The New York herald., 1921-10-09


The Play and the Book.
Two characteristics used to per
suade the playwright that a novel
could be adapted to use on the stage
or inspire the manager with the
desire to acquire the rights: the
material was In itself dramatic OF
the popularity OF the book was such
as to interest thousands of readers
In the search for stage material II
was usually one Of these character
istics that carried novel from the
library to the theatre. There It was
the continued interest IN the book OF
It's transformation into an effective
drama that decided the success OF
failure of the experiment.
It was the vogue Of the author OF
course that brought the great novels
of the Victorian age to the stage
The works Of DICKENS were seen In
crude dramatic form on the stage &c
soon as they were complete in the
form Of novels. The thrilling quail
ity Of WMKIE CoLIINs's fiction nat
urally appealed to the playwright
Mrs. HENRY WooD gave to the stage
not only East Lynne" which lived
for several generations. but Henry
Dunbar" which enjoyed nearly as
much popularity. ALEXANDRA DUMAS
wrote "The Three Musketeers" and
stirred the blood Of thousands Of
readers long before its pictures were
transferred to the stage. The same
is true Of Monte Cristo." But these
were made of the stun that endures
and they held their place in the thea.
tire until it yielded them to the
cinema.
It not infreQuently happens that
one character may insure the longev-
ity of play. The opportunity to act
the suffering mother near the chill.
dren she has been compelled to sur
render made East Lynne" beloved
by every actress of the emotional
school for years. OF course RIP
Van Wrinkle" would soon have disap.
peared from view but for the genius
Of JOSEPH JEFFERSON. As It was. he
had to keep tinksring with the piece
during its early days and dared not
present it in London until DION
BoUCIoAuLr had put the matter into
more artistic form. This same Boucl-
CAULr never disdained the use of the
novel. From "The Collegians" he
wrought "The Colleen Bawn." which
was one Of his earliest triumphs.
PAUL M. PoTrER's "Trilby" was al
ways regarded as the most successful
Of modern dramatixations. as It not
only preserved the atmosphere Of Du
MAURIER's romance of the Latin Quar-.
ter but told an absorbing story. II
set the form for all subsequent plays
made from popular books. Paste and
scissors did not serve any longer to
do the trick. It really has become a
trick which seems already more or
less standardized. 80 frequently is it
the method employed by the skilled
adspter nowadays.
1t was the hypnotic element Of Du
MAuRIEB's story that appealed to the
trained dramatist who set out to put
the young blanchisseuse de Nm, the
lowering Svengali and the three mus.
keteers of the brush on the stage.
That was the unique dramatic ele-
ment in the play. Ever since that
day adapters have sought q dra-
matte point of departure in every
book and proceeded to develop a
drama from that theme. Outward
and visible features of the story
may appear to impart what w. s.
0H.BERr called corrobcrative svi-
dsncs to an otherwise bald and un-
convincing narrative. Yet this
theme may not be foremost in the
book. For the suggestion of the
novel dramatists rely on the title, the
names of the characters and maybe
the original scene. These remnants
of the popular novel are Of course
cherished by the adapter. But the
wise playwright selects what appears
to him the available drama In the
story and concentrates his efforts