The times., 1901-04-21


/ for the stage. The best novelists of the
| day are turning their attention 10 the
drama. and by the dramatizatfon Of their
| novels are learning dramatic technique.
After a while they will be putting their
genius directly into drama First they've
| got to master the language. You see all
| this means that the ievei OF dramatic
! work will be higher. More men OF real
l genius and literary ability viii be writ
ing for the stage. Too many drafnotists
have made a knowledge OF stagecraft
stand for genius. The good play needs
| both.
'"rhe next season will he fun Of drama
tized books Look at what an, 70 handle
| myseif-'A Gentleman of Indiana Alice
| Of Old Nincennes,' Forest Lovers Via
| Crucis.' 'Eben Holden. Castle Inn.'
| Richard Yea-and-Nay.' A Gentleman OF
| France, Joan of the Sword Hand and
a good many others
.ArC we to have a continued delUge of
French farce?'
There's always a demand for good
! French farce. The trouble IS to get 10
adapted well. Translation won't do.
There must be adaptation. and clever
adaptation at that. We haven't much
| light farce comedy of American output
yet. and France gives US the best we can
| get. English farce is usually impossible
| Clyde Fitch said TO me yesterday that in
| French farce the characters broke the
| Seventh Comma ndment and in English
| farce they broke the furniture. Well.
| there's the difference The latter may be
more moral, but ii isn't clever.
| The romantic plays haven't worn out
/ their popularity either They will always
I have good audience and just now they
/ have more than that. The problem play
| is the thing that has fallen OF. The big
/ public doesn't want It, A problem play
hdS SOI 10 De phehoihehalIy cieVer now
/ before III undertake to handle it. One or
/ two men can command a hearing for any
| old problem they choose TO exploit. but it's
! the playwright who wins the interest, not
| the problem. Things were different a few
years ago.
I'm tell you the play in which I have
! firm faith-the religious play. | only wish
| could get whole batch Of good ones.
Look at Ben Hur.' The receipts have
/ been simply astonishing. No play has
| excelied it. 1t floats on a tremendous
| wave of sentiment It's magnificent thing
for play to have the endorsement of
big percentage OF the clergy of a country
The regular theatregoers will go to see
the play. If it is well put on. and then
there will be an immense public for II that
would never dream of going TO an ordi-
| nary play.
mark my words. And I'll tell you some
thing else that l firmly believe. There's
! a great public waiting for Ben Hur IN
France. No. don't laugh / know what
/ am talking about In spite of Waldeck-
Rousseau and the anti-church talk. the
bulk of France is devOutly religious. No
public would respond more quickly TO a
strong spectacular religious drama
They've got to have Ben Hur.' Just give
me some fine religious plays. wouldn
ask anything better
'It was in Washington that / Joined the
Lawrence Barrett Dramatic Club. which
at that time included in it's membership
Wilton Lackaye and Charles B. Hanford,'
says Tim Murphy in a recent interview.
II took part in a number of plays pro-
duced By the club, but my chief talent
was for initiating famous actors and pub
lie men. Washington was a fine field for
the study of types. and although / did not
know it at the time, learned then and
there how to play Col. Maverick Brander
in a Texas Steer That, | take 1t. is not
a bad example of the working process OF
a character actors art. The Brander that
1 presented to the public view was COM
posite picture of a score OF Western Sena-
tors and Representatives The smile OF
one the attitude of another, the favorlte
gesture of a third. all went into the Char-
acteriZation. An actors mind is sort
of Junk shop, filed with a motley oouec-
ton of human characteristics. When re
gets a new role he goes TO his mental
attic and selects what will suit the part
Then he patches these characteristics to-
gether and he has an impersOnation-One
that is human, because every movement
and expression is drawn directly from
human model. At least, that is my idea
of Tiny working system.
Where were We? Still in Washing
ton? Yes. yes-well, in 1885 / came 20
New York and made my first real pro-
stage. / gave limitations OF Lawrence
Barrett, Henry Irving. John McCullough,
John A Mac<ay, NJ. B. Curtis, and FRANK
Mayo. in their famous characters. and Tor
a youngster / think 1 did fairly well. At
ter doing my limitations in all the i'm
portant vaudeville theatres for several
seasons, and travelling a season with
Frank Sanger. l was engaged by Hoyt &
Thomas in 1855, for principal roles in the
Hoyt farces. l originated the role OF
Dodge Work in A Brass Monkey and
fyVn Then 1 originated
Col. Maverick Brander, in A Texas Steer.
in which role l appeared for four seasons
My first thea tricaI venture on my own
account was in 1893, when L organized a
company and went on the road in Lem
Kettle The piece was not success,
so / secured the rights to A Texas Steer,
and continued through another season as
Col. Maverick Brander. My next play
was old Innocence, adapted from an old
French theme. upon which at least twen-
ty pieces, including a Pair of Spec
tacles' have been written. IL is one of
my faVOrite plays, and some of these
days / shall revive ]" "
Early this season the Bostonians made
tour through the Southwest and in or
der to make the trip bearable a special
train, with the adjunct of dining car and
Pullman. was secured by the manage
ment. The porters who were in charge
of the sIeepers were not on good terms
and one of them was quite a character,
relates W. Fl. Macdonald. the popular
baritone of this company. Always a lover
of a good story and a keen observer of
human nature, he tells of Bob" the
porter in question, with a great deal of
relish.
While Bob enjoyed life in general,
he didn't care much for the theatre, and
spent his time when off duty and during
the intervals of the various stops en-
route shooting craps. Finally. at Mr..
MacDOnalds s solicitation, he was induced
to witness a performance of THE Sere-
made" and when questioned about it af-
ter the performance replied that he only
heard two acts and had left because the
third act was the same as the first This
apparent paradox was explained by the
synopsis set forth in the programme,
which read. Act 1. The Castle of the
Duke of Santa Cruz. Act 3. Same as
Act l.
This Will be the last week OF the La
fayette stock company under the manage
ment of Walter Clark Bellows and Thorn
n I