The Washington herald., 1912-11-24

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to the bottom OF them, original ideas
But there are original ways Of looking
at the old, old problems of life, new COM
binations to be made Of old ideas and
situations; fresh up-to-date statements Of
familiar things Every generation must
face its own problems in a new light.
At bottom the problems are the same,
but for each new generation. sometimes
even for each new decade, they present
themselves at new angles, they enter
into new combinations, they show new
phases, and the playwright must keep
up with this incessant movement
The vital thing to the men and women
OF the audience Is not the way in which
their fathers and mothers wrestled with
life, not even the way In which they
themselves were troubled In soul ten
years ago. The vital thing to them is the
thing they are discussing and deciding
about in their hearts right now, the i'm
mediate, urgent problem OF the hour.
And the more nearly universal that prob
lem Is the bigger will be the play. No
great play, no play Of real Importance,
can be founded on a theme that is not of
thousands upon thousands Of men and
women. it must speak straight to their
hearts and say that which they know.
all OF them, in their own hearts and by
their own experience. is true.
But the playwright must never forget
that, old as the problem may be and uni
versal as must be its appeal, the first es-
sential still is <or it to be presented with
novelty; for the treatment to be such as
to give it the semblance Of originality.
The ability to do this is one OF the Unborn
gifts, and, II It is not genius, is its very
close relative. Another necessary native
gift is that for the writing OF dialogue.
The ability to put ideas into crisp, clear,
natural sentences. that will not only de-
velop character but put it across the foot
lights, carry the action, support the sit
uation. and make the whole convincing
and absorbingly interesting, cannot be &C.
quired.
The laws of construction that govern
the making Of plays can be acquired,
even mastered, by the faithful study of
technique. They must be learned before
any one can expect to write a successful
play. There ought to be schools of dra-
matte authorship, as there are schools OF
Journalism. in which the wouId-be play-
wright could get the instruction in tech
nique which he must have, in one way
or another. before he can write an ac-
ceptable play. There are two or three
Ravens now. where 1t is possible for
young authors to get much guidance and
instruction. And IL they want to succeed
they must welcome the critic gladly. Par
ticularly must they be willing to let a
manager, agent, Instructor, or critic tear
to pieces even their best loved produc-
tons and listen without a protest Will.
they are told ruthlessly that the situa-
ton or the dialogue of which they ara
proudest is no good and must be cut
1t is much more difficult to write a good
play than 1t is to write a good novel The
forms Of fiction are more flexible, the
choice OF themes and the method Of
treatment much larger. The forms in
which play is cast are rigid. the treat
ment well defined, the effect It must pro-
duce definite and decisive, the impression
1t must make constant and intense from
the moment Of the rising OF the first to
the dropping OF the last curtain. More
good plays would be presented, and there
would be fewer failures among those that
do get produced, If more ambitious au-
thors understood the basic difference be-
tween the two forms of writing.
No woman has yet scaled the heights in
dramatic authorship. But on the lower
levels women are working just as ably
and successfully as their brothers. Will
they ever climb higher, even to the top?
There are some who declare. with intense
conviction, that no woman will ever writs
great play, that the feminine brain -
not capable OF the highest creative effort
in the writing Of drama.
Prophecy has been said to be the most
useless Of all forms of mental activity.
And surely, negative prophecy has been
proved to be the least worth while of all
kinds Of forecasting. For a good many
hundred years things have been happen
ing right along that men had loudly de-
clared to be utterly impossible. Women
are now doing many things, and doing
them as well as any one, for which, only
a few years ago, 1t was strenuously ar
gued they had not the mental powers or
the physical stamina Perhaps history
win repeat itself In the case OF the woman
playwright and the great play. There has
to be first time for, everything. And,
considering the achievements women have
already made in dramatic authorship and
the promise they are showing, I do not see
any reason why there should not. some
day, be q first time also for this great
development in womans evolution.
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