The Washington herald., 1914-10-25

have the whole first act written; some
times not At any rate, / never nave
more than that done. And I have called
a rehearsal OF a musical play with only
the opening chorus finished Only the
main idea, the story, is 'doped out COM
pletely I have a general idea Of what
the end Of the play will be-that is have
the whole story in mind But just what
the second and third acts Will be like
I haven't an idea at all. Everything
depends on how the first act goes.
After the first act is completed l re-
hearse it. I rehearse it over and over,
until I get it the way I want it. And
when il has been fixed to suit me COM
pletely, I find that the second act has
naturally suggested itself. Then I get
busy and write the second act. There
follows a week or so taken up with
whipping the second act in shape. After
that is o. k I start on the writing OF
the third act-and so it goes until the
play is finished That is the way 1 built
up Seven Keys to Baldpate, and 1t Is
a pretty safe bet that that is the way
any future play Of mine Will be made
ready for production
During the rehearsal of the first act
I get a line on my cast, to begin with
! find out whether a certain part hts
certain person. Often 1t happens that
one PERSONS acting OF character leads
me to make that character a more i'm
portant one than I had at first intended
Then all sorts of little bypaths and new
lines are suggested. The play may go
of on quite a different tangent than the
particular one l had expected IT to. BY
the time the second act is finished l have
a pretty complete idea Of the whole story
and what the ending will be.
To finish the play after calling the
first rehearsal OF the first act takes me
about four weeks, and, believe me- am
some worried and busy during those
four weeks. Then, after the play Is
finished. it is tried out for few weeks
on the road before real audiences, and
FrIrtber changes are made. It's one long
process of revision and elimination until
the New York first night.
Just what things TO eliminate ana
what things to revise don't know until
I come in contact with them. and then
a sort Of instinct tells me what to do l
don't believe playwriting is science. and
I don't think It can be taught OF
course. a lot Of purely convenuonal
things must be observed in every play,
but these things can be quickly learned
in the theater itself. either through OBJ
servation of other plays or with actual
experience with your own.
81 write nothing but farces and musical
comedies which are frankly designed TO
entertain. Every type of play has its own
conventions. and every writer ought to
find out what type he is best fitted TO
do and stick pretty close to that
'I never wrote a complete script in
my whole career I couldn't. marvel
at those fellows that blow into man
ayers offices with an entire play Of
three acts nicely typewriter and the
whole drama planned out. like Frank
Baker batting a home run. All that is
over my head. I build up my plays as
I go along"
When Marie Tempest was first seen
by an American audience it vas as
very different sort of artiste from the
great comedy actress she has since be-
come, and is today. The majority Of folk
who will see her this week at the Belasco
Theater in The Marriage of Kitty" and
Mary Goes First will remember her
only as a comic opera luminsry Of the
first magnitude. rollicking through the
happy carcfree SOS in a number of
delightful singing roles in which she so
impressed the charm of her personality
and the greatness OF her genius upon
her auditors that no one who saw her
then could have quite freed themselves
from her witchery.
Imagine me in those early days Of
the SOS a tightly laced girl of sixteen
fresh from school at Paris said Miss
Tempest I'm a recent London interview.
touching upon this part OF her career.
Il was timid. as most English girls OF
that age are, and the fact that ! had
made up my mind to study singing under
the great Manuel Garcia only added 10
my timidity. Garcia was the acknow-
lodged master Of singing. but he was
also a man Of most extraordinary meth
DDS. For instance. when the great day
arrived for my being introduced to him
a day I had dreamed Of for months be-
fore-instead Of making the slightest pre-