The San Francisco call., 1910-08-21


from his smoke he wandered in to the
subject of vaudeville and said. for one
thing. what 1 have represented at the
biginning of this story.
ItlT was poor melodrama," he pro-
ceeded, that killed good melo-
drama If anything can kill vau-
deville it will be poor vaudeville Poor
melodrama presupposes the existence
Of good melodrama, but In the, struggle
for sensation good melodrama was
drowned in a tank, cut in two in saw
| mill, run over by an engineer and done
10 death. If ] can say anything that
will add sentiment to the cause of
vaudeville I'll be happy. The haste to
get into vaudeville, the incompleteness
OF much that gets into it, owing to the
demands of the public for variety, de-
mands that the managers are bound to
meet as best they can, and the rniscon-.
ception as to the requirements of the
case cause pain to those who love vau-
deville.
1T is not enough to write dialogue
and call it a sketch. A good one act
play. as 1 have said, is harder to write
enduringly than good three act
drama If great play is pure gold, a
great sketch is pure diamond
Think of this. In the last 25 years
there have not been more than 25 big
enduring plays written. Big, enduring
one act plays are scarcer still. The
ability TO write great one act plav
presupposes the ability to write a. four
act play. The former is more diff
cult than the latter to achieve. If the
critics of the country would study the
art of sketch writing as well as play
writing; if they would hold I'D a higher
standard and condemn when blame is
merited, there would be fewer manu-
featured successes on the stage.
sketch is definite positive structure
not dependent upon any actor. The
play and the purpose of the writer
| should speak through the actor 1t is
susceptible Of analysis as well as def
milton. 1t is like a house, and the
author is the architect He must CON
form to laws or his structure will COL
lapse 1t is the actors business merely
TO paint the pile. 1t can be reduced
to more exact science than music. IT
can absolutely be taught mean the
structural laws. One good play will
differ from another as one good build
ing differs from another. They will be
alike in structural essentials"
took q firm hold, wondering
whether L were talking to the same
gentleman who shortly before had been
Stimulating without vulgarity or best
\ ialness a three days Jag
You reach" he went on, the divid
ing line that separates the good and
the Indifferent or bad from the great
in plays, when you come to theme.
But at least a play may be well writ
ten and well constructed, for mastery
of technic is within the reach of any
intelligent man, and the critics should
see to it that higher standard of ex-
cellence in this respect be reached In
vaudeville. Every chap who thinks he
has an idea and needs a little money
rushes into writing sketchlets. Let
them master the tools OF their craftr'
an Ut 1 was speaking of theme
he went on.
"Ah, there's the rub in play
making, whether it be one act efforts
for vaudeville or many curtained plays
for the legitimate. If it only have a
theme of big appeal to the public
play may be success in spite of tech
nical deficiencies. play must be not
only well built, but of enduring mate
rial.
ITO illustrate, I'll show you, roughly
the bones of a play which might be
developed correctly. yet it would still
remain a light waisted play because of
this lack of a valuable theme.
"A farmer buys a parcel of land from
New York broker.
That's what I call the condition 1t
is a prelude, SO to say, to the action.
'On his return home the farmer finds
that the broker has slipped unknown