New-York tribune., 1916-02-12
THE DRAMA
Some Recent Additions 10 Dra-
matte Literature.

WRITING AND SELLING PLAY. Praciic,l
Slssestions fof bcgitne-s BY Fanny Cannon.
4-mo o.. S.l. Heny Holt Co
TIE MASTERPIECES or MODERN DRAMA
G-ss, Scenes. by John Alexander Pierce Prsfsced
win CRITICAL Essay > Brander Maithss. IT.
''.. English and American; H. Foreign.
Doloieiay. Psge & 60
PLAYS. By Anton Tchsko-. s.cyai ~-,.
Translated with an Introduction ~ Ju'iu,
",,- l.mo. ~. o.. Charles scribre-s sons
There is no dearth OF books on the
technique of the drama, but Miss Cam
mons eminently practical volume fills
place which has hitherto been left
open. She herself declares that it is
intended "for the infant class in play
construction, for the tyro who has
never written play at all. or who is
struggling with his first" She warns
the aspirant that she can do nothing
Tor him II he mistakes a taste for n
talent, II he has the ambition without
the gift; but, this matter cleared up,
She proceeds 20 give lucidly and sys-
tematically the fruits Of her experience
as actress, dramatist. rewriter Of the
plays OF others, and stage director, the
result being a book that will be found
of incalculable aid by those for whom
10 ls written Miss Cannon has the
knack OF lmparting her own knowledge
to others. Those further advanced in
theory and practice will find in her
pages much with which they are al
ready familiar, but, even so, they may
pluck from them many hint, espe-
cially in those chapters which deal
with the commercial aspects Of the
craft.
IL may be worth while 70 quote from
the authors sensible chapter on the
literary play and "The Closet-Drama'
the following passage:
There is, unfortunately. very
fine class Of real drama which, in
the United States, might be called
by the unthinklng "ClOset-Drama.'
But il is a forced and not real
Classification It was written for
the theatre, is capable of practical
theatrical presentation. and, be-
cause of a managers timidity or
lack OF initiative, or d pubhc's lack
of dramatic education or knOwl-
edge that there Is another kind Of
play to be had than those they are
compelled to witness, is still 70 be
had only in book-form.
Mr.. Pierce's condensed masterpieces
Of modern drama are intended, Profes-
sor Matthews tells US in his interest
ing introduction, 10 aid In tho acquisi-
tion of the art Of reading play. They
serve much widcr and more useful
purpose in making accessible, in brief
compass, the American, English and
Continental European dramas, some
knowledge of which is indispensable to
the lover of the theatre OF to-day. The
story Of each of these sixty plays ia
told in the form Of succinct narrative
which merges into the actual dialogue
OF their great scenes. Mr.. Pierce has
performed his task very we'll indeed, OH
the whole, though occasionally his
search for condensation has led him
] ~ too far, as In the opening scenes
of "A Scrap of Paper Still, IL would
be unfair 10 stress an occasional fault
wheF the bulk of the contents of these
volumes achieves its purpose so well.
OF course, the term masterpieces
must be interpreted somewhat elasti-
cally in collections like these. In the
Continental volume we have along with
Augier, the younger Dumas, SardOu,
PaillerOn, Mellhac and Halevy, Becque,
Ibsen, Rostand, d'Annunzio. Echegaray,
Cork, TOstoy, Hauptmann, Tchekof.
Sudermann. Maeterlinck and others Of
real significance Bernstein's "rhe
Thief hardly a masterpiece. at bes.
the theatrical success OF season. in
the AnglO-American volume we have
Tennyson, Oscar Wilde. Pinero. Henry
Arthur Jones, Shaw, Stephen Phillips,
Barrie, Synge, Barker, Galsworthy.
Fitch. Moody, Augustus Thomas, but
also &. Haddon Chambers s The Tyr
amy of Tears which proved TO have
worn very thin when 10 was revived IN
this city three seasons ago. But II
some doubtful inclusiOns were required
20 make up the number OF sixty mas
terpieccs," at least there is the COM
peusating reflection that nothing OF I'M
pOrtance has been excluded.
Both volumes deserve a handy place
on the bookshelf for instant reference.
The second volume Of Tchekof's
plays completes the translation Of his
dramatic works begun by Marian Fell
three years ago. That earlier volume.
also published by the Messrs. Scribner,
contained The Seagull,' which, with
"I ne Cherry Orchard found in the
present collecuon, presents the Rus
slams dramatic talent at its best. The
Cherry Orchard" indeed, suiiices 10 Sc
cure for TehekoF an abiding place
among the great dramatists OF our
period. For the rest. there are in this
second volume a suppressed study Of
Russian misery and degradation, "On
the High Road" which reminds one of
Gorky's "Nachtasyl," and several one
act comedies A Tragedian In Spite
of Himself will appea. to every bur
dcn-bearins commuter in this land Of