. The art theatre; a discussion of its ideals . particularized appeal, that theaudiences of the moment will be antagonized. in Considered by no other standard than the typeof play produced, the Chicago Little Theatre isincomparably the closest American approach toan art theatre. Its productions have come meas-urably near the art that appeals to a highlycultivated audience, to the sort of audience thatalready exists in large numbers in certain parts ofEurope, but which has yet to be developed inmost American cities. An analysis of its list ofplays shows that Maurice Browne has preferredto strik
. The art theatre; a discussion of its ideals . particularized appeal, that theaudiences of the moment will be antagonized. in Considered by no other standard than the typeof play produced, the Chicago Little Theatre isincomparably the closest American approach toan art theatre. Its productions have come meas-urably near the art that appeals to a highlycultivated audience, to the sort of audience thatalready exists in large numbers in certain parts ofEurope, but which has yet to be developed inmost American cities. An analysis of its list ofplays shows that Maurice Browne has preferredto strike direct to the ultimate goal as he has seenit. He refused to compromise for the sake ofconciliating audiences or critics. The list of productions at Chicago is far moreimpressive than that of the Arts and CraftsTheatre. In the five seasons since its foundingthe proportion of poetic and fantastic plays hasnot been considerably greater than at the selection has been more revolutionary,including such names as Euripides (in Gilbert130. The Question of Plays Murrays remarkable translations), Yeats, andSynge; and original productions of plays byAmerican authors have been made with the par-ticular object of finding a typical art-theatre typeof play. In the non-poetic or less poetic groups,moreover, the Chicago Little Theatre list tendsfar more to the serious, is freer from mere fill-ers than is the Detroit list. Ibsen, Shaw,Schnitzler, Hankin, Strindberg, Gibson, Wilde—these are names which, although they tend toomuch to unrelieved realism to suit some of us,nevertheless bespeak a preoccupation with whatis too dignified, too thoughtful and too true toform part of the average theatres repertory. It would be idle to claim that devotion to atheory does not beget certain advantages artisti-cally. One must admire any artist who sets upan ideal, and then, although realizing that it isfar beyond the public, pursues it uncompromis-ingly, in the face of public apathy, and in spi
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