The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-02-23

il the Play which was written less
than ten times by these modern exem-
plarS of David and Jonathan.
When drama is prepared in col
liberation, no man may say which is
the property Of A and which of B.
One might as well try to show to the
naked eye the atoms of a chemical
salt and point out which belong to
the acid and which to the base He
who beholds this remarkable play may
say that he thinks he recognizes the
hand of Belasco in some startling bit
of stage magic or that q sonorous line
is the work of Dong. The Darling of
the Gods" will bear no such dissec-
ton. It is impossible now to say which
is Long and which is Belasco, and
how much each contributed, for the
authors themselves do not know.
What Is Atmosphere?
The great success of THE Darling
of the Gods rests on something little
understood and difficult to define 1t is
due to that quality which for lack of a
better name, plaYWrights call atmos-
phere. ;s-. h-7 e7"
And you ask me" said David Be
lasco, what is atmosphere ?"
He picked up file letter case and
threw it over on a desk.
"Suppose,'4 he continued, that in
that box is all that is, known about
Japan. Can atmosphere be taken from
a pasteboard box or from pile of
books? Why, then cannot thousands
of successful Japanese plays be turned
out in the course of a year? Here I
take war god, a lacquered floor, a
man, false mustache, a light here
and light there. arrange them and
rearrange them. Do get atmosphere?
Atmosphere is largely matter of feel
ing and of temperament 1t is the ap-
probation which the playwright has
of his theme
In his view Of atmosphere, John
Luther Long. shares the ideas of his
associate. The writing ofda book and
the building Of a play are dissimilar
occupations, yet on the printed page,
Mr.. Long shows that appreciation OF
theme and detail Which goes to create
atmosphere. ~~fi - - @''
In that remarkable book, "The
Prince of Illusion the persons of the
story are a blind child and his mother;
the properties, a bed, and a ray of sun
story is one of pathetic yet fascinat-
ing interest. In Naughty Man," Mr..
Long depicted young woman who
had many admirers. Her f1irtations
were q subject of grave concern to a
young man who felt called upon to
extricate her from situations in which
frivolity involved her. The charm of
Naughty Nan" seems to be in it's
delicacy of sentiment, and in the cIev-
erness of expression. Yet it is really
due to the atmosphere of modern life
which it breathes in every line.
"A story" said Mr.. Long, appeals
to the mind. The printed page is read
carefully and with critical eye open
for flaws of diction, crudeness of work.
manship, looseness of style. What
passes very we'll for pathos on the
stage would often be reduced to pa
thos in a book. The spoken words do
not appeal to the senses as do the
printed words, which you can turn
back to and read again. In a play, the
idea is to arouse emotions in an audi
ence not so much by the motive that
prompts the words. The mere words
themselves are of secondary impor-
lance"
The Theme Develops.
THE Darling of the Gods" was slow
in growing. A year and a half passed
before the play was finally completed,
and In every minute of that it seemed
as though it was on the minds of it's
authors. The dominant note was that
tragedy which is compressed in the
fate of the Samurai deprived by law
of the two swords which were the out
ward signs of their old-time chivalr~y
their souls!
Then came the variations, the growth
of the story of the love of the Princess
Yo-San for Kara. leader of the Sa-
mural; how she betrayed his men to
save him from the glowing fires of the
torture chamber of the minister of
war, the Staying of the last ten, the
suicides of Kara and of Yo-San. A
dark and gloomy tragedy it may seem,
yet so well is the material employed, so
subtle, and SO we'll done is the strik-
ing Of the chords of emotion, that the
play absolutely enthralls the auditor.
Then the last effect built upon this
wonderful witchery, the translation of
the lovers to the great white heaven.
after Yo-San has passed through the
River OF Souls Everywhere in the
construction of the play, the collabor-
ators were beset by pitfalls, yet they
achieved a triumph of art, notable in
the history of the American stage.
Every energy was bent to the attain
ling of atmosphere. A situation here. a
word there, bits of stage magic, panto-
mime, music-all were employed with
la delicacy and Skill The charm of
THE Darling of the Gods is the soul.
1.-THE essence of a play which men call
atmosphere. After all the work was
done, after the play had been rehears-
led, changed shifted and tested from all
points of view, Messrs. ,Belasco and
Long realized that they had reached
1.-THE goal toward which they had so
long Striven. Il am sure that even in
Japan such well-devised play as
yours will scarcely be found. 1 simply
wonder how you were able to imagine
so Well the real scenes of the Japanese