The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-01-02
GET THE PUNCH
 OVER QUICKLY
By GEO. NJ. COHAN

That oft-quoted phrase, 'tplaywrights and actors are born, not made, should be amended to read: first born, then made, for I am convinced that at one time or another in all our lives there comes 6. desire, either for pure pleasure or plain profit. to write pieces for the stage. And as for act ing, we began to attempt that as soon as we were able to toddle.
 One of the best plays ever wrote, called ''Dick of the Peaks, or the Out laws Triumph was eight years old at that time. The production was made in my daddy's barn with the company assembled from the ranks of my boy and girl chums. and scenic equipment purlcIned from mother s linen closet and the family rummage room. No play from my pen has ever been received with such tuInult- uous applause and my critics even then acclaimed me as an author or much promise and an actor who un- occasionally would soon startle the world. It is needless to say that l was proud of my success and unhesi- tatingly accepted the guileless homage thoroughly deserved and entirely my due Other critics in later days have not been so enthusiastic, and certainly never so absolutely sincere.
 The instinct to write for the stage was. I sunnose, fOstered in me by req son oE the fact that my mother and father were of it and, as a natural consequence, began to appear with them almost as soon as I could walk At that time my father supplied the plays and sketches for the family What was more natural than that the only son should endeavor to follow m his footsteps. At any rate he did, and down to the present moment he is entirely satisfied with his choice of professions.
 What measure of success that has ia a al composer I attribute to the fact that I have always striven to make my plays and songs tell a simple, yet more or less interesting, story, and have relied on clean dialogue, speed and appealing melodies to make them mar ketable.
 My constant association with the stage and the opportunities to study audiences gave me an advantage that comes to but few aspirants for author ship honors.. A man may be able to write a good story or an interesting book, but let him be commissioned to adapt it for the stage and nine times out of ten he will fail. The reason for this may be attributed to the fact that, while the writer is abe to peo- pie a story with hun1anly interesting characters. he fails to realize the ne cessity of boiling down or crystalizing his dialogue in order to make it fit into & two-hour- -and-a-half entertain ment, and usually drags in endless speeches that. while they may be highly interesting between the covers Of a book, when spoken from the footlights become exceedingly dull and tiresome.
 Then. too, the proper placing of characters-their entrances and exits, is apt to bother the amateur play wright. He is prone to supply fat ines, but fails to provide natural sit nations to fit them. He gets his characters on the stage and is at a loss for their exits, or maybe there are when he leaves the a entirely bare-always a fatal error
 My idea of presenting a play is to tell its story as soon as possible after the curtain goes up on the first act. Let the audience in on the ''know" as to what it's all about as quickly IS you can. After that go ahead and elaborate as much as you please, but don't smother your plot with lot Of