The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-16
HOW TO WRITE Il PLAY.
David BeIasco Talks Instructively or the Are
or the Dramatist.
From the Daily Telegraph.

From the Daily Telegraph.
What constitutes o financially and popular
ly successful playf' was a question asked OF
David Belasco, and he replied: First of all 1t
must be congenial to tho sympathies of the hui
man mind, especially as regards the master
passion-love. Secondly, 1t must have strong
and. novel; situations. brought about In nat
ural and simple ways. Thirdly, tho plot should
not require deep or difficult analysis, by which
the audience may be wearied and puzzled with
thinking, thereby losing the thread OF the story.
Fourthly, the language of the characters should
be plain, direct, and easy TO understand, and
drop in as nearly as possible as they might
happen in reai life. A perfect play is con-
How do you write your plays-do you do
pe slrhsso .lp% pert, Of rod my piSys~ responded Mr..
ence to science, music, or art. ! write myself.
But when ! get to the moro human side when
perhaps the soubrette, arc hard at work making
dramatic history; then l prefer to dictate, My
ter I am creating, / act The part from beginning
TO end feel every emotion.I swear 4 curse.
am debating, as fast as the stenographcr can
take my words. OF course, l have my spells Of
than I can manage at another time in a month"
Then made him sit bolt upright by firing
opinion is the hest American dramatic writer
Of serious partsf,, After a few moments
thouRht ne rcRaiHed his C0npoSure and replicd:
You have asked mo n question which would
be extremely difficult to answer without hurt.
ing somebody's feelings. The accepted leaders
OF the American drama arc all men OF aduaa-
tion and talent, or they could not be accepted
as leaders. They write ns experts. not as APP
prentices. and each has his own peculiar man
son among bronson Howard, William Gillette.
augustus, Thomas. Paul Potter, Franklin
Fyles. and various others. including our women
playwrights. Writing a play is far more diff
cult than any one imagines, and the playwright
has TO master his trade, just as does tho shoe
maker and the carpenter"
Wherein do American playwrights diffeP
from English. French. and German authorsi''
"They differ little from their British brethren
save In being untrammelled by dramatic CEN
sorship. The public H. their censor. ard "A suf.
%flciently severe one. The fact that American
plays are transferred unaltercd to the London
stage, and are there received rs to the manner
born. proves their family likeness. The Ger.
mans differ from tho Americans by looking less
10 the events than to the theorieS--to action
than 10 disquisition-to reality than 10 ideal
questions in Q didactic style, which the Ameri-
can more patient brain would not endure. The
American playwright differs from the French
In the looseness OF OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES in
dialognc, especially In the length and diffusivs-
ness of speeches and In the rcticcnce due TO the
foreign 10 the temper OF tho American people.
which the Puritan element still continues to
influence. In my opinion dramatic writing has
gained in simplicity and direCtsoss. hut lost
In purely literary quality. When people want
70 enjoy me writing they seek 1t nowadays in
What Is the best ingredient OF a good playi"
'Of the hundred ingredients that go to make
up a perfect play ninety-nine are love-gtagO
pictures mako the hundredth."