The Washington times., 1901-12-29

Is no lack OF material. I myself receive
for examination about six plays a week
an average OF one for each working day
OF these read all that come from writer's
who are known to me hy reputation; the
others | hand over to my stage manager;
he reads and assorts for my attention
those manuscripts that are promising
Among them all We find many that have a
great deal Of merit. Most OF these come
from inexperienced writer's: others come
from literary men. who at present are
greatly attracted to the stage.
The trouble with literary men os play
vrights is that they show tendency TO
make their characters talk instead OF
making them act: that is TO say, they re-
late the story in a series OF dialogues
rather than in movement. Now the
whole question of plGywritng depends
upon action, action, action; the characters
must work out the plot. Sometimes the
plot works out Of character. In setting
out to write. the dramatist should bear in
mind that he must. in the first place. have
dramatic story to tell he must tell II
tcrsely and logically. each part being In
it's proper place, all parts closely welded
together into complete. well-r0unded
drama. II must be a story susceptible OF
constant development The dialogue. In
tplitpUt - tue last AUtliE " w NttuNEhi
OF After ALL the real work OF q dramst
ist IA done before he puts pen to paper;
nc must have conceived the general plan
TIE architectural scheme-and into this
he must have woven the incidents, which
should not only be interesting in them
selves, but should be a natural outcome
of the story; should. indeed. be a part OF
the very warp and woof.
"0f course. there are some good writer's
for the stage, whose work violates this
rule; but they are exceptions. Some. for
example. excel in character and incident
rather than in any strong plot. But very
unusual skill and invention are needed to
make a play successful by strength Of in
cident Yet a play of this sort may be
very fine. For example. Bronson How
ards Henrietta, which as a play OF
contemporaneous interest / consider one
of the best American plays ever written.
is SO rich in incident that the story is
OF comparatively little account. II teens
with life; it is brilliant in colOring and
in character drawing. And with what
mastery skill every detail is managed.
At the end Of each act. the main thread
Of the narrative, which for a time has
been lost sight OF. is taken UP again. and
the interest is carried over to the begin
ming OF the next act. In it comedy and
drama were equally commingled-a rare
art.
"on the whole. take an optimistic
view Of the future of the American drama.
But l realize that. compared with the
French and German writer's for the stage.
our writer's are Handicapped.
Besides being outspoken and bold In
the treatment Of themes tabooed in Eng
land and America. the French are very
prolx. French dramatists like to write
wordy plays. with endless speeches. and
the French theatregOers-all the French
are theatregoers, for that matter-are
good listeners. A French actor enjoys
nothing better than to walk down to the
footlights. harangue the audience then
walk across the front OF the stage and re-
peat the operation. But the restless
American will not endure play that
gives actors too much of this. We are
busy. energetic people, and we want our
plays to be crisp in dialogue and quick in
action. In adapting plays from the French
our authors have to do a great deal Of
pruning. The pruning process, by the
way. / have found to be essential with
nearly all plays. Any prolixity in the
dialogue becomes very apparent When the
piece is put on for rehearsal. As | have
said q play is a thing OF action. not OF
words and when &; is being given it IS
often found that some Of its words are
actually in the way and hamper the move
ment.
The best dramatists are those who are
most in sympathy with actors. One rca
son why so many English dramatists are
successful is because they have been act
ors themselves.
"A clever author will give every actor
something worthy OF his art; this stimu
lates him So he makes the best Of his
opportunity. and when every actor in the
cast does this. the effect is that Of we'll
rounded drama perfectly played. In
brief to be able to produce this etA,t Is
the secret OF playmakiGg.