WHAT IS A "GOOD" PLAY FOR AMATEURS?

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 196, 4 September 1937, Page 10

WHAT IS A "GOOD" PLAY FOR AMATEURS?

JEREMY COLLIER,

JNR,

. The production of a play by amateurs is divided into three sharplydefined processes — nameljp/, the selection of a suitable play, the preparation of the play for public presentation^ and the^actual performance itself, Each one of these sections is fraught with its own particular difficulties and dangers, and weakness in any one must result in a poor performance. But I can say without hesitation that three out of four amateur failures are due entirely to the selection. of indifferent plays, and, as I believe these . bad selections a,re generally made in ignorance, "I intend to consider the points that go to make a play suitable for production. For this purpose I shall assume that the preducing organisation desires to do a . play of merit. But first, what is a play of merit? What, in' fact, constitutes a good play?. The answer.of the boX'offi-ce is • one that runs three years, and from one point of view the box-office is correct: the producer is there to take money, and if his play . runs for . three years . he is doing his job well/ But does that necessarily imply that • it is.-a good play? Let us take a glance_at the plays -that have run for a thousand performance's or more. Chu-Chin-Chow . ........... .2238 'Charley's Aunt 1446 The Beggar's Opera*... ... .1463. . Our 'Boys 1362 The 'Maid of the Mountains •1-352-The Faimier.'s Wife ....... 1329 .At Little -Bit \ot U l Xr^^ese.'H6.neymoon. ..... 1075 Romance' 1 . L.V'.Yv. .'..i.'.. •1'049' ' To these -one -may- possibly add "The Late Christppher Bpan' ' and Mr. Mer-

ton Hodge's "The Wind and the Rain" — if they . did not reaeh- the thousand mark, they must have come close to it. There they are, the whole nine of them. And what a truly singular collection — four musical plays represcnting a great range in quality; two far-ces; two comedies and one tragedy; but where is the common quality which in each case extracted from a generally reluctant public a great fortune? I must answer trutkfully that I do not know. Possibly in tho case of "Cku-Chin-Ghow" and "A Little Bit of Fluff"

(prod'uced in 1916 and 1915 respective^ ly) the War may have been ,a deci.ding iactor — London wanted gaiety and colour in those dim days, and found tkat tlie theatre could supply these qualities. But what of the- "Beggar'g Opera" and "The Farmer's Wife"f. Why should they have drawn a vast public to out-of-the- way theatres? Of th« "Beggar's Opera'4 one could- say that it is unusual and that its music is quito. charming, but the same could be said of many other musical plays that hav# failed:dismally} while we know that Sir Barry Jackson rau the "Farmer's Wife" at' a loss" of ' £300(Tbefore it settled down to mahe a fortune. Tragedy on the boards , and - in tha box-office is supposed to be 'synonomous, aud yet "Romance" made at least two fortunes and'one -reputation.-' Yet it has no quality as a play compared to Miss . Clemence Dane 's " A Bill of * Divorco* ment" (to which it pears h'i^ore than supeffieiar res'emblance) ..which) -though it rau for 401; performanciBS,' deserved a relatxvely much greater. suecees. A prominent London. manager, Mr# C. B. Cochrane I believe, has said that if he knew anything at all about what the public wants'he . would be a millioni aire witkin~a year,- and most other London managers could say that if they knew as much as Mr. Cochran their fortunes " would be mafie, and yofc w# find ' England .greatest "tfi^atrical inxpresario admitting candidlyttkat ko can- only guess the public wish. ; A careful consideration of the-list o£ plays above-must bring home a realigation of the difficulties which faee tho -prof esgioiial : .producer. In the ni uS playp given there is not oue,, with tho posslble exe#ption ; of ' ffThe Farmer's Wife," that a critic would hail with » joyful cry as a new play of definifo Inierit-- - • • • ♦ I set out with- the ^infention of tabu--iating. rules i'or.-selectihg a good play, Ijhave considored shortly nine plays than rau for more than a thousand performancee. Of these nine plays only one can possibly ' be cohsidered a good play from any crltical standpoint, Theref ore the goodness or" badness ' of a'-play cannot be judged by its eifecfc on the box-office. But there is- one quality that we can judge from , the. l box-office, and th'afc must be presentu"ln any success, and that is the quality of entertainment— • the play must have what.I term "eni tertainmeut value" to achieve a long run. The converse, of course, does not hold good; a failure does not neceis-. 'sarily mean la-ek of entertainmen^ though it probably does. This entertainment value. alters with the age and with the temper of- the people, so that it is an indefinable entity, but. there are two qualities which are essential to its presence, aud which the amateur producer must assurc himself are present before he embarks on the difficult way to presentation. These two quali* ties I shall discuss next week.

The Mauch Twins boy stars of ' ' The Prince and the Pauper^ ' ' have been cast ia a series of "Penrod" films# based on Booth Tarkington's ehild chari aetor. Penrod'. will be4 given a twim brother for the purposes of the screen version. \ «• # * # Joan Bennett and Henry Fonda fctar in "Summer Lightning." Alan Marshall, who played in "After the Thin Man," "Parnell," etc., lias -received a prominent role. # # # Herbert Marshall stars ixi "Fight, For Your Lady," Jack Oakie playing a stellar comedy part. The cast includes Margot Grahame and Ida Lupino.