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THE NEW YORK IDEA




[Illustration: LANGDON MITCHELL]




LANGDON MITCHELL

(Born Philadelphia, Pa., February 17, 1862)


The performance of "The New York Idea" at the Lyric Theatre, New York,
on November 19, 1906, was one of the rare, distinguished events in the
American Theatre. It revealed the fact that at last an American
playwright had written a drama comparable with the very best European
models, scintillating with clear, cold brilliancy, whose dialogue
carried with it an exceptional literary style. It was a play that
showed a vitality which will serve to keep it alive for many
generations, which will make it welcome, however often it is revived;
for there is a universal import to its satire which raises it above
the local, social condition it purports to portray. And though there
is nothing of an ideal character about its situations, though it seems
to be al