St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-02-04

safe method, and is employed by at least
three OF the most successful American
damatlsts. Take main situation
that is strong-for instance. l con-
ceive it to be a strong situation to
have q man denounced as an eX-convict
in the presence of his wife, and then
accused furthermore of having married
her under an assumed name. 1t Is un-
necessary to say that situation is made
still stronger by the fact that the de-
nunciatlon is true. Here We have two
characters; husband and wife. A third
character Immediately adjusts itself
the denouncer. He could either be
the villain or the Intended victim
of the husbands crime. for it would be
better to have the crime assault or at
tempted murder rather than any form
of theft. Now comes fourth character.
The husband is, of course, innocent,
and there must be guilty party, who
naturally is the heinous and loathsome
villain. To make the situation still
more interesting, have the villain a
former lover of the wife. Now
comes still another character; the man
proof of the huSband'S innocence.
For purposes of the playwright make
him unconsci0usly the possessor of the
proof aud endow him with sweetheart
who, in the course of events, discovers
that he has the proof and puts 1t to good
use Then. too, follow the officers of
the law, who must be tools of the villain
and on the track OF the criminal. Then
also the wife might have father or
mother. who in turn could have a legal
adviser or or a friend. and he or she
could be provided with sweetheart or
lover, elderly, of course, and character
study.
Now, here are the component parts of
the machine. Now to al!Ot them to the
members of the company. The leading
man plays the eX-cOnvlct; the leading
woman the ev-convict's wife; second
lead or heavy" is the villain; the juve-
nile is the former lover and victim; first
old man is the father of the wronged
wife; character old man is the legal
adviser: the light comedian is the
man with the hidden proof; the
soubrette ingenue is his sweet
heart and the one who discovers that
he has the proof. A character old
woman is the object of the character
old mans affections. A playwright now
begins to form his acts. The denuncia-
ton of the husband to the wife natur-
ally occurs to him as being n strong
climax for the second act. The third
dCt Will tlcu Coiltdlii ZIG pOWCilui
scene where the husband relates
his story to the wife and he is
either believed or disbelieved, as
the playwright has determined upon.
In the fourth act tile hidden
proof is brought to light; the batfled
villain is crushed. and the hero'S limo
cence triumphantly established. Now
what is needed is to introduce this
story. and for that purpose the play
wright has his first and second acts. A
naturally strong climax to the opening
act is naturally suggested by the hero,
through the efforts of the villain being,
run down by the denunciators as the ex-
convict This interest can be carried
on from the first to the second
act by having the wife absent at tine
time this is done, so that the audience
will still be eagerly waiting throughout
the second act the strong scene wherein
the news is carried to be broken to her.
There you see we have worked back
wards and forwards Oh the main situa-
ton. acquired our characters and devel-
oped our climaXeS one by one until
nothing remains but arranging the mi
nor scenes leading up to them.
Another interesting question that is
frequently asked by the analyZers of
plays is as to who creates the part in
play, the actor or the author. There has
been from time to time considerable
discussion on this subject, the actor
holding that he was the creator, and the
author taking exactly the same position.
Ii is @bsurd to say that the actor ere
ates part. When he portrays char
acter, thought out in minute detail by
another; speaks lines written for him
by another, and goes through bits of
business" deliberately planned and care
fully directed by another, there is In
fact little left for him to create. Mile.
Adelina Patti singing Marguerite IN
Faust" does not ''create" Gounod's
music. His is the motif; his is the
tempo; his is every note; his is the very
expression. Gounod has created; Patti
interprets and herein lies exactly the re-
the actor is himself playwright he
creates nothing. Sothern, the elder,
was largely responsible for the
creation of Lord Dundreary.
and James A. Herne is absolutely
Nathan Berry in..'' Shore Acres" Richard
Mansfield claims to be the creator of
beau Brummel" These are of course
exceptions to the rule. Authors and
actors are mutually dependent one on
the other, and neither loses single
leaf of his laurel IN allowing the other
his just dues. The author supplies the
soul and tine actor the body. and the
in tho play. If either heart is mall
formed, failure to please would be
inevitable.
1t seems quite remarkable that not
withstanding the great demand there is
FOR goood plays. this country must prac-
tically be said TO be without play.
wrights.
A simile regarding American drama
lists of reliability and capability might
be drawn by calling to the minds of
many old theater goers the ref
erence that the old negro minstrel,
Billy" Rice. used to make to the
United States navy in his stump
speech on political Economy" During
the course of the fat orators talk he
said. in commenting upon the war stu
alton, that was then in an uncertain
condition in Brazil, that Americans
need not have the slightest fear of their
interests in the South American country
being JeopardiZed. "Why@' he used to
ask himself. with vehement wheeze of
his powerful lungs, "because our navy,
it is out there;" it referring to one yes
sell
So it is when one says that we have
In this country no playrightS. Why?
Because most of the time he resides in
England. By she" is meant Bronson
Howard, the one great playwright this
country can lay claim to. although dur
ing the past few years-very few-three
other young men give hope of great
promise. Henry Guy Carleton, Augustus
Thomas and Clyde Fitch. But that lets
us out. The others produce ''olla pod
rlda." CHARLES ASToR PARKER.
PAY IN GOLD.
Yellow Metal Xanfed In Exchanne