The Drama
Women are working on the elevation of the drama generally, too. Sometimes they may be excessively Puritanical in this endeavor; again they see in the presentation of such plays as “Damaged Goods” by Brieux the highest use to which the stage can be put. This difference of opinion is bound to exist but the important thing is to have women care what is produced, as the first step toward superior drama.
Investigation of five- and ten-cent theaters in Chicago by the Juvenile Protective Association and the presentation of complaints to the building department, the Board of Health, the Chief of Police and the State Factory Inspector have led to important changes in the physical conditions of this grade of theaters in Chicago. Mrs. Bowen of this Association finds that one grave evil in connection with these theaters is their location, which takes many boys and girls and men and women into sections where they would probably not otherwise go and brings them thus into close contact with disorderly houses, saloons, and boarding houses. The phrase in Chicago “A Five-Cent Theater Hotel” has become current because of the general location of these theaters in transient rooming houses. The menace of this thing to young girls may readily be imagined. Mrs. Bowen and her association approve of an ordinance licensing the place rather than the person who operates it, as is now done in many places with dance halls. They would also prohibit amateur nights and extend the censorship of plays to advertisements and posters.
In order that the taste of school children may be educated to seek good drama, the Educational Dramatic League and other similar organizations have been started by women. Mrs. Emma Fry, the organizer of the Educational Dramatic League of New York, has met with enthusiastic response from women and teachers and her movement is well launched.
The Drama League of America is a women’s and men’s organization with Mrs. A. Starr Best of Evanston, Illinois, as president. Its object is to support the drama that manifests a high level of art and morals in order that the theater may assume its rightful place as an educational and social force.