Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 November 1901 — THEATER PROGRAMMES. [ARTICLE]

THEATER PROGRAMMES.

A correspondent of the Philadelphia Record calls for a reform of theater programmes. “Have you ever,” he asked, “experienced the annoyance of being unable to quickly follow the action of a play because you can’t determine which of the minor characters is on the stage? Take a show with a dozen small roles, for example. At the outstart the minor parts generally carry the- action, and unless the playwright has been thoughtful enough to bring names into the dialogue it will puzzle anybody to find out who’s who. Of course after the appearance of the stars the relation of the parts is usually speedily adjusted, but in some shows I’ve had to worry through a couple of acts without getting a line on the minor roles. “Now, my idea is to have the cast set up and printed in the order in which the players make their first entry. Then the audience could at once determine the character and get into immediate sympathy with the lines. This idea of tickling she vanity of the high priced players by heading the cast with the stars and ranking the members of the company on the programme according to the importance of their roles should have been abandoned long ago.”