Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-06
A Curious French Method

A Curious French Method
Let us take one or two examples Sc
lected from the French theater. The
authors of "Miquette ct Sa Mere" MN.
de Flers and de Caillavet, have related
that the origin of their comedy lay In
their having witnessed the charming per-
formance of Mile. Lavalliere in the pop
ularI operetta, Monsieur de la Palisse."
"Observe," said one to the other. how,
in addition to the seductiveness of her
fascinating personality, she combines all
the tenderness of thoughtful tempera-
ment."
what" exclaimed his comrade, 'lfe we
wrote play Tor her in which both these
qualities were blended? Think of the sue
cess we should all achieve" Who hit
upon the chosen theme neither was able
to say, but once selected I'VE sat down at
the same table, face to face pen in hand,
and hurled at each other questions and
replies across the intervening space" In
this way the work rapidly took form and
substance, until it emerged completed
manuscript.
AS against this, place the avowal of M.
Henry Bataille, author of "Poliche."
Here is my manner of procedure. Upon
some idea, philosophical or general, upon
some comprehensive human sentiment 1
graft certain characters best suited in my
judgment for its Interpretation. From
these characters, from the conflicts aris-
ing from their diverse views, spring the
situations. Thereafter l have merely to
write to observe, to recall past events,
and TO permit my people to follow the
thread of their own existence. That, 1t
appears to me, is the only way to con-
struct a drama in which situations and
characters form one homogeneous whole.
''As to 'Poliche,' this is how the play
developed itself. / had long thought of
writing a piece around the constant
struggle between the life exterior and
The life interior-in other words, between
the man as he really is and the man as
he appears to be- AS it happened, 1 was
returning one day from Trouville to Paris
full of the project. An unusually stout
gentleman jumped into the same COM
partment. He was a miracle of studied
yet comic elegance, while his expression
was strangely candid and frank What,
my friend, can you. beg said to myself;
what particular enigma do you enshrine,
and yet bear so benignant look? And,
taking him as a model for my hero, 1
wove around him the story of Poliche.' ;"
"Made to Order" Play
Consider for moment another branch
of the dramatists profession. Every day
we hear of a commission having been
accepted by popular playwright for a
piece to suit we'll known actor, actress,
or grouplof artists The question natur-
ally arises, How is such task, hedged
about as itSSis by so many obvious re-
strictions and difficulties, to be satisfac-
torily accomplished? tsl1
The brain, however, is a singularly
plant and responsive instrument, and any
one who has ever undertaken work of
the kind will tell how easy 1t is to create
a certain train of thought. AS matter
of fact, the circumstance that one has to
write with definite aim forms an ex-
ceIlent point d'appui. Shakespeare him
self doubtless realized that when he de-
clared, 'My naturelis subdu'd to what 1t
works in, like the dyer's hand" And 1t
Is no reproach to him to say that. all
though, as we know, he wrote for all
time, he not infrequently remembered
that he was also writing for the MEM
bers of the Globe Theater company.
For many years Sir w. 8. Gilbert con-
trived to fit the artists engaged at the
Savoy as neatly as well made glove fits
the hands. His, however, is an excep-
tional case, inasmuch as the characters
conceived by him for the purposes of his
various iibpetti can to large extent be
traced back to a common origin, that of
the "Bab Ballads"
In one of his famous prefaces Dumas
the Younger informed the world that he
himself was at loss to say how he pro-
duced LA Dame aux Camelias,' written.
by the by, in eight days, and that he
could only explain the achievement as
the outcome of youthful audacity and
good luck. W 81
Minnie Dupree, who is starring under Shu-
bert management this year In last season 5
hit. "The Road 10 Yesterday" declares that
at tho end of her tour she Will abandon the