The Popular Drama,

South Canterbury Times, Issue 7066, 11 February 1893, Page 2

The Popular Drama,

Mr G. Bernard Shaw, whoso play “ Widower’s Houses,” recently created a sensation in London, was lecturing on Socialism and Art, and in the course of the lecture he referred to the reception of his play, saying He had recently had some experience in the demand for dramatic art. Ha was not a dramatist, but he was a propagandist, and he saw the opportunity of doing some good propaganda work, so he had en* deavoured to put life upon the stage as it actually existed. Hence he had not put wicked women ou tho stage, but ordinary men and women. The result of bis doing this had been that a section of the Press had fallen upo® him and charged him with libelling the human racs. (Laughter.) Since they objected to bis putting vicious characters on the stage, one would think that all they wanted was to see an ideal state of society represented. What they really wanted him and other dramatists to do was to put their own life on (he stage for them, and put it in such a way as to make them out to be virtuous characters, leaving out all tho misery, starvation, and wretchedness upon which their villa life was founded. It was a ' remarkable fact that all the critics who were down on his play said he was no-artist, whilst _ those who agreed with his contention said that he was good artist. Ibis only showed them 1 that out of a public which had Mse conceptions of life it was impossible to get a real demand for art, and that the artists who were most successful nowadays were those who told lies in a way most likely to ple-se their patrons.