Kansas City daily journal., 1897-01-31
PUTTING ON A PLAY.
IT Is ALWAYS A HARD AND DREARY
PIECE OF WORK.
InnumerabIe Details That Must BE At
tended To, From Reading to Re-
henrEaI-A .'HOrribIe Or
deaIy to Everybody.
From the New York Tribune.

the theateFs. sees absolutely nothing There
IS, moreover, no specially good reason why
the two should ever be brought into con-
tact with each other and it is, without a
doubt, an act of real kindness to the public
TO exclude it rigidly from rehearsals. In
fortunately, thoughtfulness of this sort is
not always appreciated. Quite ignorant of
the agonies which they have ESCAPED, the
majority Of people would be immensely
pleased at being permitted to attend one
of these affairs, the privacy of which car
Ties with it suggestions Of mystery and
consequent entertainment. For anyone di-
rectly connected with the matter-say, LOT
instance, the author of the play. whose
point of view has perhaps been less often
considered than that of others-there Is no
mystery. and still less entertainment The
whole period of time which elapses between
the completion of a manuscript and the
jirst-night production of the play Is, Tor
that person, nothing but an ordeal a nor
Tible ordeal" as one particularly emphatic
playwright assures his friends.
First Catch the Manager.
ITO begin" properly. Eat the beginning"
there is a preliminary stage TO the ordeal,
upon which everything else depends. When
the author mas put the final stroke OF the
pen 10 the last act of his play he realizes
that his motto must then be: First catch
your manager As a tribe theatrical man
ayers are naturally suspicious of anything
which purports 10 be a play. They have
read so many hundreds of distressing fail
ures in that line that their faith is weak;
IT must be a pretty fair article which VIII
appeal to them. and even then their atti-
tude toward it will be critical to the point
of hostility. They seem to like the blam-
cd thing.' was the inelegant but charac-
teristic remark of Il certain New York
manager, one first night not long ago,
10 the author of the play, as the two sat
watching the audience from a DoN. he
had accepted the manuscript only after
much persuasion: had frequently expressed
his doubts about it at rehearsals, and pro-
Tagsad Osr pOrnrlefp establishments
its success, which was as pronounced as
the most ambitious author could have de-
sired. On the whole. considering these
peculiartttes of the managerial authority,
1t is long step forward when the play is
once lodged permanently in his hands.
The next stage to follow, out the usual
proceedings Of the most successful authors,
is the reading of the play TO the company.
This Is. beyond question, trying piece of
work for the playwright. Every member
OF the company, from the star down to the
actor whose part consists of two or three
lines, is present on the appointed morning.
The meeting place is the stage of the thea
Ter in which the play is to be produced. A
that hour of the day il is usually dark
and cold and one cannot help thinking that
the general cheerlessnsss might suit
tragedy, but it is likely to be hard on the
modern comedy of society.
Sacred Directors Chair.
In the center of the stage is n table, be-
side which stands the directors chair. The
sacred attributes of this piece of furnitire
a recent suit in court, IL IS not necessary
10 dwell upon its Importance. The author,
however, is permitted to seat himself ther-
3n. and the entire company then ranges
itself around him in 4 circle. Actors DO
not regard morning work with favor, ana
an observers first impression of the as
sernbied group is that each member of it
is sadly I'm need of more sleep. Out of
respect to the author, there is desperate
rubbing of eyes and a heroic endeavor to
stific yawns I'm the few minutes before the
actual reading begins After ii is well
under way. the nature and quaiity OF the
drama determine whether this general
drcwsiness shall he dispelled or increased.
The several actors have their individual
parts in their hands. and. as Is natural,
each one follows with especial interest
the connection which his own has with the
rest of the play. Actors as a rule, are
good critics when they care 10 ne, ana the
M more intelligent and important members
of the company usually listen for the en-
tire effect of a new play, without merely
confining tfiefr attention TO that which di-
rectly concerns their own work. The
actor-critic is inclined toward severity
rather than indulgence. 1t Is not easy 70
make him laugh. nor does he weep readily
at the pathetic situations. He is conserva-
tive in his comments, and II, at the close
of the reading. he praises the play openly
20 its author. that person feels that there
IS reason TO be encouraged.
At the First Rehearsal.
For pure ''woodenness" and absence of
any dramatic feeling, the first rehearsal
Drobably cannot be surpassed anywhere. 1t
Ae nIgpa llV called Tor the morning 1OllOWluB
the reading, and is simply a mass OF dl-
rections preparatory to the real rehearsing
which is to come. Each actor comes upon
the stage with his typewriter part IN ms
hand and reads the lines as they are be-
fore him. Then the position which he Is
10 take is given to MN ny the author or
the stage manager. and all the numberiess
little actions which later appear so spon-
ianeous on his part-the business, as
they are called-are explained and given TO
him in minute detail. Until he has learned
these thoroughly in q mechanical way he
does not attempt to put any feeling into his
Precisely what each actor is going to do,
even to the smallest and seemingly most
trivial things. must be perfectly under
stood by everyone in the scene or confusion
would be likely to follow. Such questions
as Where am l TO find the paper for the
with this newspaper or book after 1 finish
reading it," and DO I put my hat on this
table when come IN or am 10 leave we II IN
the hall2" are continually asked and an
swered. As the act goes on the author or
manager takes note of the various proper
ties hitherto unthought OF. which VIII adu
20 the naturainess and completeness of the
scene. The property man, who Is
functionary of prime Importance. is also
present to receive instructions about his
work. Moreover, the property man is a
critic. and with the superstition which is
characteristic of the theatrical profession,
his good opinion OF the play is highly
esteemed by the average playwright.
Only the first act of a play is generally
presented at the first rehearsal. The re
manning acts are then taken up. one each
day until Il has all been gone through with
once BY this time there is a little more
human interest in the acting. and this i'm
proves steadily as the days so by. The au-
thor usually attends every rehearsal and
many dramatistS lay so much stress upon
the necessity Of this as to say that 4 play
IS chiefly written at its rehears;lls This
means that a constant succession of
changes are made as the defects in the
workmanship of the drama appear. Writ
Sen situations. that seemed true enough in
the authors study. come out with n false
ring when acted. Sometimes the whole eli
max of an act is changed.
Writers differ. of course. in their fondness
FOR altering their work, hut all do il more
or less. Miss Martha Morton. author of
"A Fool of Fortune" and others of Mr..
i Cranes Successes is uncommoniy critical
of her own plays. always attending the
whole series of rehearSals and conccmning.
rcmodelIng and pruning with an unsparlng
severity Owing 10 the numberless altera-
lions which occur up TO the very last re-
hearsal actors usually do not memorze
their parts until 81 is absolutely necessary.
Spirited arguments between the author and
the manager. or between either one of
these and the star as 10 how certain pass
ages are to he played frequently cause
long delays which are especially fatlgulng
to the other members OF the company.
Timing the Play.
And Just here comes in another import
mt point, which is the timing OF the play.
il II IS found that the length is such that
the audience would be In danger of spend
ing the night ut the theater, tremendous
amount Of cutting has TO be done. Plays
that are too long are more common than
those not long enough, as they 20. It is
usually reckoned that s typewritten page,
containing about thirty lines of dialogue,
VIII occupy one minute in delivery. Certain
in