The Washington times., 1922-08-13
With Alan Dale
At IN. Y. Theaters
(Continued from Page A.

CONTINUED from Page AZ
Te-he. Wait till you see. II any
OF the three million imported.
plays succeed watch out for your
reluctant little spirit of optimism!
They are not very optimistic
abroad. The European plays do
not breathe the coveted spirit.
Their playwrights have enjoyed
Eiege of royalty-less years. due
TO the war. and they are not
happy. Nothing looks quite
right. The world is a trifle
askew. And all this win be re-
fiected in their plays. 1t is
barely possible, though highly
Improbable. that one of these
imported plays will succeed
though, as I've said before, I'll
bet against such an event-and
in case of success the pessimistic
spirit suggested in 1t win Instant
ly be copied by other producers
with plays of that iik.
The mystery play became the
vogue last season on account OF
"The Bats vogue, and for no
other, reason. The season before
there was an enormous output Of
"who- Did.It?" plays, because a
success suggested that this was
the style, The so-called roman
tic" play. in which the absurd
hero, with a feathered hat, res
cues an idiotic heroine from the,
castles owned by her wicked and
unmitigated uncle, has had fire.
ouent vogues, simply because one
or two of its brand "got over"
Lamp melodrama, with its loud
coises and its stilted utterances
aud its preposterous situations,
has very often come in with a
rush, for no particular reason at
all, and has established itself.
Instantly the arbiters Of drama
tic fashion-who never really
"arbiter'-trot forth a series of
the same sort of plays. and
hope for the best.
THERE is no real conviction in
the heart of the producer.
He very seldom says ''This is a
good play. and it will succeed be-
cause it is IA good play" Is it
In the prevailing style? Has
there been anything like it pres
ented successfully? Did Tom
across the street, or Dick on the
other side of the avenue, or
Harry uptown succeed with any
thing like It?
You wonder what is a good play?
And the answer Is that nobody can
possibly tell one until 1t has been
produced. II 1t responds to the
box office it is a good play. Other.
wise, every charm 1t had when 1t
was read vanishes. 1t is a bad
play. It is a hopeless play. But
II is a bad play and 1t is a hopeless
play only for the current season.
Next year vogue may start for
Just that style OF play-and then
It will be good and great and won-
derful. Plays that have succeeded
sometimes have been held for ages,
waiting until they ripened! Per-
haps they never ripened. Per-
haps they did. At any rate. they
remained on ths shelves until some
other manager had produced plays
that resembled them. Playwrights
who want TO get on" SHOULD wait
until the theatrical season opens,
and then-quickly, oh, very
duickly-imitate the vogue. Let
them then submit their works and
they will be accepted with alacrity.
They are up-to-date; they are the
style; they are what the public
wants, and not a manager will dare
to reject them. That Is my advice
to young playwrights who suffer:
See the plays that get over" and
then go them one better, even IL
you loathe their style and abomi-
nate their technique. 1t is the
royal road to success.
AT the time ''The Prisoner OF
Zenda" was first presented
there was a veritable eczema of
similar affairs. The Anthony Hope
play made good and instantly
everybody flocked in with plays of
q like trend. Managers do not
lead. They follow. or course,
somebody is obliged to head the
procession. 1t is the chance pro-
ducer with no convictions but
plenty of hope. Sometimes it is
quite battling to realize this.
The success of Abraham Lin.
coln"-an astounding success
xyaa tnnpnadiat fnIInuuad ~, a.