New-York tribune., 1922-09-17
King"
Is Ready to
Abdicate c
Avery Hopwood Plans to
Take What He Considers
To Be the Easiest Road

avery hopNooo anu SVhn A""'P
Sousa are both kings, yet one Is told
that there 10 no royalty in America.
For years the bsndnsster has been
hailed ss the "Msreh King" and the
playwright can rightfully be desig-
mated the "Faree King" King Hop
wood is ready 10 sbdieate, and future
Efforts from his pen will bear the
marks Of his sslf-remOval from the
throne.
Some twenty-five or tventy-three OF
his plays have been brought 10 life In
New York before his eyes, and one
would expect that Mr.. HopwoOd has
sort OF grown accustomed 70 openings
and the after effects by this time. He
has. There was no tenseness. anxiety
or expectancy apparent on the morn
ing following the opening Of why
Men Leave Home" at the Moroseo The
ater on Tuesday night last. or course
he talked Of the play and Of what he
had tried 10 do, but his thoughts were
not fixed solely on this subject, and he
also ehstted eheerfully on topics en-
ti-ely foreign 70 the theater. How
many suthors who have had but one or
two plays on Broadway would be able
70 do this?
II have been asked by many persons
10 give up writing farees," Mr.. Hop
wood said. "Writing farces is much
harder work than writing serious plays;
in fact, II is the hardest game In the
world. And / like II much better, too.
When I say farces l have in mind as
an example Fair and Warmer" which
had a logical. human basis. To create
farces is, TO me, an intellectual diver
sion.
Generally speaking, the writing OF
farce and comedy Is a higher art than
dramatic writing. because IN the former
you have 10 appeal TO the sense OF
humor OF audiences, and that's largely
a mental matter. A very considerable
proportion OF people have small
amount OF sense OF humor and
smaller amornt of mentality, but every
body in your audience has a fund OF
emotion which can be called upon, and
II you bring a sweet old lady on the
stage, or a starving child, or an Ameri-
can flag you are pretty sure to get
response.
Crime plays are a einch. All per-
sons arc interested in even the most
ordinary OF accidents, and II they can
spend an evening in chamber Of hor-
rors they're perfectly happy. No mat
ter how diversified an audience, the re-
sponse a drama gets from it is prscti-
cally uniform, while the response a
farce or comedy gets varies enor-
mously according to the mental caliber
OF an audience"
DO you intend giving up the writing
Of farees entirely" the playwright
was asked.
Frankly. l shall take the easiest
way Mr. Hopwood replied. "l'll write
semi.serious drama interlined with
comedy. That's what the public wants.
Why should I work my head OFF, he
asked.
Avery Hopwood has taken unto him
self another resolve. Hereafter he'll
work little in collaboration or not at
all In writing original plays. lie ex-
planned that he found i no more effort
20 work all alone, and that he might
just as we'll receive all the returns
financially and whatever returns there
were IN reputation.
Out Of town audiences, and apparent
ly, Broadway audiences too, are finding
. definite moral in "Nhy Men Leave
Home Yet the author had no par
ticular moral In mind when he wrote
the play. He declares that he did not
sit down and say TO himself, '1'll write
moral drama 10 remodel the Amer
lean home" Instead, he strove 70 put
on the stage his observations Of class
Of legali1ed gold diggcrs. parasitical
wives. who are out to get all the money
and anything else they can from their
husbands, for which they offer little in
return.
"The typs is peculiarly American
because other men would not put up
with it," he pointed out. American
men don't like it. but they are ehivsl-
rous and the women have long taken
II for granted that they have no re-
sponsibilities. do not wish TO say
that this type Of woman IS predomi-
nant in America. On the contrary she
is IN the minority, glittering minori-
ty, and she and her sisters tend 70
make other wives diseontented.
Especially does this type Of Ameri-
can wife flourish abroad and the for
eigners are puzzled. They think that
the husbands are dubs. but. on the
other hand, it is probably true tha.
many OF these husbands are glad that
their wives are away.
II have made Fiji in the play an ex-
tremely foolish woman, but she has
some heart. II is probably the hus-
bands fault that she has gone as far
as she has. lie should have put his
foot down sooner But he is the more
generous OF the two. and. in marital