Evening star., 1921-02-20

|"EvERY play must be written fol
the stage. because it doesn't live
until it is acted before an audience"
says George Middleton, the play
wright
There is really no SUCH thing as
'oloset drama The printed page. how
ever. is sometimes an alternative: u
is nsvcr substitute for production
1t Is frequently the only alternative
the dramat!st may have for hearing,
because the subject or treatment o!
his play is controlled b. the ground
rent Of The theater.
.'Thc day of the 1,00a-aweek sue
Ave fsures Or die. There isn't a man
ager who doesn't turn down a play
every day because there's no none!
in it,. Since it is their money they art
risking. why blame them?
Personally. I've written a number
Of plays which. if any manager
wanted to produce for profit.-in the
large sense--Td tell him he was
crazy. Some have agreed with me
wright knows what will go. but nc
ldom deliberately sets out to write
for money what he know wont. Ano
then, of course. somebody comes along
and upsets all traditions!
But. generally speaking. there
rough road ahead of any playwright
who happens to see life with Pecu
liar slant. who selects for his SuoJec'
Some SpecialiZed psyrhoioglcal study
or who has an odd sociological souiht
The question now ariSes-do Sucn
plays ge, produced? Yes, they do And
most established playwrights nave
their pet failures which ,hey value
more than their big successes-per
haps because the failures have more
nearly approximated their inner vision
IF
"a nature--and the authors nave
cynically made fortunes out Of bed
room farces and hectic melodrainas
they secretly sneer at.
The other day: over our cohee, our
most prolific playwright confessed
he knew people never acted the way
he made them in plays. but my sense
of the theater just won let them
do what I want; ] do what l know
the audiences want one OF henry
been produced in this country. ana
when he gave me a copy he added,
they say It wouldn't make cent. IT
had been a labor of love with him.
ular success; indeed mott wouldn't
dare: rye had a few myself. But the
problem Of art and dollars is a trite
and eternal one. Often art and dol
lars do get together. The point is that
every author frequently has to decide
which he will go after, ana one OfIen
rreciIdes the other The best OF
any artist is his own vision. and often
that may be an monumental one in
the thaater Yet ] haven't bit OF
-sympathy with him if. knowing what
conditions are. he deliberately chooses
to do what moves him. irrespective of
reward. and then laments his fate. His
own integrity is it's own reward. The
OUTPUT may be very unimportant to
anybody but himself: and it may also
be easier for him than putting over a
long run. for almost every successful
play fills a need on the part of the
public. and the public has a right to
get what it wants.
by publication. however. the au
thor may crafty himself and not cost
the manager penny. OF course, the
books are. at best, only a record Of
the authors Intentions pale verbal
skeleton awaiting the actors flesh
and blood. Yet from an imaginative
reader they win q response. and we
writers are all egoists at heart: we
do want little response.
"Some managers have foolish su-
perstition that publication kills all
chances of production. This is not SO.
On the contrary, ii often leads to pro-
duction. All of Bernard Shaw's early
plays arrived on the American stage
that way. G. 3. S. also paid for the
plates OF his plays-'Pleasant' and
Unpleasant In them Richard Mans
field found Arms and the Man. VIM