A NEW LITERARY FORM.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 954, 22 October 1910, Page 9

A NEW LITERARY FORM.

In the hundred-page introduction to his latest novel, ; ''The, Price of .■ Free;dom,'<. Mr. Dean,e Ballynn claims to havo invented a: new literary form.- Mr. Ballynn ,(sa'ys .the Manchester. "Guardian: ')■ is a genial grumbler, after one of; tlie earlier: manners of Mr: Shaw; at the modern "conditions of ; writing- for thei''.stage.>.* He recalls a poh-picture that appeared in one of the magazines, of; a--popular, actor-manager directing a crowd-ot/stago' carpenters,', stage'-man-!ag'er's; messenger, boys/ musical directors, actors and dramatists, manuscript iii- hand. Mr.. Ballynn .notes- the- significance of the■'■drataatist's place in the -queue,.-and- goes on to deal with thorns other than the actor-niauager 'in, tlio poor playwright's flesh,. .There is the .scene-painter,- setting up;greater glories thari.-were : indicated '.by- the 1 ;, author. ,There' is the actor with his well-known propensity, fatal from the playwright's point; of view, for thniking that the actor's' the..thing, .an..obsession.-, duo largely, to the'; subservience ■of authors. There is'the craze for "entrances and, exits'to suit'the vanity of the actor, and 'the craze for happy endings.-. There, still remains; the prime • grievance; that, authors sometimes do not, get; : their plays; produced.. Mr;' Ballynn, blames tho managers and ..their readers, whilst' making' allowance for, them;in so far a.s, .owing to the poverty ofVstago ' direction, 'it is. impossible even/for an Expert; to know, a good play when, he Icomes across, one.,. In the future.Mr. ;Ballynn inteixte to,write plays in. some-.; (thing .approaching 'the '.-. /novel.,- form, jwelding. tog'other. dialogue and' amplified ;stage'directions and eliminating/, the' /padding of 'the novel; proper': '.For '. in-, ,stauce, we "shall iio longer read the. bald ."Gladys .sits ;c'oucb 'L.C., sees handker|chief, dpwii/L;, looks, initials; /corner; [starts 'vidlehtly,V ;tive ''Gladyssank'.gracefully oh, to, the .'couch, ami perceiving the .tell-tale hand-: ,;ke''rehiefe:otf;..the^.flojDr, I pieked::it'''up/'exT •amined'jtlio:, initials, embroidered in, -- the .'corner,:'and;: then, 'with'a/yiolenfvstart: ';; . .''■f^r^prds:Hb;rtliat'TcflSScfc!'';M A-t~ jthis point ; the i'dialogueH will ; ..■;be'. ■' re/sumed.:/;'///;;: ••'//;' //;','■'■' i, ' ; /;-'/:'['; '■. AVe'. are •;..to ..bo.. encouraged:- in'';VitKis"; |by.the'treiid-of.;the:-'iiovel : in,,th'd:;dii',ec-:' ;tion ,of.: tlie': : drama;/-;Sir 'IWalter',Scott;; lit seems; w'as'cohtent nvith' five .to/seven-' ;and a half .per,'.cent./bf dialogue,.; : the' iamount allowed/thteniselves '.by'.-.'Miss' :Edgeworth,;Miss Austen';, aud:Mrs.'Gasjkell.; , George • ; Elibt'and'-Tliackeray: rose,;we arb.';told,VfronV:seve)i ; ',and''a'Jialf-;;',t''o, [ten./Ouida; ; Miss Corblliy; Mr jup to fifteen :-per-.cent.V : .andMi\'. ; ' Barrio (to .twenty;;'' The Baroness Ofczy. and the ; Castles, go/oyenfurtheiy which explains,:jsays Mr. Ballynn, their, facility;in writ-'j j.ing for: the ."stage. /So; that, with;', the" iiiovel closing r /up and tlie' nla'y going .to j meet the novel but pmittiiig "descrip-.« itive , scenery, ■'■ comment;:/, [philosophy, ;arid ;intrbspectiye;,',ahalj'sis of character, and motive,',V we '.are, in for; better times.; The novels'j.will, all ';''.be; jplays ready:,made,,and by/choosing.only i isuccessful,;on.es. the; risk' ofplay-prbduc-'. jing/will; be/minimised; ;the public ,ihdi- ; ;cating what,it, wants' beforehand. The : lactor, producer,: and- scene-painter are !to be muzzled,-speaking, showing, and jproduciug.no moro than is set down for ;them. And the dramatic critics aro to 'see.every, play three times before they 'pronounce— once for the story, twico :'for the construction, 'the! third time for .the acting'. Mr. Ballynn claims indul'gence for his epoch-making novel-drama, on the ground that-it is epoch-niaking. ''Pamela" is not to.be denied its place .becauso it has-not the "plotting of ; Miss Co'relli,' the .style of Mr. George ■Moore,, the subtlety of Mi\ James, or ;the scope of Mr. Gissing.and 'Mr.' Gals;worthy." Mr.; Ballynn;asks; for: kind!ness towards his /pioneer performance. We shall .certainly wait until we have !seen, it acted oh the' stage once,' if not ,the full three times, before venturing ,'upon criticism.