an inhuman thing.\nFolk have taken to wearing B ready\nmade B clothes: dress too has become\ninhuman, for it has lost its shape and\ncolour which are the two essential ele-\nments of its humanity.\nAnd now concrete houses are being\nallowed. The man or men who may\nbe permitted to introduce this scheme for\n8 ready made B houses and those who\npermit it, are consciously or unconscious-\nly more terrible tyrants than any who\nhave preceded them.\nIf Mr Wilson permits such a thing\nin America, uttering all the while all\nthe fine things he is now saying, he is\neither one of the most stupendous ty-\nrants ever dreamed of or he is as\nblind as a bat.\nFor nothing else could account for\na ruler, with the good of his people\nat heart, permitting so subtle an inroad\nof the ugly, hard-and-fast, go-by-rule\nspirit, which, while condemning it in\nGermany, we countenance, and too\noften even encourage to spread, in other\nlands.\n\nIrin-Magé.\n\nROYALTY V. VULGARITY.\nI.M.\nJames Russell Lowell.\nA lady who was for ten years the\nclose companion of Queen Marie\nof Roumania and English governess to\nthe Princesses wrote the other day in\nthe New York Tribune with great\naffection and understanding of the Royal\nFamily she had been obliged to leave\nbut lately.\nOnly one word in her whole delight-\nful paper that 1 cannot understand....\nSpeaking of the grace of the Rou-\nmanian Court,... its freedom from stiff\nceremonial, and how accessible at all\ntimes are the King and Queen to the\nvery least of their people, she adds:\n® Luncheon is the most democratic\nfunction imaginable B.\nBut Miss Milne has drawn such a\nroyal picture that we know what she\nmeans. Still, why should the grace and\nbeauty of Royal people, their hospi-\ntality, their B recognition of the very\nleast of their people 8.... their simple\nfine manners, in short, be called ' de-\nmocratic * ?\nWhy should these qualities ever be\ncalled Democratic since they are the\nrare, not the usual, qualities?\nIf a cobbler or a fisherman invites\nme into his hut ...,and 1 often am\naccorded that privilege,... and if he asks\nme to sit down and share his meal, and\ndoes so in a gracious easy natural\nmanner, it is Royal. Royalty is a vein\nof precious ore which can be traced all\nover the earth; but it is precious, not\nevery-day. os6£ not Sijjxov.\nThe Every-day is the vulgar, the\nsnobbish and the sick..;, hard.... dry....\nc01d.... mean....\nIf any so-called Royal person should\nbe lacking in the royal qualities ....it\nwould be a pity ....nothing more.\nAnd to be surrounded by snobs\n....vulgar folk ....sick folk ....hard, dry,\ncold and mean natures, is to run a\ndanger of losing the natural Royal qua-\nlities. ... that is all.\nBut it does not change Royalty.\nNeither will pretension add a jot to\nthe true worth of an honest Democracy.\nIt is the Tradesman who has dam-\nned the fine old face of Royalty....\nbut he seems to be now damning the\ngood honest features of Democracy and\nno one seems to protest.... Or is this\nanother of our mistakes?\nYou have one tremendous foe to\ntackle ....Vulgarity as oosed out by\nTrade, Plunderers and Place-seekers; and\nremember this:... that same vulgarity\ncan look deucedly refined and talk in\na most distinguished manner.\nIf you put another nation in order\nand all the while allow Vulgarity to\nswamp your folk at home it seems to\nus that you make life worthless and\nendeavour a farce. Do you notice\nthat our modern rulers who talk to us\nabout the world being free for Demo-\ncracy do not seem to have recognized\nas a fact the existence of this vul-\ngarity ? Suddenly some day they will\ncatch sight of it ....and then the fruits\nof liberty will of course deck the trees\nof the earth.\n11 Some dayB should not be tomorrow:\n....it should be NOW. When some\neffort, ....even some sign of it, is made\nto prevent vulgarity having a free\noutlet through the Theatre, swamping\nmillions of people who go there, then\nwe of the Theatre, who are watching\nvery carefully for a sign, will acknow-\nledge that there is something more\nthan words in these stupendous modern\nutterances of Democratic leaders.\nWhen something more than words\nreaches us -... when a hand of true friend-\nship is stretched out to our branch of\nPublic Service, then and not till then\ncan we know that Demos and Theos\nare one and the same thing.\nPURITANISM, BELIEVING ITSELF QUICK\nWITH THE SEED OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY,\nLAID, WITHOUT KNOWING IT, THE EGG\nOF DEMOCRACY.\n\nIGNORANCE.\nIN B The Century B for May last,...\nand n The Century B is supposed to\nbe a well-informed magazine.... we find\nthis brilliant passage in an article on\nn The New Art of the Theatre n by\nSamuel A. Eliot Jr.\nH The stippled discretion and mas-\nB sive simplicity of Urban's Germanic\nn Art; the cold balance, the light and\nB shade design of Gordon Craig, reflected\nn through his warmer tempered pupil,\nB Hume B.\nWho is S. A. Eliot Jr. ? Why don't\nhe study a bit ? He might then learn\nat any rate never to write like this.\nBut what is n The Century n about?\nCannot it afford to pay for articles on\nthis n New Art of the Theatre B by\nmen who have studied it? For years\nThe Mask has made it unnecessary for\nsuch blunders to be perpetrated.\nThe Mask does not pretend to be\na powerful organ like R The Century 8....\nit does not hope ever to live as will\nB The Century 8:... it would hate to\nlaugh at B The Century 8.... Must it?\n\nMark Twain.\nOne of the most\nstriking differences\nbetween a cat and\na lie is that a cat has\nonly nine lives.\n\nI EXPECT TO PASS THROUGH.\nITHIS WORLD BIT ONCE. ANY\nGOOD THEREFORE THAT I\nCAN DO, OR ANY KINDNESS\nTHAT I CAN SHOW TO ANY\nFELLOW CREATURE, LET ME\nDO IT NOW. I WILL NOT DE-\nFER IT OR NEGLECT 1T... FOR\nI SHALL NOT PASS THIS WAY\nAGAIN.\nAn Old Chinese Writer.\n\nAll rights reserved August 1918.\nGerente responsabile: Giulio Vanzi.\nTipografia Giuntina. Firenze.\nPRICE ONE PENNY."}]}