Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-12-17

called "Heartsease.' written by j. J. c..
Clarke and myself in which Henry Miller
l had ihe leading part The riay Itself
was thoroughly effective Bat what
am saying is that in the long run such
CONSTANTS are bound to prove dsas-
Tous to the best workings OF any au-
thOrs intellect
The Lion and tho Mouse" is the first
play I have written where I have not
had 10 change scene or line 20 con-
form 70 the temperament Of the actor.
The consequence Is the idea Of the play
stands out more prominently than the per
sonality OF the leading actor. This fact
l feel 10 certain extent accounts for it,
success.
There seems to be a managerial axiom
that play cannot succeed in drawing the
public unless IL has headline in the
shape Of prominent name. Consequently
PLAYS are ordered to be made for and
actresses pretty much like frocks and
dress coats. The author is supposed TO
guarantee the fit. As a result the Ameri-
he should lead, finds himself helplessly
conforming to an utterly false canon Of
dramatic composition. His object becomes
to write "a goOd-ftting play rather than
good play in Itself and of course the
better II suits the star the more likely 1t
is to be produced.
This notion Of the play as a kind Of
evening gown to be cut, basted and fused
with until it hangs smooth on the figure
it was meant for leads to a still worse
consequence. 1t encourages the actor de-
lberately to dictate scenes and situations
in which he knows he can excel and
characterizations which he knows to be
becoming. This habit once acquired the
actor begins TO think it impossible for
him 20 appear in any but his most APP
proved kinds Of work. and season after
season one can predict from his name
almost exactly the style OF play in which
he will appear. This is one reason why
the public so quickly tires of certain stars.
They and their plays become after a time
intolerably, monotonously practicable.
When one deliberately writes a light
opera book or a play OF non-serious nature
Tor some particularly clever singer or
actor, the author expects, as matter of
peculiarities. In writing "El Captain" and
The Charlatan' for De Wolf Hopper, for
example, l had constantly to keep in mind
Mr.. Hopper,s sanguinely apoplectic tenn
permanent. II line did not seem the kind
Of thing that belonged to such a tempera-
ment, never mind how apropos 1t might be
TO the play, | had to cut l. out SO quick
is an audience to discern the tempera-
mental unftness of dialogue that no mat
ter how funny line may be in itself ii
will win no laugh. Thus the very play itself
must take on the line and hue Of the
central figure. And when We are. com
PEELED TO keep that central figure in the
middle of the stage for three hours, one
can plainly see how often the inner nee
essties must he sacrificed
l remember in The Royal Rogue,
which l wrote for JEFF D'Angelis, l had
finally to cut out most important scene
speak lines which merely developed the
plot without raising a laugh
But, my dear fellow l demonstrated
that scene is absolutely necessary to the
plot. The audience won't understand the
story without It,"
"Well there's a good laugh, in the mex
scene. and they'll understand that" wa;
the comedians argument.
And so the play had to go on minus
part of its plot.
In these days when soubrettes, leading
ladies and matinee heroes bound suddenly