OCR Text |
Show CAREER. OF PINERO. Study of Master English Dramatist at Short Pango. Interesting side lights on tho personality per-sonality of Arthur Wing Pineror the greatest of living English dramatists, ere contained ln a letter from London. If his worthy father had had his way there would have been no Playwright Plnero. The father was a lawyer, practicing prac-ticing as a solicitor in London, and fully Intended his son should be a lawyer law-yer tob. He set the youngster at tho work of preparation for the law, but the youngster was decidedly offlsh, and when he reached hla 19th year put his foot down and said he would not be a lawyer. He felt called to the slajfe; he was made to be an actor and not a lawyer, he firmly believed. Ho started in at 1 a week In 1S71, with Mr. and Mrs. Wyndham. well-known theatrical managers man-agers of Edinburgh, and worked hard at that salury for a year. One night in 1875 the theater burned down, and he was "out of & Job." After a time he found a new engagement in Liverpool, but was there lees than a year, going to London ln 1S76 to play at the Globe theater In Wllkie Colllns's "Miss Gait." The sumo year he entered the employment employ-ment of Mr. Irvlnjc, and remained a member of the Lyceum Thtr company com-pany for five years. Mr. Plnero's introduction to the pub lic ns a playwright was in 1S77, while ho still was an actor. Tho piece waa called 200 a Year." Then came "Daisy's Escape" and "Bygonee," both produced by Mr. Irving at the Lyceum. For the first of these plays Mr. Plnero received 60. He had offered to write a curtain-raiser for Mr. Irving for nothing, and theoffer had been unnoticed unno-ticed for a long time. Then one day Mr, Irving said: "Plnero, if you like to write mo a little lit-tle piece for next season, I wJll give you 50." Mr. Irving liked his curtain-raiser, and said if its author went on aa ho had begun he would be sure to take a good position as a playwright. Is is the readable quality of Mr. Plnero's plays that seems to establish their literary worth. The collection of his dramatic writings published a year or two ago by Mr. Helnemann Is worthy of a place ln any library. . If one asks Mr. Plnero to namo the play ho likes the best of all he has written, the answer is apt to be "the unsuccessful ones." But the probability proba-bility Is that answer would be misleading-. At any rate, Mr. Plnero undoubtedly undoubt-edly looks upon "The Second Mrs. Tanqueray" as the Plnero play that is likely to live longest. It certainly Is tho PInoro play that has traveled the globe moro than any others. It not only has been everywhere the English tongue Is spoken, but it nleo has invaded in-vaded France. Germany, Russia, and even Norway and Sweden. Thero aro Paulas on the stages of nil the Important Impor-tant countries of tho world. Mr. Plnero himself has seen many of these Paulas. Which of all ho has seen has given him tho greatest pleasure he would be loath to say, but if a friend of his has made a good guess, Duso came about as near satisfying the author's au-thor's conception of the part as anybody any-body else. |