Life — October 5, 1899 — page 12: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

j } Ws } } i | at] Hi\ Literature Goes on the Stage. TRANGE things aro qoming to pass in the world of the American stage, ‘Tho strangest is tbat tho Tlebrow Syndicate is getting an education, It has at last discov- ered ono remarkable fact—that a theatrical attraction does not of necossity have to bo nasty, vulgar or trivial to by successful from the money point of view. As tho Hebrew Syndicate practically owns the American stage, for the pre: andean starve actors,actressos, playwrights and newspaper writers into doing its bid- ding, this discovery is a fortunate event for Amorican theatre-goers of the better class, Money is tho only motive of tho Syndicate, and wo may congratulate our- selves that its Hobrow ownersaro beginning tolo.rn that monoy may bogained fromelean tortainments as well as from those that aro only bad, silly, or super= ficially clever, It was not to bo expected that the Syndicate should gain this educa- tionat its own exponse, and it hasn't, Out- side, Independent efforts have shown tho way, and this in spite of all the obstuctes of low-bred craft and cunning that Jewry and its hired peoplo could throw in the path of decency and art, The Syndicate gained its foothold and present coatrul by catering to the base and unintelligent among patrons of the theatre. Blessed be its discovery that there is money to be gained from another class of people. ont, and reasonable ¢ NOTHER good thing that has come to pass is the discovery that novels by good writers furnish tho basis for good stago material, This means n distinct elevation of the and in many cases an improvement in tho literary quality of plays. A recent occurrence shows that tho 8yn- dicate appreciates this discovery also, Mr. Charles Frohman was traveling on a day train a short timo ago, and noticed that An unusual number of bis fellow-passen- ers were reading copies of tho same book, He asked the train-boy what the name of it was, At the next station he telegraphed to his New York representatives to secure from the author the rights of dramatization, ‘The book -was * David Harum, It does not follow, however, that suecess- ful novels necessarily make good plays. A “LIFE « caso {n point is the disastrous result of the attempt to put “The Gadfly” into dramatic form, Hero was a novel that was largely read, and to the lay mind seemed to possess dra- maticsituationsof tho strongest pos- sible characier, The fact that it was dramatized and was presented tothe public at largo expense by so experi- enced an actor as Mr, Stuart Robson showed that its theatrical possibil- itiesappealedalsotothe professional mind, Tho result wasan impossible and dreary play, That this was Largely tho fault of the dramatist no one will deny, but a little consider- ation should have shown the most inexperienced personthat*ThoGad- fly” could not be made into a play suitable for presentation on tho American stago of to-day. Tho whole plot binges on the betrayal by a Papist priest of tho secrets of the confessional, Here is an incident that could not bo used without offense to a largo and influential houy of citizens who have consider- ablo to say in stago affairs, Tho result of this betrayal is tho transformation of the hero into a blasphemer whoso eloquence is turned aguinst sucred institutions, The~ impossibility of using this material for speeches fa the play eliminates still more of the book's availability, and leaves only con- ventional motives to hold the interest. In dramatizing a book the playwright may take olther of two courses; he may assume that everyone who is to sco the play has read and remembered the book, or more wisely assume that no ono has, Tho futility of the former courso was markedly shown in “Tho Gadfly." Tho plot, changed and mutilated as it had been, was moro or less distinctly understood by those who had read tho book—the whole play was an unsolvable puzzle to those who had not. ‘Thero isa prejudice, and not an unjustifiable one, in favor of a play's being complete in itself and telling a completo story that will be understood by the peo- ple who pay to witness it, without their having been obliged to make a preliminary study of its subject. In view of the pre- vailing fashion of dramatizing books, it might bo well for would-be dramatizers to profit by tho sad fato of “ The Gadfly" and bear this in mind. Besides demonstrating this fact to play- wrights, tho failure of “Tho Gadfly” also proved that Mr. Stuart Robson mado a mis- tako in taking himself seriously. This lesson should be taken to heart by some other comedians with tragic ainbi- tions, NE TOUCH OF NATURE,” ETC. HE success of “Becky Sharp," * Tho Only Wa: and * The King’s Musketeer,” each in a different fleld of dramatic literature and rep- rosenting respectively three of tho great authors, shows that tho old prejudice against the drama- tization of novels bad no Lasis in fact. It was ono of those theatrical traditions which in the profession are stronger than the laws of the Medes and Persians, but which aro based on bad reasoning and aro casily destroyed by intelligent effort. These suc- cesses are bound to stimulate exertion In this fleld, and while many failures will result from bad selection of material and from bad handling by playwrights, the net result is suro to be a large supply of good, sound plays, and tho discouragement of tho fashionable school of piMfling dramatists, Metcalfe, SMOND: After all, there are but two things which make the society woman truly happy. Desmoxp: What are they? “Doing what other society people de, and doing what other society people have never done ‘THE bachelor who covics a married friend his skill at repartee, little knows with what pains he acquired it. comicbooks.com