THE GREEK PLAY SOCIETY
IT was impossible not to feel ashamed of our age when we saw the Oedipus Tyrannus, the very type of great tragedy, so out of water amongst us. - Spirit was certainly worsted by material difficulties in Mr. Robert Atkins' production at the New. Scala Theatre. Something magnificent showed through ; but it cost a large expenditure of patience to . forget the irritations of the performance.
The chorus is the main stumbling block. In Greek drama the chorus is at least half the play. It sets, we might say, the plane of the action ; the actors themselves would be empty and ghost-like but for the strong religious mood which the chorus creates. There was a time, indeed, when the drama was all chorus ; the actors were differentiated later, and their appeal was always grounded on the incantation of the chorus. The training of the chorus was involved and thorough; indeed, it was a special " State service."
And nowadays, in any modern production, we feel that the chorus is an encumbrance, tedious and awkward. The dances are inexpressive. We are not able to see any unity or inspiration in the chorus. The play drags and we suffer from the general air of amateurishness. It is difficult to blame our producers. We can hardly expect them to take the religious consciousness of Greece with a true seriousness, to identify themselves with it, and genuinely to believe as the Greeks believed. But what is the use of producing a religious drama if no life is given to the religious motifs ?
It might be best, if no one can be found to understand and share in the religious impulse of Greece, to cut the chorus out and produce the drama as " pure literature." Most of the play would be lost ; but even so we should live through great situations, and we should run no risk of boredom. This, in fact, is what we had to compel ourselves to do on Sunday evening : to concentrate upon the actors and the dialogue, and hide the chorus from our minds.
The masks of the actors were good ; they placed a con- stancy of emotion upon each character, as though we were in a realm of types rather than persons. It was noticeable, too, how much greater was the effect of the actor's voice. It was word and sound that affected us ; there was very little gesture, and the high cothurni made the actors move slowly and with dignity. Mr. H. A. Saintsbury was especially good as Oedipus. Perhaps the masks helped also to give depth and roundness to the tones of the voice ; it is rarely that we have heard verse spoken to such good effect.
A. P.
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