The farmer and mechanic., 1911-10-03

Absolutely as far as the manage,
e.nd public are concerned: nc{tna,
cares a rap about the Sex or the plav.
wright This is big country. ~
would never have here the riots at.
tending Bernsteins plays in Paris W.
have little sex prejudice a. M
have racial
'.And the critic
IF you succeed they give fun
measure. but If you are = woman ana
fail, God help you, a mans failure
they will dismiss with a line. but
over a woman they VIII foam w.,h
rage for two columns Not only Will
the critic delight in s.abbing WOLF
failure to death, but he will gleefcl
ly dance over the grave. II a WON.
an dramatist can endure the dreaded
first night. especially il il ends IN
catastrophe, If she can smile AT thu
epithets hurled at her ty actor and
manager. for l have still to hear an
actor say. Your play failed solely
because OF my bad acting. or tho
manager to admit that re is the root
Of the evil; or the critic to be modest
n his conCemnatory judgment II
she can turn from the foaming crit
ic, smiling, stimulated, even exhilar-
ated, and sharpen her pencil to write.
another play, then the day will surely
same critic surfeited with his praises
What about the poor unknown
who spend their days a uncongenial
bread-and- butter work and their
nights in writing plays"
You can't do a great piece of Gre
ative work with only the shreds Of
your personality or with any sense OF
time. When you begin TO write, You
ought to feel that you have all ctcr-
rrl-
aSinatiOn ever soar in a tired brain.
Some only succeed in playwriting
when they have burned their bridges
behind them, and acquire the cour-
age of desperation. / did that, but
such advice would be fatal to a timid
nature. Your whole being, physical
mental, and moral must go into tho
making Of your play. Your imagina-
ton must not fold her wings but fly
her highest and I believe you can
tell yourself whether you are going
to succeed CT fail. / was not sur
prised at my failures, because ! felt
myself they lacked the vital and
those that succeeded | was equally
sure of, for ] felt the force in them
Did you ever envy any play writ
ten by a WC1rano"
No; nor by a man: | only want
to excel myself. If You are a real
personal, and then | think our art
as practiced now more fitting than
any except the actors. There Is no
play Of today, except Ibsen's that the
next generation will care anything
about or even know. Beau Brum-
mel might go down as a delicious
comedy Of manners, but I know Of
no others. They are all too much OF
the hour. The great playwright il
"a a hi n nf tx Ia Y
m erges just a little, on tomorrow, bat
we are concerned only IN getting the
plaudits for night. One OF the
many demonstrations OF Vanity Fair
may endure, but it will be due to
Thackeray, not to the dramatist. /
am glad that we nave gotten over
our puerile fancy for dramatizinc
novels. There is only cne novel /
know Of that contains great dramatic
meat, and that is Daniel Deronda,'
because OF the character of Gwen
dolin. The slow coming to life Of
her dead soul. could be Ibsenzed
beautifully.
IF women dramatists get a square
deal as you say, why are there 50
few Of you +"
Because there are more mute. in
glorious Miltobs' among women than
men. To be successful dramatist
you must be as senitive as a flower:
you must feel everything and yet to
endure rebuffs you must be as tough
as iron. Fewer women than men
possess these Numerically opposite
qualities AS for the honor that
comes. if You can stand the fire with
out being consumed, as l said before
this is a big country, and we place
the laurel wreath on me deserving
head-long hair or short nair makes
no difference
Copyright. 1911, by c. J. Mar. for
Publishers Press