Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1894-05-10

tesy, his play Is held for weeks, and then in
many cases returned unread or with only a
few pages glanced over. He will go the
rounds from manager to manager, from
star to star, until finally, baffied and beaten,
he throws his luckless manuscript aside.
Almost every dramatic author has to pass
through this ordeal. Lucky is he IL he at
last secures an opening for his play. Even
then his troubles are not over His play
may fall into the hands of a manager who
will not be willing to give 1t the proper
cast, and the poor author sees his work
ruined by the inefficiency Of the actors
Even IL the play succeeds there will be a
puzzling diversity Of opinion as to its mer-
It's. One critic will praise the dialogue;
another will condemn it unequivocally
One will speak of the plot as interesting
and original; another will pronounce itdull
and threadbare. Even il the critics agree
the public may refuse to come to see IL,
and an artistic success Is small consolation
for a financial failure. The impossibility
Of gauging the merits Of a play by mere
reading is shown by the frequency with
which managers accept plays which turn
out to be failures and reject others which
eventually win great success. My expert
ence with "In Old Kentucky" may be OF
originally written for Katie Putnam, a
charming soubrette actress very popular in
the west and south, for whom had already
written two plays, each of which had been
fairly successful. In giving me a commits
sion for a third play she asked me to write
her a play strong enough to command sue
cess In new dramatic territory which she
proposed entering This / conscientiously
tried to do. But when the manuscript of
"In Old Kentucky" was offered her the
heavy expenses of mounting the play and
of giving IL q proper production caused her
to propose to take In place Of It another
play Of mine, "The Little Maverick" in
which Maggie Mitchell had successfully
starred during her last season on the stage.
"In Old Kentucky" was then sent to sew
eral managers, all Of whom are supposed to
possess excellent Judgment, but who for
various reasons could see little chance for
success with the play. It was not until il
fell into the hands of Mr.. Jacob Lift, one
Of the most entsrprising and shrewd Of
American managers, that any proposition
for a production was made, and even he
states frankly that he had no idea Of the
success which the play was afterward to at
tain. But there Is this consolation to the
dramatic author. No matter how hard
may be his struggles to place his plays,
when once he has achieved a great success
all doors fly open. To place Rival Candi-
dates'-a play written by Mr.. J. N. Morris
and myself-in one of the best New York
theaters on my own terms was an easy
task, as IL was also to secure commissions
for other plays from prominent managers.
To sum up the matter, 1t may be said that
success is not to be won as rule without
suffering pangs and rebuffs which may be
endured, but cannot be forgotten. Still the
prize, IL gained is worth the struggle and
the chance ~ affording the entertainment
Of the masses and as teaching necessarily
lessons Of either good or evil needs the best
brains and the most conscientious work
that can be enlisted in its service.