Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-02-08
THE THEATRE
fhe American Theatre
as a Gamblers Paradise

Afuard times is the cry GU" "' 's'0''
great deal of talk about stupendous
s.so0 failures and bankruptcy and. in
s.r.i the lengths that the manager
-, % IN taking personal risks for the
sake, Of art.
r.is ,p,oture Of honest poverty is going
!. re,eved very shortly. A court bat
1 1,to soon to be staged, will illumine II
W. ,be back, like some transparency
~ aienlav: the fat form OF speculation
s.slne bloated among the riches which
smblne with these. far more frequent
ID. s,,,,sa 10 make the American theatre
ascsiient cockpit, but hardly an In
.,,,atlnn for the encouragement OF artls-
4 ~ Entertainments The legal equabble is
- ire authors royalties from one OF
~ two biggest successes of the genera
son. "within the Law.
WV. author got s5O0O A very good sum,
sce. ssv artists might think, for the total
msat's work that went to the writing of
q ~, yeJllers play. For this he sold his
~, outright to Selwyn & Co. The
g.twvns sold It to william A. Brady, who
tacr66,ced It unsuccessfully In Chicago.
Rt.t, would have beon the end--another
tsiiure-lf the Selwyns hadn't bought 1t
1tsct and parceled out the rights 25 per
.slsrt 10 A. H. Woods, % per cent. to the
.rhuherta and the remainder 10 various
'@ssoelates of their own. Then came sue
ygeessSes-from to 10 companies on the
|afoad. y
thnr's royalties-5 per cent. on the first
ttoo0 taken into the box office each week;
|2slSA:uer cent. on everything above. 1t isn't
4. .f,s author that sues. He is content, per-
4 force. with his 5000 and further allow
sncs which the Selwyns made of either
ss4IlO0 a week fat or $50 to 500 week for
8 Zach company-the facts are not certain.
q The Shuberts, however, assert that their
X ner cent share in the play includes rs
a,cltsr cent of the authors royalties, which
the Selwyns have appropriated as theirs
by right of some disputed point In the
original contract of sale.
Now the Shuberts are suing for the
q sum Of $150,0O0 as their quarter of what
q the author might have got. And even the
eelwyns admit that the authors little 1
q 10 10 per cent. comes to almost half a
8@nIIlion. Thus this single play took in
4 Aolnewhere around S4,000,O00 on an invest
4 hent that can't possibly have been more
lkhan $4,000 for each production and a
salary list that probably averaged under
1000 week.
Such Gargantuan profits! So many
crushing losses! And, of course, an inevi-
&; liable search after the most broadly pop
ular, the most inclusively average. That
ss:.IIIs tho instrument with which we are go
1lng around looking for an art to express
s America. It couldn't have found Shake-
4 speare or Moliere. 1t isn't the sort of a
theatre that gave the world the great
4 dramatists of the Continent. Will 1t do
10 plumb the varied life Of hurrying
ssAmerica?
"a Prize Play That Is a Prize
Every year John Craig offers $500
tWprize to the students of Harvard and
'uRRadcliffe for play to produce at his
i Boston stock theatre, the Castle Square.
nsrhe first year he got piece that lasted
.him nine or ten weeks at two per-
.Gs{ormances a day. Fortune since then
has varied; but this year he seems to
have another exceptional piece. So far
i II has had more than 80 performances at
= theatre that usually gives piece only
w dozen times; 1t has drawn in between
1000 and $4,000 people, and the reviewers
Of all the papers have written most
sstarmly of It.
b Its name is Common Clay" It's au-
thor is a Kentuckian. with a good !
'as'stage name." Cleves Kinkead. IT is
|hanother of those iconoclastlc plays that |
sknock the regular three and four act |
play-form to pieces. II has pro-
iosue and an epilogue surrounding play |
|sRhlch is supposed to be a story which |
kisthe woman of those two scenes demands |
p7Sf the man who is counting her. The |
.s:play itself Is a swiftly moving narra-
7otive Of servant who is wronged by her |
master, and who has some very exciting
HuAegal adventures before she decides to
.Ahleld his good name as her mother had
phlelded her high-placed fathers. The
|Eprclogue and epilogue link this story up
|swery ingeniously with the fact that the
man and woman of these scenes are the |
DhnAster and maid of the story The wom-
Ff.an secures the mans promise to wed the |
asEronged girl, and then discloses her |
R-Ilhsntity.
s.,pver in New York
hos The English melodramatic comedy of |
Afepies spying on spies, 1.-THE Man who |
|4sstayed at Home" has been produced on |
Broadway as "The White Feather" Les
ne faber appeared as the English de-
I lIhseuFe, who pretends to be German
h spy and ends by capturing whole cot
neeful OF them, The reviewers were quite |
calm about the piece.
n The Washington Square Players are |
sme newest organization to attempt the |
PRODUCTION OF plays out OF the ordinary
sspa n local comedy basis. The players
WI be largely amateur; the plays will
'vns given on Friday and Saturday eve
aaiinKs or each week at the Bandbox The
sue, and the admission will be only 80 |
Il ssspts. The first bill includes Licensed"
t.n realistic drama by Basil Lawrencei
Epgenlcally Speaking" a satire by Ed
wald Goodman; "Interior." by Maurice
slaeierlinck, and Another Interior" a
aStronomic allegory," author unknown
|esFne Riches Of Vaudeville
THIS is a banner year for vaudeville. A
anmpef OF things have contributed TO |
ne principally the war and the general |
- season In the major theatres.
~ result OF the European conflict, a /
sEeAt number OF Continental "acts" have /
Sessa driven over here to the only avail |
t1.e market. The New York Hippodrome /
j ~ aropped Its mammoth musical show |
.ssu EXHIBITS an indoor circus, made up |
|addF fseiy or importatlons. At Kelth's Thea |
go last week there was Bagonghi, the |
lulo opean midget on horseback. This |
.ss.s'k arthur Prince, the English ventrilo-
%lsh is to entertain us.
me legitimate theatre is sending even |
more recruits to vaudeville. Molly MeIn- |
ste has left kitty Mckay 70 do a |
faeen called Scotch Mist" Madam |
.ss.ssaent' has collapsed under Fanny
rssss,so and she Is rehearslng a playlet |
s ss.lsa "A Table and Two Chairs" Ina
l,s.sslre and Richard Bennett are taking /
saolt plunses. Martha Hedman and Marie
pest seem likely TO indulge, while /
- .laaoVa, Mrs. Leslie Carter and half a
z2.sh others have been disporting them
zsssts N the two-a-day for some time.
DPsfa. TOO Is making its contribution
is HarEold. Carolina White, CalVs and /
a4e portions Of the Century Opera Com-
- ste 90 the list, and Il Is even said
i MARY Garden has at last determined |