The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1899-04-27
HOW TO WRITE 4 plAv


tTRs
aquestion asked of David Belasoa "'
ana hereplied; First of all, it mus,
be congenial TO the symnathioa S ~
the human mind, especially as re-. y.
CARDS the master passion-love. coo
ondly, tim have strong and nova,
situations brought about in natural
and simple ways; thirdly, the nlot
should not require deep or djftirnIt It
analysis, by which the audience NAV
be wearied and puzzled with th;nl: as
ing, thereby losing the thread ~ af
the story; fourthly, the languaee
OF the characters should be pIain
direct and easy to understand and
the incidents. whether comic m or
tragic, should drop in as nearly 90
possible as they might happen in in
real life. Aperfect play is condensed
reality"
how do you write your plays
do you dictate them or use a new
pal.o oI my plays" re-
sponded Mr.. Belasco, (which re-
quire study, such as reference 70
science, music or art, / write NV
self. But when / get to the more
human side-when the villain and |
the heroine and the hero and ner.
haps the soubrette, are hard at work
making dramatic history, then !
prefer to dictate. Ny thoughts travel
fast then. / become the character
am creating, aot the part from be-
ginning to end, feel every emo !,
ton, | swear, | curse, I cry and
laugh by turns, and all this time
i am debating as fast as the STE
nographer can take my words. or
course / have my spells of work
when can do more work in three
days than can manage at another
time in month"
Then | made him sit bolt upright
by firing the following question at
him; WHO in your opinion is the ,,
best American dramatic writer of +.
serious partsl" After a few mo,
ments thought he regained his com
posure and replied: You have asked I
me question which would be ex- =
tremely difficult to answer without b
hurting somebody's feelings The n
accepted leaders of the American a
1rama are all men of education and il
talent, or they could not be accepted Il
as leaders. They write as experts "
1ot as apprentices, and each has his 81
'wn peculiar manner of treatment. a
You cannot make comparison among il
Bronson Howard, William Gillette. si
Augustus Thomas, Paul Potter. Il
rankin Fyles and various others.
including our women playwrights. al
Writing a play is far more difficult l.
han any one imagines, and the lii
playwright has to master his trade, n.
ust as does the shoemaker and the gc
sa
wherein do American play it
rights differ from English, French to
nd German authors2'' co
They differ little from their Brit kn
h brethren save in being untram- th
'eled by dramatic censorship. The dit
nblic is their consor, and suffi- tri
emily severe one. The fact that fro
merican plays are transferred un- off
tered to the London stage and are tai
ere received as to the manner lift
'rn proves their family likeness. VII
10 Germans differ from the Amer the
ans by looking less to the events dee
an to the theories, to action than loo
disquisition, to reality than to SIN
ealism; also in treating of polit- sin
II and social questions in didac ere
style which the American more mo
tent brain would not endure. The hoy
nerican playwright differs from wo
French in the looseness of con to {
uction-restriction in dialogue.
'ecially in the length and diffu- a n
eness of speeches and in the reti- it f
ice due to the distaste of the pub the
for suggestive allusions foreign nea
the temper of the American peo- tax
, which the Puritan element still Ii
'tlnues to influence. In my opin- the
dramatic writing has gained in last
'plicity and directness, but lost ples
purely literary quality. When fina