"When the theatre is handed over to those who present only plays of adventure and the ignoble side of life we lose of the greatest moral agents possible. Church, school and theatre should work together as educational forces," said Miss Jane Addams, of Hull House, Chicago, yesterday at the conference held under the auspices of the Charity Organization Society.
"The dramas are often of a classical and historical nature," Miss Addams said," and plays of this character always attract large audiences. Once we gave a version of 'The Odysseus,' in which the players were largely Greek, and the interest was intense. All the actors had their lines thoroughly learned in three days, because they were so familiar with the story, having read it in the public schools. That was early in the history of the theatre, and since that time the other nationalities have seemed to have an increased respect for the Greeks on account of their classic origin. The company cleared $300 by the performance, after paying for the staging. We wanted them to give half to a Greek church and keep the remainder for future expenses. They refused, however, to keep any of it, saying that as Hull House had given them the opportunity to 'show forth the honor of Greece,' as they expressed it, they wanted Hull House to have the money."
"The audience sat there dumbly wondering why the man could not go to dinner in one coat as well as another," she said. "It was not in the least amusing to them, because they could not get the point of view."
"It is not quite as bad as it is painted," she declared." Usually the hero is noble and brave, and wins in the end. The heroine is good and gentle, and becomes happy eventually, and the villain is highly objectionable, and is generally foiled. The moral is all right, you see."
"They can manage two," she said, "but even the kindhearted doorkeeper cannot make it possible for them to manage more than that in their two seats, so the husband begins to go alone, and when he is separated in his pleasures from the wife the most serious step to another separation is taken."
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