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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2025
On disait I° édification, 2° art (ou métier), 3° divertissement, sacrifiant trop souvent au premier terme les deux autres. Nous disons, nous: I° divertissement: le théâtre n’est pas la chaire, la comédie n’est pas le prêche . . . ne confondons jamais les genres ...2° art (ou métier): les rèegles du sermon sont une chose et les règles du drame une autre : Dieu veut de l’ouvrage bien fait ... 3° édification qui est le résultat suprême. C’est par le moyen d’un art sûtr, par le plaisir qu’il donnera, que nous parviendrons à porter les âmes sur le plan de Dieu où nous voulons les aider à revivre, à se retrouver, à se reconnaltre, à fonder, à agir.
Henri Ghéon.
Within the past twelve months three plays by Gregorio Martinez Sierra have been produced in London : last winter Canciόn de cuna and El Enamorado, and, now running at the Strand Theatre, El reino de Dios. Of these the first and last may be said to belong to the théâtre chrétien (and Catholic) of modern Europe, considered in its wider sense. It is not proposed here to discuss Martinez Sierra as play wright, novelist, propagandist, publisher (El Renacimiento’), manager of a theatre (’ Eslava’ ), producer of plays—his activity is enormous—but to consider briefly those of his plays whose setting or action has a definitely religious colouring, and in particular El reino de Dios, Cancion de cuna, Lirio entre espinas, Los -pastores, for interesting though they are, we may leave out of present account his free adaptations of old plays, such as La adúltera fenitente by Agusti'n Moreto and others (on St. Theodora of Alexandria) or the Lucero de nuestra salvaciόn of Inocencio de Salcedo (Our Lady’s leave-taking of her Son when He started on His last journey to Jerusalem). In these he has, so to speak, revivified old bones, the ideas are ready made.
1 The courage and vision of Mr. Amner Hall in presenting plays such as these to an English public is beyond praise; for it is obvious that under present conditions a public for works of this class is not ready made. There is therefore every reason why men and women of goodwill should support the enterprise, so as to help as far as may be in making possible a permanent Catholic theatre in this country; for such I believe to be the ambition of Mr. Hall and of his able producer, Mr. A. E. Filmer, who has a genius for work of this particular kind. No one who saw his production of Henri Ghéon’s ‘ St. Bernard ’ a year or two ago or of ‘ The Cradle Song ’ last winter, will be surprised at the beauty and accuracy of the setting of ‘ The Kingdom of God ’ at the Strand Theatre. The good which such plays could do, if sympathetically and reverently staged, and, as here, well acted, is simply incalculable. It were a pity if for lack of public support the scheme had to be abandoned.