The Press., 1911-02-01

phrase or a hero in the throes of a third act to stand out in the middle of crowded thoroughfare and tell his troubles and secrets, while villainy, ever careless, stalks by to drop con veniently 'sthe papers, where they are most needed.
 In this his fourth written play and the first to be produced Holcomb had come nearer to a drama with a thesis than he had ever expected to come There was still satisfying glow of romance over it when the play was accepted. but little by little, protest as he might he was obliged to make changes that made his work the very opposite of his intention.
 Dora had appeared at rehearsal promptly on Tuesday, and this fact, coupled with her apparent happiness, . braced HolcOmb for what was already trying ordeal. He had made some suggestions for changes in the cast, but the management had it's own not particularly high minded reasons for int1icting on him absolutely incompe- tent people, and, to make matters worse, Ludlow, who had been his friend, seemed to take a special de light ill thwarting him and letting the performance down frequently. Play ing opposite to Dora as he did, the leading man seemed to get particular pleasure out of annoying Holcomb by being just q shade too familiar with hn lo1H oil l1o rehearsals moved fairly rapidly, and they were ready for production three weeks after they had started. To add to HolcomO's troubles, however, it had been decided against his better judg.. ment and fervent pleadings to open fiat" in New York city.
 He had been an actor long enough to know that at least three or four per formances outside of the metropolis were necessary for an adequate pres entation of play, at least onl the have come in intimate contact with the spectacle can appreciate the over wrought and hysterical attitude that the average actor takes toward his first appearance in New York. For some reason the majority of the man. agers encourage this high strung at titude, explaining their belief in 1t by the statement that the actor gives a better performance when he is in a hysterical condition than when he is calm. Actors themselves have gone so far as to say that an actor who has all his self possession on the first night is not endowed with genius.
 Dora had been stopping with Mrs. Winthrop. whose son, having complet- ed his wanderings, was taking his amatory defeat with new calm. Mrs. Winthrop had done everything pos sibIe to make Dora happy, and at her suggestion Holcomb invited Mrs. Win throp, her son and Judge Elliott to be , present at the dress rehearsal which was to begin on Sunday night. Had Holcomb been in charge absolutely the play would have progressed very smoothly, for even with his limited experience he had definite ideas of what he wanted and a gift for ex- pressing them precisely. Being a young author, however, his authority was limited purely to the lines and the actors, while almost an entire regi- ment of bottle holders had final say on matters that were considered their departments.
 He had intended to run through the play act by act without interrupting. RAS plan was to make notes as they went along of such changes as he de aired and have the corrections made when the act was finished. The two managers who had the final say in all matters had a different method, and these, aided by costumers. so called expert on lights, the scene builder and an off1cious consulting playwright. dragged the first act along until 1 o'clock.
 There was a pause for coffee and sandwiches before the tired company and few faithful auditors, scattered about the darkened auditorium, enter { ed on the second act. At the conclu- sion of this part of the play Holcomb, to add to his other troubles. saw that Ludlow was giving an entirely differ ent interpretation of the part from that which the author had intended. In- SIedU O1 udh4nS IhS yOuAS AONCA IAdb he played a fresh, romantic creature of circumstance, Ludlow was endow- ing him with all the sinister qualities that made his own off the stage char acter interesting if not healthy. He had interrupted the actor time and time again to ask him to get back to the original key and had always been answered with polite and some times mocking ''Yes, sir," but had sue ceeded in making no change. Dora, too, he had been obliged to criticise, for she seemed to be taking Ludlow's cue.
 When, therefore, the two came to their ''big lovemaking scene" in the third act Holcomb completely lost con- trol of himself. As he looked back at 1t afterward he knew that he had done wrong, but he excused himself on the ground of the nervous tension under which he had been working and the fact that this particular scene as in- terpreted by Dora meant even more to him than did his play.
 Not only did they give the speeches that they delivered character that he had never thought of, but they intro duced "bits of business which were to him repulsive interpolations.
 "Stop it!'' he shouted in the middle of their scene, jumping from his seat