The record-union., 1896-11-15
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sent every week to managers VINO are I
known as producers of original plays. |
There are thousands in the United
States who think they were born dram /!
atists, although they have no knowl-
edge of the technique of the theater and
tn many cases cannot write intelllg1ble
English. Indeed the ability TO write |
well, in the ordinary acceptatlon OF the
term. is but one of the requirements OF
dramatic authorship.
The construction Of play IS by all
odds the most important consideration. |
Then comes the drawing of the charac- |
ters. and finally the dressing of the
whole figure in presentable garment
CT dialogue. Lawyers, journalists, nov
clists. physicians and other men who
think we'll and strongly ,and are accus-
toned to frame their medftations in
suitable language, often ran utterly
when they undertake to write plays.
Even dramatic critics, who are able to
0lssect and point out the faults in the
works Of other dramatists, seldom sue
ceed in writing good plays by them
selves although there are very few
who have not at some time or other
tried their hand at this kind Of work.
Play writing is tempting field to
men and women who make a business
cf producing literature of different
kinds There is no form of writing that
compares with it in point of remunera-
1ion or widespread celebrity.
The most successful writer's for the
stage earn immense incomes. Bronson
Howard, David Belasco, Augustus
Thomas Henry Guy Carleton, Harry B.
Smith, J. Cheever Goodwin and other
.nen who have acquired high reputa-
tlons in this branch of work. receive,
in a addition to a large bonus upon any
manuscript they may dispose of, per-
centages Of the gross receipts which
enable them to draw sums fairly daz-
zing to workers in the other lines of
original writing. During the run of the
Heart of Maryland" at the Herald
Square Theater last season, David Be
lasco's royalty check was almost al
ways in excess of 81 900 week, while
on numerous occasions it exceeded
81 800.
Bronson Howard received for "Shen-
audoah'' a sliding scale of royalties
regulated by the gross receipts. When
the money taken in at the door was
below a certain sum each week, Mr..
Howard received ~ per cent of that
amount. When the receipts passed this
figure he received ID per cent of all in
excess thereof up to another stated
POINT, beyond which his share was %
Ter cent. of the gross takngs. AS
Shenandoah" frequently drew weekly
receipts of $4,000 or more Mr.. How
ards income from that source was
enormous.
The late Mr.. Boucicault once told me
that during the long run of Led
Astray" at the old Union Square The
ster, his royalties ran from 81 600 to
81 400 a week. From THE Shaugh-
raun" he received far greater sums,
FOR the reason that, in addition to his
royalties from the play, he was paid
very handsomely for his services as an
actor. The moneys here mentioned, to
be sure, are earned by men of the high
est possible reputation as dramatic
authors. But in almost every instance
Where plays are successful the amounts
paid for them are greatly in excess of
fhe earnings that would accrue from the
same amount of effort in any other line
of writing
Otis Skinner has original as well as
scholarly views of Richard III In
recent interview in a Chicago paDer he
the hunchback monarch as a hypnotist:
/ don't see how any one can play the
character single time or read the play,
indeed, without feeling at once that
Richards influence over men and wo-
men, as Shakespeare has described it
must have been of what we now call
occult origin. Hypnotic suggestion and
control can be the only explanation Of
Richard Ills astounding success with
Lady Anne and Queen Elizabeth The
whole scene between Richard III and
Lady Anne is a grotesque bit of bur
lesque if we may not suppose that the
hunchbacked murderer had some sort
of hypnotic power. / believe Shake
speare intended Richard III. to be a
reasonable creature, a monster only in
crime. His motives are human and his
unbridled selfshness and lust for power
have had numberless parallels in our
own day-there Is no reason, as I take
II, TO make him a believing butcher, a
comic hobgohlin or anything but a pro-
digious criminal a criminal whose an
tecedents were aristocratic, who mur-
Gered with the grace of a gentleman
and cleared his way to the throne by
the exercise of political genius and
without allowing the hideous cruelty
Of his heart TO be seen In the visage,
his manner or MS daily walk. | know
that my conception of Richard is not
the common one. 1t is always hard
TO wean the public from old standards.
but mean to hew away along this line
and whether l convince any one else
or not have at least the satisfaction
of knowing that have solid conviction
behind my portrayal of this wonderful
character"
Richard Mansfield has new play in
rehearsal. The scene is laid in England
in the picturesque time of the cavalier
md roundhead. when Charles l. was
King. and the romantic plot concerns
the love of a certain Captain Hilary
for a fair maid named Fierza. Hilary
makes his way TO the castle OF his in
puorita's guardian, the fierce rebel Sir
John Sombras, who holds her captive
II is by ruse that Hilary IS lured into
fhe castle. discovers FierZa, and is in
the midst of a passionate love scene
with her when Sir John enters. Sir
John Is in love with his ward and had
but fust succeeded in wringing from
her utterly worn out as she was from
sheer WEAKNESS. consent TO marriage.
With the appearance of Hilary and
Fierza's open confession of love for the
Captain there ensues struggle for
mastery between the two men, which
continues as the main thread OF inter-
est. Sir John has Hilary In his power,
but Hilary holds F'ierzas love.