Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-05-09
English Audiences Are
Worried by AIDES Slang

the English reputation of American
acting in her production OF Mrs. HUM
phIy Wards revised stage version OF
''The Marriage OF William Ashe.' by
general consent Of the critics, she was
much hotter than the play The version
presented here was considerably differ
emf IRON the version given IN America
The distinguished author of the book of
which the play Is q decentralization col
labo,ated with Miss Margaret Mayo IN
repairing the play for English use. In
commenting on this play in the Iele-
graph" w. l.. Courtney, editor OF the
''Fortnightly Review" made some OBJ
servations on the dramatization OF
novels that are so much to the point
as to be worth quoting
again and again" he says, lit has
been pointed out that between the ART
OF the writer of romance and the arr
of the dramatist there lies gulf so
wide as hardly to he bridged over. IL Is
not that the material at the disposal
of each varies TO an appreciable de-
gree; rather Is II that the manner OF
handling necessarily differs largely.
About tho work of the true playwright
there Is directness. concentration,
an intensity which his brother crafts-
man Is rarely II ever. called upon TO
cultivate: he thinks in situations, ne
keeps his eyes fixed unfaillngly upon
straight to the desired point BY a
gesture, by a look. in a flash of silence
more eloquent than speech, he liz able
to express as much as the novelist Will
in a dozen pages or an entire chapter
No better advice was ever given TO the
tribe of adapters than that, II they
would reduce a published story TO Ora
matte form, their first step, after read
ing the book. should be to throw IL
al
central idea Absolute loyalty to the
original author is, indeed, not infre-
ouently the least valuable asset that a
maker of plays can possess In such
instances"
SHAW'S LATEST PLAY.
George Bernard Shaw has been read
ing his new play, Getting Married to
the company at the Haymarket, and
has been cutting 1t up into acts. He is
said to have written IL originally in
one unbroken stretch The green room
gossip is that when the play Is pro-
duced on May ~, we are to have some-
thing in Shaws best vein with a strong
dramatic situation in 1t. Although
Granville Barker has come back from
New York, he is not going to appear in
the play. and is said to be yearning to
begin work on another play of his own,
anu AMY Is W lleiNt lilt lSil
that had been set aside for Barker. 1t
is characteristic OF Shaw to choose one
or the other of these young men to
represent the part of a bishop with
grown-up family.
CRITICS ARE SEVERE.
In the meantime Mrs. Langtry, who
has the Haymarket until the Shaw
play comes on, is coming in for much
criticism, and the play written for her
by Sydney Grundy, "A Fearful Joy
is coming In for eNen more criticism
w. j. Locke's experiment of turning
his neutrality-suspicious. successful phantasy.
The Palace of Puck" into a light
opera. appears to have been worth
making, according to accounts that
come from the provinces. where the
opera was produced last week IT Will
be put on here at the Apollo as soon as
ii is polished into form. Mr.. Locke
says, however. that the stage is not
going to tempt him away from novel
writing and that he has two or three
books i'm mind on which he is much
more keen than on any stage scheme.
Sara Bernhard says she has a num-
Der of new plays in hand, and that she
hopes to come over to London again
soon, but that she has no idea at pres
ent whether or not she will be making
another visit to America
JOHN AVA CARPENTER.