New-York tribune., 1918-04-21
CHRONICLE AND COMMENT OF THE STAGE
Enter a Hideous Idol
Mrs. Fiske Declares That "a Night Of
An Inn'' Put Her Eyes Upon Stems and
First Gaue Her the Managerial Impulse

open. 1t gave me managerial, -,
pulse for the first time
At last she found the opportun;tr :.
produce the piece in conjunction w;.t
Service" which is in two acts g.
objected to referring to it as cu,t,;a
raiser, which implied the differsr.
sort of material used for filling in III.
time at English theatres before thu
aristocratic patrons arrive. Just how
to produce such splendid little ulav
as she found "A Night at an Inn. -
be, except on bill of one-act plav.
she did not see until the participation
Of the United States in the wa,
created an opportunity for the nrc.
sentation of Service"
Once on the topic of Lord Duns.rv
Mrs. Fiske was not to be diverted. Sha
recalled that he had been in the war
since the beginning and had once bee,
slightly wounded. She spoke Of his
courage, handsomeness and charm. n
his Irish castle near Dublin, and Of
his fatalistic belief that his clay 4. :.
find its Anal resting place in some bat.
tlefeld Of Flanders or Picardy. Unfor.
tunately, the fixed idea Of leading h.r
to say something about the ons.,ct
play intruded SO on the attention Of
her interlocutor that of what she said
"The best we baled with utter toll.
the worst we took away"
One thing about Dunsany in which
Mrs. Fiske was particularly interested
was the fact that the Bible met all his
requirements for reading. Although
the Bible is a literature in itself
modern readers who are we'll &C.
quainted with it are comparatively
rare. 1t is all very well for scholars
to point out that the authorized yer.
sion is not only intrinsically but his
torically out and away the greatest
book of English prose. 1t will never
be read as it ought, save by rare
spirits like Dunsany, until it is in
cluded in regular courses of study in
the schools and colleges.
Following Dunsany's example, Mrs.
Fiske said that she was getting to BE-
constant reader of the Bible and was
charmed by its symphonies, its sim
plicity and its grandeur. The Bible,
she was sure, was coming again into
its own. Reverting to the author IF
"a Night at an Inn," she remarked
that he was the most complacent and
delightful sort of person to deal with.
In reply to every request she made he
had cabled "Yes, go xaeadD AS shed.
ding some light on the freedom of his
imaginative methods, she related how
he was once asked why he had as
signed one of his favorite inns an i'm
possible location in a meadow where
no one would visit it. His reply was
simply that he liked it that way.
The effect of "a Night at an Inn" is
well illustrated by the remarks of a
little girl who saw it in Philadelphia,
which were reported to Mrs. Fisye
During an early stage of the play the
little girl requested the privilege Of
sleeping with her parents that night
Before the end of the performance
she said she would like to sleep in
the middle. This probably occurred
when the idol came in. Mrs. Fisks
commented on the brevity of Dun
sanys stage directions. All that the
text says at this point is, ENTER
hideous idol" The conception Of the
idol is left to the producer. 1t was
like the simplicity of Shakespeare
directions, such as "they fight" in
Richard III when Richmond entersy
this was an opportunity Of which an
actor like Salvini made the verS most
1t was about then that Mrs. Fiskss
husband came in, or rather Mr.. Hsn-
son Grey Fiske, for he deserves to b
named as parsonage In his own
right. Mrs. Fiske asked for the wsf
news. By this time the interviewers
exit was overdue, but Mr.. Fiske made
some interesting contributions as
producer to the subject of stage diree-
tlons which are worthy. however, Of
separate chapter. So the interviewer
left, still somewhat incontinent In
mind as to the technique of the one
act play, but feeling that he had got
his moneys worth out of the show.