The Washington times., 1903-02-15

ThCatcr several weeks ago they cN-
empIffcd one OF the strongest char /
acteristics Of the modern stage. That
they we're received and judged sole /
" on their merits indicates that
this characteristic has ceased TO be /
noteworthy and that the whole world OF
American theatcrgocrs now accepts 1t |
as a matter of course.
The phase Of modern stagecraft indi- /
Gated is the rise, success. and now i'm
pending supremacy OF woman play
wrights. Never before have so many
PLAYS from woman writer's been behind
the footlights Withal, this feminine
invasion has been accomplished by
worthy means. The plays presented com
pare very favorably with the general
plays written by men. excepting alone
the productions of Rostand and Phil
lips. They are. moreover, nearly all Of
a clear literary merit and exceptionally
high in moral tone. II ought to be OF
some interest then. TO note their au-
thors.
After the usual summer silly season
OF musical comedy" wherein there is
as a rule neither music not yet comedy.
the regular winter season in New York
opened simultaneously ar the Biiou with
and at WaIIack's with Mrs. Jack" by
Grace Livingston Furness-both deal
ing with modern New York society
Mrs. Hainos. who is probably the
youngest OF the woman playwrights,
looks not more than five and twenty
Hearts Ahamo'' has been hailed as
Mrs. Haiues' first play. But Mrs. Haines.
while pleased with her success. says
efF
as a playwright overnight you know.
I may have been fourteen when I wrote
my first play. It was called a Rocky
Mountain Waif-' Hearts Afiame' is my
first Broadway production, but I hope
q may not be my last"
Mrs. Haines has had little stage ex-
perience; just enough. she says. to en-
able her TO understand stage limitations
in writing her plays Her husband.
Robert Haines. is an actor who has Of
late played leading parts with Mrs.
Fiske.
Grace Livingston Furness is the story
writer developed into a playwright She
is delicate looking. slight and nervous
in the extreme. Her name has long been
familiar to readers OF the magazines as
one whose stories have always repaid
the reading But she. too. claims TO have
aimed always at the drama rather than
at fiction. In fact. all Of these women
seem to have written their first play at
about the time they put on their first
long skirts
Hitherto Miss Furness has been
known as a playwright only through her
dramatization in collaboration with Alb
bic Sage Richardson Of The Pride Of
Jennico. Egerton Castles story. in
which James X Hackctt starred not
long ago. She "rcintroduced" Eliza
beth Tyree to New York as a star in
a work entitled 'Gretna Green"
While two woman dramatists were in
possession almost opposite one another
OF the Bijou and WalIaek's, two more
established themselves temporarily ar
the Columbia In this city. There Min
ME Dupree made her stellar debut
in "A Rose o. Plymouth Town,
by Evelyn Greenleaf Sutherland and
Beulah Marie Dix. Shortlived as II
was. the play had special interest as
a study Of New England life I'm Colonial
times. and Mrs. Sutherland and Miss
Dix both know their ground well. Both
are Boston women, reared in an at
mosphere OF New England tradition.
Mrs. Sutherland is. to use her owl
expression. Boston lath and plaster.
and the wife or John Preston Suther
land dean OF the medical school o
Boston University. For more than
decade she acted as dramatic critic 70
a leading Boston newspaper. and abOu
ton years ago. after having obtained
considerable name as magazine writer
she turned dramatist. In collaboration
with Emma sheridan Fry and Captain
Charles King. its author. she dramatizc
Fort Frayue." for Alexander SaIvin
she wrote "Rohan, the Silent" in col
liberation with the author she drama
tizcd Booth TarkiuEton's "Monsieu
Beaucaire' for Richard Mansfield. las
season. and for Henrietta Crosman sh
wrote Joan o. the Shoals"
Miss Dix is new 10 dramatic work. bu
has established a literary reputatio
both by her novels and her short storic
always dealing with life ia the Ne
England colonies She was born an
brought up IN Plymouth. and is gradt
ate OF Radcliffe College She did SON
playwriting during her college days Il
her classmates, and has written a coup
OF short plays which are popular wit
the dramatic schools. but "The Rose
was her FIRST real production"
Madeleine Lucette Ryley is producir
three plays this winter, and the first
them, IAN American Invasion" play,
by J. =. Dodson and Annie Irish. r.
placed Hearts Ahame" early IN Noveu
her. About a month later the Goodwin
appeared 81 the Knickerbocker in &C
the Altar Of Friendship and stiIl lat
Annie Russell opened her season wi
Mfrp md a NOV
the East though the last two have bee
played before-"Mice and Men" i'm 10
don last season and ION the Altar
Friendship in the West by Jack NJ
son
SO many successful plays have bOri
Tho signature Of Madeleine Lucette r,