would I care to prolong an art of empty nothingness, and a class of people which seems at the edge of the grave. But if I have much less faith in the absolute worth of art than Morel, and much more in a moral and social revolution of humanity, I cannot help admiring the originality with which he has attempted to solve the problem of popular art. His Projet de théâtres populaires, so far as material organization is concerned, is a genuinely original contribution, full of fertile ideas; his novel suggestions are rendered more valuable by a judicious sense of the practical requirements. I need not analyze that work here: it should be read from cover to cover. I shall content myself with exposing its principal outlines.
M. Morel places his People's Theater on a financial basis by means of subscriptions. "Taste can only be formed by the constant sight of beautiful things. Education requires repetition. In order to exercise any appreciable influence over the public, you must always have a public. Occasional festivals may be more imposing, but their influence amounts to nothing."[1] The subscriptions were for weekly performances. "This is the most regular form of subscription, the one best calculated to form the habit." And Morel proposes to issue 25-franc
- ↑ I do not altogether agree with Morel. One has only to recall the profound and lasting effect of a few occasional spectacles on the mind of a child unused to entertainments of the sort. It is true, however, that they do not form the habit. I think it necessary to introduce regular festivals as a matter of education.
