Chapter II: The Technic of the One-Act Play (11)

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August Strindberg, Sweden's foremost dramatist, was born at Stockholm in 1849. He attended the University of Upsala but did not graduate. In 1872 he wrote _Master Olaf_, which was for six years steadily refused by managers. When it did appear it inaugurated the Swedish dramatic renascence. By turns Strindberg was schoolmaster, journalist, dramatist, writer of scientific and political treatises, and writer of short stories. In 1883 he left Sweden and travelled extensively in Denmark, Germany, France, and Italy. He died in 1912.

As a dramatist Strindberg's chief strength lies not so much in dramatic technique as it does in his trenchant and searching power of analysis of the human mind. His chief plays are very exact and narrow views of the feminine soul. Some of his own domestic bitterness finds expression in the feminine studies in his plays. He is very fond of showing the power of one character over another.

His important one-act plays are _The Outlaw_, _Countess Julie_, _Creditors_, _Pariah_, _Facing Death_, and _The Stronger_. _The Stronger_ has a dramatic intensity that few plays possess. Though but one character speaks, the souls of three are skilfully laid bare.

PERSONS

MRS. X., _an actress, married_
MISS Y., _an actress, unmarried_

THE STRONGER[M]

SCENE: _A corner of a ladies' restaurant; two small tables of
cast-iron, a sofa covered with red plush, and a few chairs._

MRS. X. _enters, dressed in hat and winter coat, and carrying a
pretty Japanese basket on her arm_.

MISS Y. _has in front of her a partly emptied bottle of beer; she
is reading an illustrated weekly, and every now and then, she
exchanges it for a new one_.

MRS. X. Well, how do, Millie! Here you are sitting on Christmas Eve, as lonely as a poor bachelor.

[MISS Y. _looks up from the paper for a moment, nods, and resumes
her reading_.]

MRS. X. Really, I feel sorry to find you like this--alone--alone in a restaurant, and on Christmas Eve of all times. It makes me as sad as when I saw a wedding party at Paris once in a restaurant--the bride was reading a comic paper and the groom was playing billiards with the witnesses. Ugh, when it begins that way, I thought, how will it end? Think of it, playing billiards on his wedding day! Yes, and you're going to say that she was reading a comic paper--- that's a different case, my dear.

[_A waitress brings a cup of chocolate, places it before_ MRS. X.,
_and disappears again_.

MRS. X. [_Sips a few spoonfuls; opens the basket and displays a number of Christmas presents._] See what I've bought for my tots. [_Picks up a doll._] What do you think of this? Lisa is to have it. She can roll her eyes and twist her head, do you see? Fine, is it not? And here's a cork pistol for Carl.

[_Loads the pistol and pops it at_ MISS Y. MISS Y. _starts as if
frightened_.

MRS. X. Did I scare you? Why, you didn't fear I was going to shoot you, did you? Really, I didn't think you could believe that of me. If you were to shoot _me_--well, that wouldn't surprise me the least. I've got in your way once, and I know you'll never forget it--but I couldn't help it. You still think I intrigued you away from the Royal Theatre, and I didn't do anything of the kind--although you think so. But it doesn't matter what I say, of course--you believe it was I just the same. [_Pulls out a pair of embroidered slippers._] Well, these are for my hubby--tulips--I've embroidered them myself. H'm!--I hate tulips--and he must have them on everything.

[MISS Y. _looks up from the paper with an expression of mingled
sarcasm and curiosity_.

MRS. X. [_Puts a hand in each slipper._] Just see what small feet Bob has. See? And you should see him walk--elegant! Of course, you've never seen him in slippers.

[MISS Y. _laughs aloud_.

MRS. X. Look here--here he comes.

[_Makes the slippers walk across the table._ MISS Y. _laughs
again_.

MRS. X. Then he gets angry, and he stamps his foot just like this: "Blame that cook who can't learn how to make coffee." Or: "The idiot--now that girl has forgotten to fix my study lamp again." Then there is a draught through the floor and his feet get cold. "Gee, but it's freezing, and those blanked idiots don't even know enough to keep the house warm."

[_She rubs the sole of one slipper against the instep of the
other._ MISS Y. _breaks into prolonged laughter_.

MRS. X. And then he comes home and has to hunt for his slippers--Mary has pushed them under the bureau. Well, perhaps it is not right to be making fun of one's own husband. He's pretty good for all that--a real dear little hubby, that's what he is. You should have such a husband--what are you laughing at? Can't you tell? Then, you see, I know he is faithful. Yes, I know, for he has told me himself--what in the world makes you giggle like that? That nasty Betty tried to get him away from me while I was on the road. Can you think of anything more infamous? [_Pause._] But I'd have scratched the eyes out of her face, that's what I'd have done, if I had been at home when she tried it. [_Pause._] I'm glad Bob told me all about it, so I didn't have to hear it first from somebody else. [_Pause._] And, just think of it, Betty was not the only one! I don't know why it is, but all women seem to be crazy after my husband. It must be because they imagine his government position gives him something to say about the engagements. Perhaps you've tried it yourself--you may have set your traps for him, too? Yes, I don't trust you very far--but I know he never cared for you--and then I have been thinking you rather had a grudge against him.

[_Pause. They look at each other in an embarrassed manner._

MRS. X. Amelia, spend the evening with us, won't you? Just to show that you are not angry--not with me, at least. I cannot tell exactly why, but it seems so awfully unpleasant to have you--you--for an enemy. Perhaps because I got in your way that time [_rallentando_] or--I don't know--really, I don't know at all----

[_Pause._ MISS Y. _gazes searchingly at_ MRS. X.

MRS. X. [_Thoughtfully._] It was so peculiar, the way our acquaintance--why, I was afraid of you when I first met you; so afraid that I did not dare to let you out of sight. It didn't matter where I tried to go--I always found myself near you. I didn't have the courage to be your enemy--and so I became your friend. But there was always something discordant in the air when you called at our home, for I saw that my husband didn't like you--and it annoyed me--just as it does when a dress won't fit. I've tried my very best to make him appear friendly to you at least, but I couldn't move him--not until you were engaged. Then you two became such fast friends that it almost looked as if you had not dared to show your real feelings before, when it was not safe--and later--let me see, now! I didn't get jealous--strange, was it not? And I remember the baptism--you were acting as godmother, and I made him kiss you--and he did, but both of you looked terribly embarrassed--that is, I didn't think of it then--or afterwards, even--I never thought of it--till--_now_! [_Rises impulsively._] Why don't you say something? You have not uttered a single word all this time. You've just let me go on talking. You've been sitting there staring at me only, and your eyes have drawn out of me all these thoughts which were lying in me like silk in a cocoon--thoughts--bad thoughts maybe--let me think. Why did you break your engagement? Why have you never called on us afterward? Why don't you want to be with us to-night?

[MISS Y. _makes a motion as if intending to speak_.

MRS. X. No, you don't need to say anything at all. All is clear to me now. So, that's the reason of it all. Yes, yes! Everything fits together now. Shame on you! I don't want to sit at the same table with you. [_Moves her things to another table._] That's why I must put those hateful tulips on his slippers--because you love them. [_Throws the slippers on the floor._] That's why we have to spend the summer in the mountains--because you can't bear the salt smell of the ocean; that's why my boy had to be called Eskil--because that was your father's name; that's why I had to wear your color, and read your books, and eat your favorite dishes, and drink your drinks--this chocolate, for instance; that's why--great heavens!--it's terrible to think of it--it's terrible! Everything was forced on me by you--even your passions. Your soul bored itself into mine as a worm into an apple, and it ate and ate and burrowed and burrowed, till nothing was left but the outside shell and a little black dust. I wanted to run away from you, but I couldn't. You were always on hand like a snake, with your black eyes, to charm me--I felt how my wings beat the air only to drag me down--I was in the water with my feet tied together, and the harder I worked with my arms, the further down I went--down, down, till I sank to the bottom, where you lay in wait like a monster crab to catch me with your claws--and now I'm there! Shame on you! How I hate you, hate you, hate you! But you, you just sit there, silent and calm and indifferent, whether the moon is new or full; whether it's Christmas or mid-summer; whether other people are happy or unhappy. You are incapable of hatred and you don't know how to love. As a cat in front of a mouse-hole, you are sitting there. You can't drag your prey out, and you can't pursue it, but you can outwait it. Here you sit in this comer--do you know they've nicknamed it "the mousetrap" on your account? Here you read the papers to see if anybody is in trouble, or if anybody is about to be discharged from the theatre. Here you watch your victims and calculate your chances and take your tributes. Poor Amelia! Do you know, I pity you all the same, for I know you are unhappy--unhappy as one who has been wounded, and malicious because you are wounded. I ought to be angry with you, but really I can't--you are so small, after all--and as to Bob, why, that does not bother me in the least. What does it matter to me, anyhow? If you or somebody else taught me to drink chocolate--what of that? [_Takes a spoonful of chocolate; then, sententiously._] They say chocolate is very wholesome. And if I have learned from you how to dress--_tant mieux!_--it has only given me a stronger hold on my husband--and you have lost where I have gained. Yes, judging by several signs, I think you have lost him already. Of course, you meant me to break with him--as you did, and as you are now regretting--but, you see, _I_ never would do that. It wouldn't do to be narrow-minded, you know. And why should I take only what nobody else wants? Perhaps, after all, I am the stronger now. You never got anything from me; you merely gave--and thus happened to me what happened to the thief--I had what you missed when you woke up. How explain in any other way that, in your hand, everything proved worthless and useless? You were never able to keep a man's love, in spite of your tulips and your passions--and I could; you could never learn the art of living from the books--as I learned it; you bore no little Eskil, although that was your father's name. And why do you keep silent always and everywhere--silent, ever silent? I used to think it was because you were so strong; and maybe the simple truth was you never had anything to say--because you were unable to think! [_Rises and picks up the slippers._] I'm going home now--I'll take the tulips with me--your tulips. You couldn't learn anything from others; you couldn't bend--and so you broke like a dry stem--and I didn't. Thank you, Amelia, for all your instructions. I thank you that you have taught me how to love my husband. Now I'm going home--to him! [_Exit._

CURTAIN

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

COLLECTIONS OF ONE-ACT PLAYS

_The Atlantic Book of Modern Plays._ The Atlantic Monthly Press,
Boston, 1921.

Baker, Geo. Pierce. _Plays of the 47 Workship_ (two volumes) and
_Plays of the Harvard Dramatic Club_ (two volumes). Brentano's, New
York City, 1918-20.

Clark, Barrett H., _Representative One-Act Plays by British and
Irish Authors_. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1921.

Cohen, Helen Louise, _One-Act Plays by Modern Authors_. Harcourt,
Brace and Company, New York, 1921.

Eliot, Samuel A., _Little Theatre Classics_, one-act versions of
standard plays from the modern and the classic plays. Four volumes
now issued. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1918.

Mayorga, Margaret Gardner, _Representative One-Act Plays by
American Authors_. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1919.

Moses, Montrose J., _Representative One-Act Plays by Continental
European Authors_. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1922.

Shay, Frank, and Loving, Pierre, _Fifty Contemporary One-Act
Plays_. Stewart and Kidd Company, Cincinnati, 1920.

_Wisconsin Plays_, First and Second Series. B. W. Huebsch, New York
City, 1914, 1918.

Smith, Alice M., _Short Plays by Representative Authors_. The
Macmillan Company, New York City, 1921.

_A Volume of Plays from the Drama_, 59 East Van Buren Street,
Chicago, is announced for 1922.

_A Volume of One-Act Plays_ from the work of Professor Franz
Rickaby, of the University of North Dakota, is under way.

_A Volume of One-Act Plays_, from the work of Professor Frederick
H. Koch, of the University of North Carolina, is under way.

LISTS OF ONE-ACT PLAYS

_Bibliography of Published Plays Available in English._ World Drama
Promoters, La Jolla, California.

Cheney, Sheldon, _The Art Theatre_. (Appendix: _Plays Produced at
the Arts and Crafts Theatre, Detroit_.) Alfred A. Knopf, New York,
1917.

Clapp, John Mantel, _Plays for Amateurs_. _Bulletin of The Drama
League of America_, Chicago, 1915.

Clark, Barrett Harper, _How to Produce Amateur Plays_. Little,
Brown and Company, Boston, 1917.

Dickinson, Thomas H., _The Insurgent Theatre_. (Appendix: _List of
Plays Produced by Little Theatres_.) B. W. Huebsch, New York, 1917.

Drummond, Alex. M., _Fifty One-Act Plays_. _Quarterly Journal of
Public Speaking_, Vol. I, p. 234, 1915.

Drummond, Alex. M., _One-Act Plays for Schools and Colleges_.
_Education_, Vol. 4, p. 372, 1918.

Faxon, F. W., _Dramatic Index_. Published from year to year,
Boston.

French, Samuel, _Guide to Selecting Plays_. Catalogues, etc. Samuel
French, publisher, New York.

Johnson, Gertrude, _Choosing a Play_. Lists of various types of
one-act plays in the Appendix. The Century Company, New York, 1920.

Kaplan, Samuel, _Actable One-Act Plays_. Chicago Public Library,
Chicago, 1916.

Koch, Frederick H., _Community Drama Service_. A select list of
one-act plays. Extension Series, Number 36, in _University of North
Carolina Record_, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1920.

Lewis, B. Roland, _The Technique of the One-Act Play_ (Appendix:
_Contemporary One-Act Plays_). John W. Luce and Company, Boston,
1918.

Lewis, B. Roland, _The One-Act Play in Colleges and High Schools_.
A select list of fifty one-act plays. _Bulletin of Extension
Division of University of Utah_, Series No. 2, Vol. 10, No. 16,
Salt Lake City, 1920.

Lewis, B. Roland, _One Hundred Representative One-Act Plays_, in
_The Drama_, April, 1921, Vol. 11, No. 7, Chicago.

Lewis, B. Roland. _Bulletin on the One-Act Play_, prepared for The
Drama League of America. Contains a selected list of one hundred
and fifty one-act plays, with analyses, etc. The Drama League of
America, Chicago, Illinois, 1921.

McFadden, E. A., _Selected List of Plays for Amateurs_, 113 Lake
View Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1920.

Mackay, Constance D'Arcy, _The Little Theatre in the United States_
(Appendix: _List of Plays Produced in Little Theatres_). Henry Holt
& Company, New York, 1917.

Mayorga, Margaret Gardner, _Representative One-Act Plays by
American Authors_ (Appendix: _Selective List of One-Act Plays by
American Authors_). Little, Brown & Company, Boston, 1919.

Merry, Glenn Newton, _College Plays_. University of Iowa, Iowa
City, Iowa, 1919.

Riley, Alice C. D., _The One-Act Play--Study Course_. Three issues
(February, March, April) of _The Drama League Bulletin_, 1918,
Washington, D. C.

Riley, Ruth, _Plays and Recitations, Extension Division Record_,
Vol. 2, No. 2, November, 1920. University of Florida, Gainesville,
Florida.

_Selected List of Christmas Plays._ Drama League Calendar, November
15, 1918, New York.

_Selected List of Patriotic Plays and Pageants Suitable for
Amateurs._ Drama League Calendar, October 1, 1918, New York.

_Selected List of Plays for Amateurs._ The Drama League, Boston.
Also Doubleday, Page & Company, New York, 1917.

Shay, Frank, _Play List, Winter, 1921._ Frank Shay, 4 Christopher
Street, New York.

Shay, Frank, and Loving, Pierre, _Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays_
(Appendix: _The Plays of the Little Theatre_). Stewart & Kidd
Company, Cincinnati, 1920.

Stratton, Clarence, _Two Hundred Plays Suitable for Amateurs_. One
hundred of them are one-act plays. St. Louis, Missouri, 1920. The
Drama Shop, 7 East 42d Street, New York.

Stratton, Clarence, _Producing in Little Theatres_ (Appendix
contains a revised list of one-act plays). Henry Holt & Company,
New York City, 1921.

Swartout, Norman Lee, _One Hundred and One Good Plays_. Summit, New
Jersey, 1920.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF REFERENCE ON THE ONE-ACT PLAY

Andrews, Charlton, _The Technique of Play Writing_, Chapter XVIII.
Home Correspondence School, Springfield, Massachusetts.

Cannon, Fanny, _Writing and Selling a Play_, Chapter XXII. Henry
Holt & Company, New York, 1915.

Cohen, Helen Louise, _One-Act Plays by Modern Authors_,
Introduction. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1921.

Corbin, John, _The One-Act Play_, in the New York _Times_, May,
1918. Vol. IV, p. 8, col. 1.

Eaton, Walter P., _Washington Square Plays_, Introduction.
Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, New York, 1917.

Gibbs, Clayton E., _The One-Act Play_, in _The Theatre_, Vol.
XXIII, pp. 143-156, March, 1916.

Goodman, Edward, _Why the One-Act Play_?, in _The Theatre_, Vol.
XXV, p. 327, June, 1917.

Gregory, Lady Augusta, _Our Irish Theatre_. G. P. Putnam's Sons,
New York, 1913.

Hamilton, Clayton, _The One-Act Play in America_, in _The Bookman_,
April, 1913. Appears as Chapter XXII in _Studies in Stagecraft_,
Henry Holt & Company, New York, 1914.

Johnson, Gertrude, _Choosing a Play_, Chapter III, _Why the One-Act
Play?_?The Century Company, New York, 1920.

Lewis, B. Roland, _The Technique of the One-Act Play_. John W. Luce
& Company, Boston, 1918.

Lewis, B. Roland, _The One-Act Play in Colleges and High Schools,
Bulletin of the University of Utah_, Extension Series No. 2, Vol.
X, No. 16, 1920. Extension Division, University of Utah, Salt Lake
City.

Mackay, Constance D'Arcy, _The Little Theatre in the United
States_, some interesting comments on various one-act plays. Henry
Holt & Company, New York, 1917.

Middleton, George, _Tradition and Other One-Act Plays_,
Introduction, 1913; _Embers, Etc._, Introduction, 1911;
_Possession, Etc._, Introduction, 1915. All published by Henry
Holt & Company, New York.

Middleton, George, _The Neglected One-Act Play_, in _The Dramatic
Mirror_, January 31, 1913, pp. 13-14, New York.

Moses, Montrose J., _The American Dramatist_, comment on the
one-act play. Little, Brown & Company, Boston, 1917.

Neal, Robert Wilson, _Short Stories in the Making_, Chapter I.
Oxford University Press, New York, 1914.

Page, Brett, _Writing for Vaudeville_. Home Correspondence School,
Springfield, Massachusetts, 1915.

_Poole's Index_, for articles on the one-act play in the magazines.

_The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature_ for articles on the
one-act play in the magazines.

Schitzler, Arthur, _Comedies of Words_, Introduction by Pierre
Loving. Stewart & Kidd Company, Cincinnati, 1917.

Underhill, John Garrett, _The One-Art Play in Spain_, in _The
Drama: A Quarterly Review_, February, 1917.

Wilde, Percival, _Confessional, and Other One-Act Plays_, Preface.
Henry Holt & Company, New York, 1916.

The several volumes dealing with the short story are suggested as
collateral study: Pitkin, Neal, Williams, Grabo, Baker, Esenwein,
Notestein and Dunn, Canby, Albright, Smith, Cross, Barrett,
Mathews, Pain, Gerwig.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON HOW TO PRODUCE PLAYS

Beegle, Mary Porter, and Crawford, Jack, _Community Drama and
Pageantry_. The Appendices in this volume contain excellent
bibliographies on almost every aspect of dramatic production. It is
a most valuable work. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1917.

Chubb, Percival, _Festivals and Plays_. Harper and Brothers, New
York, 1912.

Clark, Barrett H., _How to Produce Amateur Plays_. Little, Brown &
Company, Boston, 1917.

Crampton, C. Ward, _Folk Dance Book_. A. S. Barnes & Company, New
York, 1909.

Hughes, Talbot, _Dress Designs_. The Macmillan Company, New York,
1913.

Johnson, Gertrude, _Choosing a Play_. The Century Company, New
York, 1920.

Mackay, Constance D'Arcy, _Costumes and Scenery for Amateurs_.
Henry Holt & Company, New York, 1915.

Mackay, Constance D'Arcy, _How to Produce Children's Plays_. Henry
Holt & Company, New York, 1915.

Rath, Emil, _Esthetic Dancing_. A. S. Barnes & Company, New York,
1914.

Rhead, G. N., _Chats on Costume, or Treatment of Draperies in Art_.
F. A. Stokes Company, New York, 1906.

Stratton, Clarence, _Producing in the Little Theatres_. Henry Holt
& Company, New York, 1921.

Stratton, Clarence, _Public Speaking_, has a chapter on Dramatics.
Henry Holt & Company, New York, 1920.

Taylor, Emerson, _Practical Stage Directing for Amateurs_. E. P.
Dutton & Company, New York, 1916.

Waugh, Frank A., _Outdoor Theatres_. Richard G. Badger, Boston,
1917.

Young, James, _Making Up_. M. Witmark & Sons, 114 West 37th Street,
New York.

FOOTNOTES:

[E] The head and face of the Figure are partly hidden by a beak-shaped cowl. Momentarily, however, when his head is turned toward the fire, enough of the face is discernible to reveal his narrow iron-gray beard, shaven upper lip, aquiline nose, and eyes that twinkle in the dimness.

[F] Copyright, 1919, by _The Stratford Journal_.

[H] Pronounced _niece_.

[K] Plans for this clock may be had by addressing Professor N. B. Knapp, of the Manual Training Department, University of North Dakota, University, North Dakota.

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