The sun., 1919-09-25
DRINKWATER BUSY
DODGING TRAFFIC
English Playwright, Touring
City, Almost Baffled by
Streams Of Vehicles.
PLANNING LECTURE. TRIP
Author of "Abraham Lincoln"
May Write Drama Dealing
With Cromwell.

John Drfnkwater, English poet and
playwright, who wrote abraham Lin
coin" which has been one Of the sue
cesses of the London theatrical season,
arrived yesterday on the steamship
Caronia, accompanied by his wife. Mr..
Drinkwater Is to supervise the Ameri-
can production OF his drama during this
season, and later making a lecture tour
reading from his plays and poems.
After seeing William Harris, Jr.. the
| producer who will present the play on
this side OF the water the dramatist
went to the Hotel Lorraine, where he
confessed himself bit upset lodging
the traffic. even though conveyed about
the city by such an expert traffic dodger
as David Wallace general manager for
Mr. Harris Because the London traffic
runs the other way Mr.. Drinkwater had
to stop at each street corner and figure
out which way to look for the downtown
traffic and which for the uptown.
He was impressed, however, by the
clean appearance OF the buildings here,
though he missed the panorama Of the
bay because of fog. Having heard much
OF New York's skyscrapers, he wasn't as
Impressed as he had expected TO be by
the buildings towering above him,
though he hadn't visited the Wall street
section. On the whole he thought Fifth
avenue extraordinarily like Plccadilly.
Playwright Seems shy.
Mr. Drinkwater, who is sharp featured
with face that matches John Gals
worthy's for thoughtfulness, and with a
rather shy manner about his tall person
that calls to mind the great President he
dro tt1.sI
en- the subject of abraham Lincoln"
This play by an Engiishman, the first
dramatic work on the civil war leader to
achieve noticeable popularity. was actu-
ally written in three weeks, he said
started 1t last summer" he went
on. of course I'd had the material in
mlnd much longer than that working
over 1t In my thoughts 1t seemed to
me that Lincoln typiied a great man
VINO would be great no matter what were
the circumstances in which he was
placed. So 1 wrote the play to reveal
his character rather than to make an
historical drama. 1 drew largely for
my material on Lord Charnwoods biog-
raphy or Lincoln, the best work of its
KIND by an Englishman. and also used
the life by Nicolay and Hay.
another drama, for which am also
considering the material deals with
Cromwell. whose life in its external cir
cumstances seem to me to be a great
deal like that of Lincoln. They were
both men OF power, living in compara-
tive obscurity In the country, who were
suddenly called upon to take charge of
the great issues of their time and coun-
try. Another subject that attracts me is
Mary Stuart, and ia like to write play
around Robert e. Lee-in fact I'd pre-
FER to write about him rather than
Washington. although your first Presi-
dent would make an interesting study"
Once Insurance Clerk.
The play originally was intended for
the Birmingham Repertory Companv
with whom for the last twelve wears Mr.
Drinkwater has been manager after
serving an equal length Of time as an
insurance clerk before the stage instincts
handed down by his ather asserted them
selves. The drama was read by Arnold
Bennett who had leased the Hammer
smith Opera House and was casting
about for a suitable vehicle. Contracted
Tor four weeks 1t has run steadily for
nine months though In an out of the way
suburb OF London.
No attempt has been made, Mr.. Drink
water explained, to write the dialogue
In American colloquialisms, though some
changes In this direction will probably
be introduced in this country The play
Does not follow the usual dramatic
course, but has a good deal of the form
OF the old English chronicle play.
That form Is so much more ex-
citing" the dramatist explained. "In
England many OF the new dramatists
have been trying to get away from the
old hybrid dramatic form borrowed from
the French and go back to the more
natural English methods of the theatre.
And we're trying to write dramas for
their own sake. and not for the actors.
During the last forty years the play
itself in England has been allowed to go
by the boards and the theatre has been
given over wholly to the actor.
This has been very bad for both the
actor and the drama A revolution has
set In among playwrights who want TO
do their work for It's own sake, and then
pick the actors to fit into it afterward.
That movement can be fostered by
numerous repertory companies. starting
out necessarily in an amateurish way.
They would be like your little theatres
over here, In which l am much inter-
ested. Such a movement is going to
count very much In the English theatre
in the next ten Yearao