New-York tribune., 1903-01-23
TIRE GOERS' TASTES
What americans Like on the Stage
W0men Make or Break Plays.
nmonnlano h,,t healthr >,

This is the succinct way In which Marie Doran.
the playwright, sums up the taste of the theatre
going public Of America The reason why more
actors do not write plays" said she. she sat
In the pretty uptown apartment where she lives
with her mother. is because they look at the play
from the actors standpoint instead Of that OF the
audience. An actor will saw. What magnificent
part He is thinking of its possibilities for the actor
Of the way it viii impress the audience After
nv Carmen produced in 1896 I gave up all
work for while. and delivered myself over TO thea
tregoing I went to theatres of every grade in
all parts of the country and sat in the orchestra
the balcony and the gallery. for the sole purpose
getting the viewpoint of the audience. 1 formed
my opinion the remarks heard. I have written
around that opinion and the result has justified
my policy 4 chance remark of woman IN the
Metropolitan Opera House last winter gave me the
idea for a five minute scene: and five minutes is a
good deal in play
II have learned a good deal more in the galleries
than in the orchestra. The people downstairs are
too tulid. or too polite or too blase 10 express
their feelings fully. But the people upstairs have
such scrupes, they Influenced by the
reputation OF either actors or playwrights
They give you the benefit OF their exact sentiments
and you may be sure that. although the people in
the 81 seats not talking quite much, they
Influenced by about the same feelings
What is my conclusion the taste of the
American thea tregofng public? To describe it in
three words Commonplace. but healthy Certain
sentiments will catch them every time Certain
scenes always popular. scene may be pro-
duced downtown and another in Harlem An actor
or a playwright knows it is the same scene with
simply change of names and few minor details
But the audience does not know 1t. and applauds
just heartily as if it had never seen it before
THE masses do not like problem plays; they do
not like plays that make them think, or give them
g vaguely uncomfortable feeling. They do not
Ike tragedy, but if you give them good. strong
love story you may harrow them up al you like
and they will stand it, IL you only give them
a happy ending. They demand happy ending.
This is the commonplace side The healthy side
is that they do not like the erotic, the suggestive,
the immoral the degenerate They like good.
clean. pure, healthy sentiment. If ii were not for
New-York there would be no demand for any other
kind Of plays III America New-York is the only
place large enough to support erouc plays Inc
fact that they are produced here gives them a
vogue elsewhere New-York leads and fixes stand
ards.
The people like high comedy; they Ike domestic
comedy like The Old Homestead and Way Down
East: they like period plays. In fact. I believe
they like plays with historical setting better
than those Of present day life. They like romantic
plays Appeal to patriotic feeling always get
response from the galleries. but the better class
OF people consider them rather cheap You can
mix in a little politics. a little war, little ad-
venture, but there is nothing that catches the
whole crowd but love
Love reigns supreme the American stage
1t has no rival, and play can be successful
without a strong love interest
II read the daily papers constantly for material
said Miss Doran, and often work in incidents
from real life which I find there Some one Will
draratize that''-ponting to a newspaper account
of the revolt of the Crown Princess Of Saxony-
There you have & play ready made-a high com
edy In high life But II would have to be altered
in one salient feature. The children would nave
to be eliminated. No playwright would care 10
represent the princess deseTting her children Ior
he could not carry the sympathy of the women
And there is no use blinking the fact II play
does not capture the women 1t is failure Inc
women Of this country support the stage WIN
the exception Of vaudeville. If It were not for
the women there would be no legitimate drama IN
America There would be theatres no actors
no pIaywrights; for the large majority OF men
only go to the theatre because the women want
them to- No matter whether a playwright likes
the idea not, he has got TO please the "0
or his plays viii be failure
Mrs Charles DoremUs. who wrote The circus
Rider" which Rosina Vokes played for SIX soHo
years and which has kept the road e eYeT b ot
enecessfIiI nIays OF the future will come from the
Combined efforts of the novelist and The dramatst,
play" said she: but the dF4InaIzatiio4 59 n9 can
write play is as as ore who can , write "a a
has only to seize the scissors and the gluePot 70
ger a good play AS matter OF oLS 1aG'i i - -GsL5
Take The Scarlet Letter for instance. the no5I @
dramatic book n the ERgnSn a@i oF those EXQUISITE
Speeches could used in the drarnatlzatlQh 4ahe are
55Ihe-t ParIer's books, dramatic as they can
be- None Of them have made suceessIG5 success u Pras Pras
hi dramatiZatiOn- the same - E0
Of Crawford when he did the work himself Ihe
inventive powers of the novelist ! believe ia5
zvree5 those of the dramatist PlaYWrlSiits' as d
rIIIe have not highly developed Imaginative poSM-
T,Isvvrrights throw them into shape foT the sLage
Sf~e T(0remuss Scarlet Letter Is pldy4hs
+II-o1Itrt7 %ev--Yorl. State this winter.
In adapting foreign plays tqT me I1t o1It
so much of the conversation ana supply SO
stage business. that it is practically a new Piay;
7faIk1+ nIays They demand short bright olal9gu5
80 ,yan+v of action: and speeches IN the n0oeEn
I7ranrh piavs absolutely pages lGis- AII = -
bunz1o's plays are an example Of the CohuHeilaI
loSaS S1+ - Marion who In private life is Mrs Her
- f5o-be{ro sat in the library OF her nome, IN
West Nineteth-st., and declared: me gIo1 g4 II rar
world viii furnish more materlaI nun, nun r C1il
ea gor The rest OF my life. There is much more
o.,od man bad in human nature, and the worst
90 r9asnpst Of mankind viii applaud the g99Cu
g. ~ 80 a-d the beautiful the stage Inc
~ Ir{.ar TI-hc likes good character drawing ana
a genuine human interest never yet put a cnai @
acTer in a play that was not taken LIoll So4I40 O
.t7tirere are certain fixed rules for the prodqc-
~ continued, and IheSe Iuteo
are unaterable and invlolabe me peIoH peIS(i Tay Ti
form % them can write SucCeaFI "a PLaS
IIs Who cannot Will fail So II Goesnt MAKE aLy
5iffarerce whether a or woman IS lhe p!dHEI
wright praistng mans Ply. [il5 .air1os+
sometimes remark that he has toucheS I'm :.
fsr7irine' in their deIicacy. In woman pay -
E nc strong vrile touches that elicit MS COIL
S9.r,5s+ioT Fur it doesn't really make any az
Fa-g-rs THE plays the thing. no matter WHO
Ms Morton was the first American woman to
l,rea through the barriers that heogeu IN a. 90
,,If-1i- of he American drama. away PACK N 81
60 vrcrs The first realistic play or wan SIIeel
iffa sTba Merchant and every play she haS eve
written is on the stage this winter
1cr PAINTER MEMORIAL