Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-25

surprised when he said, But what real
ly sent for you for was to say that this
play, wretched as it is tells me that you
have power in you, SO now go and write
play about people in their homes.
His Play Produced.
So McEvoy wrote David Ballard" He
started it in his room in the mill. but
soon afterward the ''call of the Wild got
too strong for him. and 1t was then that
he set out gypsying. For months on end
caravan on Dartmoor was his home,
and the real "Romney'' folk Of the road
were his companions. OF course, he could
not succeed In passing himself of as one
Of them: he is too fair. but he told them
gent" and they took him at his own
valuation. and let him share their life
and help them with their shows.
Thus McElvoy spent practically the en-
also gathered the material for his new
play Gentlemen of the Road" of which
you are likely to be hearing soon. When
Shaw had read David Ballard" he said.
to bring the piece to the notice Of the
Stage Society at once. When produced
the play attracted so much attention as
grim. powerful study Of real life that
the author has had no difficulty In finding
production for most of what he has since
written. His latest four-act drama is an
unconventional study, a contest between
the call of the blood and the power OF
conventionaity-with convention victori-
Gus. for, of course. McEvoy would do the
unexpected thing. 1t is to be produced
presently at the Manchester repertory
theater which is making q speciality OF
McEvOy plays.
McEvoy declares that he doesn't de
liberately seek discomfort" and remarked
that II he finds a we'll cooked meal on his
mothers table when he visits her cot
tage-which is once or twice a week-he
does not disdatn It; but for the rest his
existence Is truly Spartan one. The
tent he occupies is not even an IA one.
to shield its occupant from the elements.
yet the young dramatist occupies 1t from
one weeks end to another and without
regard to the state Of the weather.
Works When He Chooses.
His diet hardly deserves to be called
that. 1t begins with morning coffee.
which he makes after he has risen and
started q fire. AID thereafter embraces
bread. cold meat. onions and beer This
Is his menu" that is. II McEvoy re-
members to eat, which he quite often
doesn't. He says he always has an am
bition to do a lot, but quite often spends
his day on horseback instead, or In
feasting his eyes on the panorama of the
downs" and doesn't get q stroke done.
On the other hand. when a creative fit
is on him he will work feverishly from
dawn till dusk. forgetting he has stom-
ach. and at the end find himself as he
expressed it. quite faint and weak
A fixed belief that real people, are
not often encountered by the playwright
or novelist who lives what McEvoy scorn-
fully describes as 1.-THE literary life'' was
one of the motives which the dramatist
has in choosing his unorthodox existence
How much of real life does the au-
thor see who spends his days in rooms
and his. evenings in literary clubs sur
rounded by his own kind?" he demanded
These tramps. these gypsies Of mine
are real people. and so were those I met
when I Worked in my fathers shop and
used to go on board Of ships and into
foundry yards. These are the sort of
people am trying to put on the stage"
In David Ballard" there was compare
lively little OF what is commonly called
action" the dramatist getting his eff
fects mainly from what he himself terms
1.-THE clashing Of real characters.'
You see. that Is my conception Of a
good play" he said. "and what be-