Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-06

I>%Me


consciously and deliberately conceived 81
suppose confessed the winsome little pro-
tagonlst, that my desire to elude sentimen.
tality my sntpsthy to sugary falsity so
common TO the 'oh-so-sweet plays of the day
emboldened me to choose n title for whcs
! have been generally criticized | wanted
10 get away from Peg o. My Hear.
Mother Careys Chickens The Road to
happiness and all such names that lay OIL
wholesome optimism with a trowel. I re.
Joice In comedy. ] love humorous quaint
ness. spontaneous drolness and sheer fu
But l can not abide sacrificing truth to
Copybook aphorisms. Simplicity strongly
| allures to me and The Brat for all its re-
pelient quality. which now realize appealed
| TO me as honest. succinct and descriptive
| or my intent in creating the character. OF
| course regret the handicap under which
| my comedy labors. with further expert
ence in playwriting hope I shall be enabled
| 10 express my design and at the same time
| not antagonize the public
| For you know" she continued chat
am only beginner in the dramatic game.
! heretofore my sole claim to recognition he.
fore the footlghts was as dancer Some
| ten years ago left the little Kansas town
| Where my father conducted newspaper
ana came TO New York with the high am
| bition of writing for the stage Managerial
| obstacles soon doomed ominously large IT
| seemed impossible to get hearing. | had
| TO make living and ! drfted into dane
ing MY very first engagement proved
| somewhat too cventful. It was i'm Mile
| Champagne the musical piece offered oh
| the Madison Square Garden Roof on the
| night Harry Thaw shot Stanford White.
| was just about to come on the stage when
the tragedy occurred. I have no desire to
repeat my introduction to the footlight cir.
cles OF the metropolis"
HNTOT long after the enactment of that
i ~,
with William Rock in dancing specalties
With that expert artist in his line learned
great deal We played Philadelphia in
The orchid in The Candy shop and fire.
| quently in vaudeville. | enjoy dancing vet
and / studied it seriously. but not for Il
moment did | abandon my first hopes |
didn't really want to dance. ] didn't really
want to act l wanted to write plays In
my off hours / experimental with fiction
| ana succeeded in placing several short
stories In the magazines. But my leisure
was altogether insufficient for stage COM
position.
at last the opportunity for retirement
came. eagerly embraced It. established
myself in California and set seriously to
work on The Brat the second act of which
is an adaptation Of one of my old short
stories. To my amazement and gratiica-
ton the very first manager to whom
showed the piece--Oiver Morosco, of Los
Angeles-liked it and accepted it after a
single reading. It was staged by his stock
company and assumed the name part
principally because Mr.. ToroSco couldn't
think of any one else to cast for it, Had
! begun to act earlier i'm life (here the de-
ightful star made a valiant effort to looE
old and ignominiOusly failed) | might now
entertain serious hstrionc ambition. But
TI have given up such hopes. Play-writnG
is my aim, and | will not hesitate to make
any sacrifice TO he able to pursue it, Wher
the tour Of The Brat is finished I expect
TO live i'm California once more and to work
diligently at the occupation that appeals &c
me more than anything else in the world.
g TJNHE BRAT she confessed, has
L many Weaknesses. After wearisomc
revision ! stul find the opening scene o
the last act creaky and unconvincing. Nat
urally. ] am always grateful for appreciation
Of my work, but | sometimes believe
know its faults even better than the public
The piece is too thin. Its virtues are great,
, enhanced by the excellent company will
which I am fortunate enough to be sur
rounded"
But you and your associates couldn'
shine so well without the breeziness AM
5 verify of your dialogue interposed the in
5 terviewer
e Maude Fulton smiled.
you've put your finger" she said 20
" | lndt part uI pldNnldklnB lot WHICH llll
e | myself best fitted | could always writ
D conversation, and, TO a certain extent
a think | can make it reflect types-types, O
e course with which am acquainted. Tha
e ! is why I selected the little Hppodrom
$ dancer to be the chief character in thi
T. play. knowledge of her personality cam
n to me through actual experience in tn
$ theatrical world. The dramatist who con
n | sciously attempts to delineate characte
y from what has been read in books steps i'm
mediately into artifice.
$ "It is otherwise with technique and crafts
e manship. Those essentials of play struC
e ture come with dilgent study and har
d work in addition to close observation an
: the maturing assets of experience EXpeI
a treatment can revivify the Oldest themes,
e at has been pointed out, for example
e that THE Brat" echoes some of the Die
t, Swiveller- Marchioness scenes Of The OIL
l. Curiosity Shop don't mind the criticisr
5. a bit il a certain freshness and slmplcit
It can be discerned in the handling TIL
l. parallel never occurred to me In writing tn
play but I can see II now and am enoug
d of a Dickensian to be even fattered by IN
n implication, just as would be II any on
Is told me that my work suggested Barrie. II
l. is my ideal among living dramatists. !
4 | there a more delightful one alive? liumt
and fantasy. tenderness, imagination SIN
% nIjcitv and truth are all blended in his tC
e day unriVaied art
m "And Maude Fulton, pioneer though sh
be and woefully clumsy as "A utlenake
,s stands a fair chance Of becoming an az
e | pupiI" unused the interviewer as he bad
1.-THE Brat" good-by. H. l. =