The San Francisco Dramatic Review (1908)

THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW January 17, igi, A. MAYO BRADFIELD Offers for tlic First Time on the West Coast the Great Hoyt Theatre Comedy Success, A BACHELOR'S HONEYMOON Positively the Best I'arce Comedy "^hat W\\\ Be on the Coast this Season. Live Managers Who Want a Real Show That Will Get REAL Money, Address A. MAYO BRADFIELD, Care Dramatic Review, San Francisco. The Evolution of a Stage Setting There is an old story current among people of the theatre to the effect that W. S. Gilbert was in- spired to write The Alikado by a glance at an ancient Japanese sword that hung on the wall of his study. Assuredly there is no reason to doubt the truth of this tale since every artistic invention is founded upon some one momentary impres- .sion, which may so trifling that the artist himself forgets the incident en- tirely, while profiting bv its effect upon his imagination. It would be interesting indeed if one could dis- cover the trivial foundations unon which the greatest plays have been built—a chance conver.sation, per- hans, an item in a newspaper, an in- cident in the street, or a bit of neigh- borhood srossip. The dramatist may find his inspiration anvwhere, at any moment. And once havine begun the construction of his olay, the dramatist builds his incidents, his situations and his stage pictures, from material gained by chance, here, there and everywhere, l^sual- Iv, he creates in his imasrination at the very outset a very definite stasrc setting, since all the movements of liis characters must be determined bv the surroundings in which they arc placed. The actual settincf that the dramatist sees wlicn his play is pro- duced is often far different from his imagined stage ])icture, however conscientiously the scene painters have endeavored to carry out his plans and instructions. But, at least, the general idea of the setting is the author's own. He has gained his idea from perhaps a dozen sources, and he passes it on to the scenic artist as best he can, with the hope that his dream may be realized. Edward Knoblauch, the author of Kismet, is exceedingly painstaking in regard to all the mechanical de- tails of his plays. His written stage directions are voluminous, and his stage plans are so minutel ■ drawn that they might almost serve as working drawings for the scene builders. Moreover, in the case of I\ismct, he personally gathered ma- terial, in the form of prints and pho- toerraphs, which were of immense value to the designers of the scenes. During his stay of six months in Tunis he was constantly busy with his camera, and when the time came for the designing of the scenery for the American production he was pre- pared to furnish a pictorial sug- gestion for every dome, minaret, wall, door, window and balconv. These hundreds of pictures were ar- ranged and numbered according to the scene in which they might be used, and were dulv turned over to Harrison Grey Fi.ske. who staffed the .\merican production, together with the manuscript of the play. The general custom, nowadays, especial- ly with heavy scenic productions, is to distril)ute the work of some scene designin!"" and scene painting among several scenic artists. This is done to .save time, and also because each artist has .some particular line of work in which he excels and is there- fore happy in doing. In order to ap- portion the work fairly, and to make sure that the various settings should harmonize perfectly, Mr. Fiske in- vited a half dozen of the mo.st im- portant scene painters of New York to a luncheon, at which the play was read and di.scussed, the general plan of the mounting was decided U])on and the different settings al- lotted to one and another artist. l"-ach painter was thereupon intrust- ed with all the pictures in Mr. Knob- lauch's collection bearing relation to his particular scene. Of course the artists searched further for ideas and details in their own collections and in the galleries and museums, but the descriptions and photographs sup])lied by Mr. Knoblauch formed the basis for every design. rule. Much has been heard in ad„ vance of Bayard Veiller's drama o American life, and naturally nnul' was expected of it. No play of re cent years has been the subject 1 greater discussion. The press of thd country has devoted an almost in; credibly large amount of space to tho merits of this drama. Obviou^-ly W ithin the Law had an advauc reputation to live up to. To s.i that in every way it met the expecta tions of San Francisco's playgoers i to tender the drama the hicfhes^i praise. Margaret lUington as Marji Turner has even surpassed her vivie^c emotional acting in Kindling and. The Thief The supporting cast i- eminently worthy. .Admirable cli i:- acterizations are contributed ! \ Howard Gould, Neil Moran, RoIh i| Elliott, I'Vank E. Camp, Jules i 1 r rar, Joseph Slaytor, Thos. L. D;i\ - . Hilda Keenan, Sonia Jasper, .'\L;r - Harrington and a number of otlu i > M.\n.\(;kk Ch.\ri.f,s Hkrai.p, of thel' theft' ar-fiic Cort Theatre The triumph of Within the Law at the Cort Theatre has been a tre- mendous one. The playhouse has not known an empty seat since the opening of the engagement last Sun- day night, and the advance sale for the second and final week, which be- gins Sunday evening, augurs that ca- ])acity houses will continue to be the ried to Miss Ida Platter, a Sumner,' Wa.sh.. girl, December 31. L.^UR.x Hun.soN is playing the Icadr in Rowland and CliflPord's The Higli^' Cost of Living Company. Mr. .\nd Mrs. Lee Wii-lard ii. .( named their young daughter l.ll 11 Louise. The Willards are thoroughly^ domesticated at Nilcs, where Lee i^; a valued member of the Essanay acti iL; staflF. Scene from Kismet, now at the Columbia Theatre.