The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1912-03-01
CROWD DEMANDS ACTION
IN PLAYS, SAYS MATHEWS
Must Be Something Doing
All the Time To Meet
Popular Taste

So busy were pencils in the Church
OF Our Father. Thursday evening,
when Prof Brander Mathews gave a
lecture on The craft OF play-mak-
lug." as TO suggest that Detroit must
be a veritable hot.bed of playwriR ts-
thai-would-be. Men and women, W ing
aid old, here and there In the audi
ence, which filled the lower floor of
the church, Jotted down with eager
faithfulness the words OF wisdom
which fell from the professors lips.
Ii might have been a quiz" in Co
lnmbia university, with the professor
occupying his accustomed post In the
chair OF dramatic literature Whether
those who took such copious notes
know any more today about how TO
wl.te a play than they did Yesterday
Afternoon Is another question
a person may be great poet,
fine writer and yet be lamentable
failure as playwright should he
turn himself 10 that work" declared
Prof. Mathews. One has TO master
the fundamentals of play-making-
and they are much the same whether
IN Shakespeare, lbsen, Pinero or
Belasco-before one can undertake
TO turn out the finished product To
reverse an old saying A play is not
born, II Is made In short, one must
learn the craft OF playmaking the
same as one learns the fundamentals
OF carpetering or bricklaying.
The object of play to be success.
full, must be first, last and always, to
please the audience. Victor Hugo de-
clared an audience 10 be crowd
made up of three elements-the
crowd. standing for action; the wo-
men, asking for passion and senti-
ment; the thinkers, demanding char
acter and purpose. The crowd Is the
largest element In the parlance OF
the day, il wants something doing
all the time. By action | do not mean
physical action, loud shouting or
noise, but conflict of movement, of
purpose among the characters in the
play. Bernsteins play The Thief,
Is an example of action In spoken
words, the second act being made up
almost wholly of conversation be-
tween the husband and wife in every
moment OF which there Is something
doing
"A play must deal with a human
will and IL must be self-contained.
The elder Dumas was asked once
how to write play and replied: My
dear sir, II Is very simple. perfectly
simple. The first act must be clear,
the last short and all OF the acts in
teresting.'"
Prof Mathews cited Shakespeare
Richard ILL.," as one OF the bard's
poorest literary efforts and yet one OF
his most successful plays, simply be-
cause of the dominating character OF
Richard, and Antony and Cleopatra
as one Of the most finished and beau
tiful plays in English literature from
literary standpoint and one OF the
most unsuccessful with the public.
When | go to play TO study II
and find that my pulse Is not affected
in the least know the reason--the
hero or the heroine has no mind OF
his own, there Is nothing doing in
other words" said Prof. Mathews.
THAT Is the difference between Rich
ard and Marc Antony; the former is
all action and the latter all irresolute-
ness.
Shakespeare at his best was q
master OF exposition. He was the Be
lasco of his time. A playwright TO be
successful must write for the taste Of
his time. To properly appreciate
Greek drama, or the Elizabethean
drama, one most transpose ones con-
sciousness to the period in which the
plays were written and endeavor to
sense the conditions under which the
dramas or comedies were written and
presented. In other words the dramas
OF another age cannot be judged by
the standards of this moment The
modern theater expects representa-
tion-that's why Belasco succeeds. A
play. must be full OF the unexpected
and the unexpected when 1t happens