Actorviews (1923)

Mr. Craven’s Lighted First Night RANK CRAVEN puffed at his pipe, and I puffed at mine. There was a thick but not uncomfortable silence in his chamber at the Drake, for Mr. Craven and I are old friends. We were old friends years before he wrote “The First Year” and got himself acclaimed an American Dramatist ; in fact, I knew Frank Craven when he was only a playwright. “What’ re we going to talk about?” said he. “Why not have an actorview about writing plays?” said I. “I recently gave a lecture on that subject in Cleveland— ‘On Writing Plays,’ my lecture was called,” said Mr. Craven, without any great pride in his voice. “It was,” he added a trifle gloomily, “a total loss. In fact, it cost me sixteen dollars.” “Did you hire a band?” “No, I was under no expense at the theater, beyond getting my suit pressed. The lecture was given under the auspices of a Cleveland newspaper that was running a playwriting contest. I spent the sixteen on books — on books on playwriting. I wanted to be right. I sat up all night reading the books. And the more I read the more discouraged I go't. I found I’d been writing plays all wrong. I found I didn’t know the first real principle of playwriting.” “What did you tell your lecture audience?” “What could I tell ’em but the truth? There was