The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-22
81 ZIP
NV6=
~ LAWRENCE REANER,

EoRGE BRO HURST Is one OF
the American playwrights who
approach their task with some
sense Of its professional demands
and whatever he may say on the work OF
the drainatist Is certain to be interest
ing. We do not recall that Mr.. Broad.
hurst at any time repudlated the neces.
d,y OF any technical means 70 the &C.
complishmcnt OF his aims. This Is JUS;
now the singular enthusiasm OF every
playwright who meets with SUCCESS.
They seem eager to decrease the lmpor.
lance Of their achievements by declaring
The profession VI the drsmatist to be
free from any requirements Of a tech
meal character. One recent instance
proves the absurdity Of most OF these
pretensions. Frank Craven, In talking
about his successful little play TOO
Many Cooks" tells Of the long time he
devoted to the idea Of the play. the many
hours he thought over the development,
" the characters and the absence VI any
technica! knowledge that he could apply
& his work.
Nj Craven may not be aware tina; he
knew enough about the demands Of form
20 build a play in accordance with lts
requirements. We never saw an actor
who had been on the stage for even a
short time who did no, put into any play
he wrote some OF the laws OF effect that
~ had learned whether he realized Il or
not. Il IS impossible for any actor with
a taste for writing to fail to observe how
certain effects are produced. The phys
written by actors usually contain moth.
scious use OF these laws. Things That
Count Is full of effects made in this
way. The humanity Of Too Many
Cooks is u llttlo less of the kind that
only the foo,llgnts ever shine on. but 4,
Il revealed BY the means that an actor
learns from his own experience to use
aad are the technique OF the playwright
even II he did absorb them unconsc,ously
and employs them without recognizing
the means OF an art which has its own
methods OF workmanship.
NJ. Broadhurst's interesting testimony
saowed the alienation OF success and
failure Is proved By his own case as
Nei! a. by the experience of other pay
"r.shts. bronson Howard once said
h. IL kal a
Nor" had he stuck to his editorial desk
han he did as playwright, in spite
y his earnings with such successful
dramas as The Bankers Daughter
The Henrietta and Shenandoah"
There we're many failures IN Nj. How
ads expericnc. To counteract the golden
Years that brought forth these dramas.
Whether or not twenty years 10 th,
span Of a pisywrisht's ACTIVITY is no,
certain Dion Boucicauit's ac;l>c period
stretched over many years more.
Whether ne or John Brouyham wrote
London Assurance" Eoucicau.t was AZ
that time under 20. lie wrote THE
IIt" which had q certain share Of sue
cess although forty-f!ve years had in
'-rvened between the two works. And
What prolific term OF. years that was
During one season Boucicault had six
pays a; - many theatres IN London
"Hd all OF them were prosperous. This
"a as the period Of "Formosa," and the
althor proudly proclaimed that he could
write the plays for all the London the
lures II Il were necessary. In this ricaly
productive life came The Coll, n
lawn" visible now on a local picture
I'm; The octoroon." with it's scientific
device Of tho photograph: "Arrah- ma
i'ogue," The Shaughraun," 20 nam. only
X few ~ the most notable popular sue
eesses that he wrote. Such genius
might have been expected 10 I've
qlcncaed by the end OF 4 score OF years.
olt It continued to shine brilliantly. so
brilliantly, that Is, as Il purely thedtrlc
r"u1us may be expected 10. TOR many
cars longer than the term Mr.. Broad
lrst allows
bouciciults contemporary. Tom Tiy-
1or was not nearly so prolific. although
o" put 10 his credit many popular plays
ior-otten to-day. although they We're a.
well liked in their time as the products
~ the Irish genius. But who now
NnoHs anything about Henry Dunbar"
IN spite Of it's absorbing opening acts?
Taylor wrote "still Waters Run Deep"
N 1889 and kept TO Mr. Broadhurst's
statute Of limitations by ending his
'aFcer in 1874 with Joan Of Arc" which
vas ~ no means one Of his most sue
cessful plays. But In the interval there
came Lady Clancarty." "Plot and Pas
-ul and The Overland Route" AZ
wei M many others
in spite Of Taylor's experience the
history Of the French stage does not