Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-09-22
A CHAT ABOUT PLAYS.
HOW they are Eemodeled at Re.
hearsal and Performances-An
Experienced Manager Talks.

hearsal and Performances-An
Experienced Manager Talks.
A manager would rather own good
play than a 6rst-class theatre" This
was said to me the other day by Daniel
Frohman, who was brought up in the
theatrical business, and was for some
years at the head OF the Madison Square
theatre management, during which time
manuscripts of plays passed through his
hands. "a manager he continued,
"who owns good play can always find
irst-class theatres in which to produce it
manager who owns first-class theatre
cannot always procure good play for it. T"
This remark started our conversation on
the subject of plays.
1t is regarded almost as q maxim in
the dramatic profession that every writer
reporter, editor, novelist or poet-whom
manager meets, no matter how casu-
ally, will sooner or later send play to
that manager. For every writer thinks
be can write play. In point OF fact the
art of play-writing is rs much a gift as
any other art Success in another branch
of literature, even in underwriting, which
of all literary branches seems most closely
allied to playwriting, is by no means
certain indication of capacity for play
writing for the stage. A successful nov
elist is reasonably certain of writing pic
turesque, imaginative, and even exciting
dialogue. But dialogue is of small i'm
portance compared to dramatic situations.
They form the handspring of every sue
cessful play, and the writer who possesses
the gift of devising effective situations
and climaxes is the successful playwright
Give manager q good plot and he
can get the good dialogue by the yard.
Unfortunately writers do not bear these
considerations in mind AS result
nearly every manager OF well known
theatre receives from eight to twelve
plays week. There is general opinion
among writer's of plays who have their
manuscripts returned to them that
conspiracy against them has been formed
among managers. AS a matter of fact,
managers, in this country at least, are as
anxious to get good plays as playrights
are to have their work accepted and
produced, and will therefore read through
any amount of rubbish in hope of finding
a germ of success. English managers
are less anxious than their American
brethren. For the old English theatres
are rich in manuscripts, and many of the
modern English dramatic successes are
old manuscripts worked over and made
germane to our times.
HOW THE FRoHMANs HANDLE THEM.
At the Madison Square Theatre, for in.
stance, every play is passed on, and
record kept of the author and the story
and source, whenever the latter is given
order to check the writer in any attempt
to palm off the play upon the manage
ment under new title. OF course some
plays are so ridiculous on their face that
q glance over a few pages suffices to sat
isfy a manager of their lack of available
ity. Frohman gives me the following in
stances of the ridiculous plays which
have been submitted to him: The scene
throughout one play was laid in Central
Park; it contained fifty-two speaking
characters, each of them indulging in
long speeches averaging 900 words.
1t was in printed form. In another play,
the action throughout took place in a
courtroom, and the audience would have
been obliged to listen to the pleadings of
the lawyers, the evidence and the rulings
OF the judge. A play with some thirty
speaking characters, with moving piano.
ramic scene in paradise. The hight of
absurdity was reached in play with 800
speaking characters. The scene through
out was laid in the House of Representa-
tives, the characters including Lincoln,
Jefferson Davis and all the Congressman
and other public men. These are Of
course extreme cases, but there are not a
few almost as absurd. Curiously enough,
distinguished actors, who might be sup
strong situations, are among the
least successful playwrights. l know
that within the last fortnight a
manager received II play written by
an actor of great repute. The manager
in reading over the play found difficulty
in persuading himself that he was not the
victim of a Joke. These extreme cases
excepted, tine plays usually received by
managers are not utterly bad. On the
contrary many of them are we'll written
and tell good story. Their general
fault is lack of strong, moving situations.
Their stories, though they would read
well as novels, are not entirely available
for dramatic purposes. Often a good
dramatic story is obscured by dialogue, or
is not properly and effectively developed.
The manager, if he knows his business,
will at once recognize the possibilities OF
success in such play. He will accept it
with the provision that he will be al
lowed to alter it and put it into such shape
that it will have chance of becoming
dramatically effective.
THE REMoDELINd OF THEM.
Then begins the remodeling. This
work is best done by men of the calibre
of Mackaye, Cazawran, Boucicault, DAILY
and Belasco, Arthur Wallack is also good
at it. One of the first principals applied
in altering plays is that everything should
happen before the public, which means
that no event of vital importance should
be narrated in the dialogue. 1t must be
witnessed by the audience, otherwise
| it will leave no impression and any events
growing out OF it will have no meaning
In certain plays of course it is impossible
to carry out this principle, but is applied
as often as feasible.
An important part of the remodeler's
work is to lop off the dialogue SO as t.
quicken the action and prevent a fatal
WEAKNESS from coming over the audience
between the chief scenes. The autho
often is loud in his protest against wha
he considers vandalism, but what is reall,.
only the chopping away OF dead wood
For instance, when Belasco was remodel
l;no AInina Roses Roysen once rushed