The sun., 1919-09-07

bOPLB connected with the the
atrical profession are notori-
- ously superstitious. Producers
and managers, actors and act
resses, even stage hands and door,
keepers, have been known to do all
sorts of strange things in order to
ward Off bad luck or urge on good
luck. Even dramatists are not i'm
mune from this obsession, and have
faith in charms and fetishes. The
most apparent evidence of the play
wrights reliance upon a particular
method of propitlating Dame Fortune
is the persistence with which he re-
produces similar titles for his plays,
once a hit has been established.
For instance, Arthur Wing Pinero
put his trust In designations begin
ming with the" as is proved by the
following list Of his productions: THE
Money Spinner" THE Squire" 1.-THE
Rector" 1.-THE Rocket" THE Iron
master" THE Magistrate" The
Schoolmistress,' THE Hobby Horse"
THE Weaker Sex" 1.-THE Profligate, -
THE Cabinet Minister" THE Times"
THE Amazons," THE Second Mrs.
Tanqueray,' The Notorious Mrs.
Ebbsmith," "The Benefit of the
Doubt" The Princess and the But
terfiy." THE Beauty Stone" THE
Gay Lord ouex," THE Thunderbolt,"
THE Mind-the-paint Girl and The
Widow of wasdale Head" Surely
this repetition Nof the definite article
is no mere coincidence.
Henry Arthur Jones adopted a
The Lord Harry 1.-THE Noble Vaga-
bond" THE Middeman," THE
Deacon" 1.-THE Dancing Girl" 1.-THE
Crusaders" THE Bauble Shop" THE
Tempter,' THE Masqueraders," The
Case of Rebellious Susan" THE
Triumph of the Philistines," THE
Rogue's Comedy THE Physician"
'"The LIARS" 1.-THE Maneuvres of
Jane" THE Lackey's Carnival" 1.-THE
Princess's Nose" THE Chevalier,"
"The Heroic stubbs," THE, Hypo-
critics." 1.-THE Goal" The Evangelist"
and 1.-THE Ogre"
Sydney Grundy followed suit with
1.-THE Snowfall" The Vicar of Bray"
1.-THE Novel Reader" The Glass of
Fashion" 1.-THE Queens Favorite,"
1.-The Silver Shield" THE Wife's Sac
rifice," 1.-THE Bells of Haselmere," THE
Arabian Nights" THE Pompadour,"
1.-THE Union Jack" and "rhe Deans
Daughter" But then came a bold ex-
pertinent. He tried the indefinite arti-
Gle instead of the definite one, and,
finding that it worked satisfactorily,
he produced a series of pieces thus
designated: "a White Lie" "A Fools
Paradise" "a Pair of Spectacles," "a
Village Priest" "A House Of Cards."
AN Old Jew" and "A Bunch of Vio-
let's" But then. by another change
of heart, he returned to THE Silver
Key" THE Musketeers." THE Degen-
crates" THE Black Tulip" and THE
Head of Romulus," with a final switch
back to "a Debt of Honor" and "a
Fearful JOY"
Another play writing Sydney, this
time Sydney Resented, placed abso-
lutte reliance upon "the," as is shown
by the following productions: THE
Pique Family" THE Black Hussar."
THE Lady or the Tiger" 1.-THE Club
Friend" 1.-THE Passing Show" THE
Two Escutcheons," 1.-THE Politician"
THE Kings Carnival" THE Hall of
Fame" THE transformer, The Aero
Club" 1.-THE Great White Way" 1.-THE
Happiest Night of His Life" 1.-THE Rose
OF Panama" THE Giddy Throng."
THE MoclCing Bird" 1.-The Twentieth
Century Girl" THE Purple Lady
THE Rainmaker of Syria" and 1.-THE
Vanderbilt Cup"
Charles II. Hoyt was a highly sue
&C ssful farce writer and adhered per-
sistently to the letter "a" in the titles
OF his pieces: "A Bunch OF Keys" "a
Rag Baby" "a Midnight Bell" "A
Trip to Chinatown" "a Milk White
Flag" and "A Contented Woman"
= Paul Potter was satisfied with the
tried and trusted the" His plays in
clude "The -Chouans," THE City DI-
rectory," 'The Ugly DucklinS," THE
Worlds Fair" THE American Min
ister" THE Victoria Cross" 1.-THE
Conquerors, 1.-THE Red Kloof," "The
Schoolgirl" 1.-THE Honor OF the Fam
lily" THE Queen OF the Moulin
Rouge" and THE Girl From Rec
tors"
Louis N. Parker began with the"
in the approved fashion. THE Sc
quel," 1.-THE Love Knot" THE Man in
the Street." THE Bule Boar" 1.-THE
Spellbound Garden" THE May
flower" THE Vagabond King" THE
Happy Life" The Tormagant." 1.-The
Jest" 1.-THE Sacrament of Judas"
THE Bugle Call" THE Masque Of
War and Peace" THE Swasn-
buckler," THE Cardinal" Tho TWIN
Sister" THE Heel of Achilles.
1.-THE House OF Burnside" THE OPP
timist." THE Monkeys Paw" The
Sorceress." THE Creole" THE Harle-
auin King" and THE Duel" But then
he abandoned the old fetish and
adopted a new one. writing a series OF
plays with the name Of the chief male