The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-01-26
WOMAN AS DRAMATIST.
DOES SHE WRITE BETTER PLAYS
THAN HER MALE RIvALs

Exceptions in the Case of Made
line Lucette RyIey and Others.
Excellent in Character Drawings,
but Poor in Details.
From the Kansas City Star.
After the men novelists had taken to
romantic stories of brave men cutting
their way to striump of love by slash
ing about with their trusty blades, the
women novelists took up the theme and
made the. slashers ever so much more
bloody and terrible. So with the ro-
mantle dramas, often founded on ro-
mantle novels. Men started in to make
them, but the women were not slow in
drifting into the same business. Mrs.
Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote her
novel and made her play out of 1t. Mrs.
Burton Harrison wrote her sketch and
her play. Miss Sutherland dramatizes
Mr.. Booth Tarkington's story. Mrs.
Madeline Lucette Ryly turns out
dramas as regularly as Mr.. Clyde Fitch.
Miss Martha Morton, a veteran of dra-
matte success, has her particular stars
circling the dramatic armament. Miss
Marguerite Warrington has the sparkle
and movement of "Letterblair" and
other plays to her credit. So there Is
no end of examples of what women can
do in dramatic construction.
But if this process of feminizing the
stage goes on with its present celebrity
the field will be pretty well occupied
by lady dramatists.
What will they make of our stageE
What kind of play will they give us?
"You ask me what difference l note
between the work of women and that
of men who write for the stage? SAID
Charles Frohman.
More especially as to the qualities
you find in the work of women"
81 have found" he said, as he walked
around the desk, that women Write as
bad plays as men,"
But the good plays, the plays at
any rate, that you producer?
"A good play" he said, with the in
sistence of the practical man, is
good play. 1t has no sex. In the case
of the good plays eXcrescences are
clipped off, roughnesses are iron out;
this is built up, that chopped down;
gaps are bridged-a hundred things are
done that go to make good play OF
the material that has been handed in.
So. as a piece of construction, it has 10
sex quality. AS to dialogue, it is much
the same thing. If a lady writes too
much dialogue the surplus goes in the
waste basket. Dialogue is the least
thing in a successful play, compared
with the story and the way 1T is told
in action. Let woman bring me
good, workmanlike story and Ill not
quarrel over the amount l have 10 cut
out.
"There are some things outside the
xr-L1n q s
seq telIs-in the decorations and the
costume. Take Mrs. Ryley, for IN
stance. She goes about like a little
cyclone until she has everything OF
that kind in the way she wants IL.
1t saves everybody trouble. Clyde Fltcn
has that quality, too, and Will work All
night over some stage detail But IN
all women it is born"
Turning suddenly on his heel IN MS
walk up and down, he said:
'There is one important difference:
Women in drawing men, hit upon CHAR
acteristics that escape the observation
of men. You see, they look upon man
from the outside. They have a long
list of eXcellences in men-the excel
Iences that recommend or endear men
in their eyes-and by using these ex-
cellences for their characters they often
make a revelation. Where too many OF
these are crowded in, the man, while
an impossible creature in the eyes OF
the men, becomes just too lovely In
the. eyes of the women. l think, too,
that women are more apt to reveal the
unpleasant side of woman than men
are. In other words, they draw more
likeable, high-fiown men and meaner,
catlike women than men do. The1r
tendency is in that direction"
eff a little bit aside from the ques-
ton in hand, may 1 ask if you think
the opposite true as to men writing
about women"
Decidedly. Men discover graces IN
women that are a revelation to wo-
men. 1 am sure that ]. M. Barrie
has hit upon more Of these curious,
cute attributes of womanly attractive
ness in Quality street than dozen
women dramatists would think Of In
a year. 1 don't believe a woman could
write 'Frou-Frou.' Clyde Fitch has
soma fine insight into women's ways.
but coming back to the practical
question" he continued, "the plays
that are best for women stars and the
plays that please women seem to be
more and more in the ascendant in
America"
According to your theory, Mr.. Froh-
man, plays written by men and doing
all that high and kindly thing by wo-
men should be better for the present
demand"
"They must fight that out among
themselves. Women are quicker 10
pick UP tricks than men, and original
discovery is not always necessary. Inc
women of America are largely the con-
trollers of the American stage to-day.
They stay away unless by some secret
intelligence they learn that the play
answers to their standards. That be-
ing so, that being known to be so,
what more natural than that women
should more and more feel that they
had the mental and moral outfit to
III the demand for plays of the woman
winning kind? Nevertheless, it is not
always true that the artist can draw
his own picture as well as anybody
else's.
"There is a decided drift to the wo-
man star. Mr.. Gillette said that to me
two years ago-before 1 recognized 1t.
Miss Adams has drawn over $4,000 to
the Knickerbocker Theater this week.
The interest in woman's art, in her
personality, in her charm, Is becoming
a sort of religion in America.
"And you are a high priest?"
my business is behind the scenes,
said Mr.. Frohman, except when sit
in front at rhearsal."
Traits of Woman Plnywrtghts.
$50 far as am concerned" said the
veteran manager, A. NJ Palmer, whom
one catches nowadays at the Herald
Square Theater, II have not had many
active dealings with women authors.
only recollect being interested In the
production Of two plays whose authors