BIBLIOGRAPHIES

[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 beforeMrs. 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 mytots. [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 atMiss 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 shootme—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 hisslippers—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 atMrs. 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 airwhen 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 intoan 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,Inever 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

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) andPlays 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 Playsfrom 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, inUniversity 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, inThe 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) ofThe 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 YorkTimes, 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, inThe Theatre, Vol. XXIII, pp. 143-156, March, 1916.

Goodman, Edward,Why the One-Act Play?, inThe 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, inThe Bookman, April, 1913. Appears as Chapter XXII inStudies 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, inThe 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 Literaturefor 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, inThe 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:[A]Copyright, 1914, by Charles Scribner's Sons. All rights reserved.[B]Copyright, 1913, by George Middleton. All rights reserved.[C]Copyright, 1921. All rights reserved.[D]Copyright, 1912, 1921, by Percy Mackaye. All rights reserved.[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, byThe Stratford Journal.[G]Copyright, 1914, by Bosworth Crocker. All rights reserved.[H]Pronouncedniece.[I]Copyright, 1917, by Little, Brown & Co. All rights reserved.[J]Copyright, 1917, by Oscar M. Wolff. All rights reserved.[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.Copyright, 1922, by the Dakota Playmakers.[L]Copyright, 1909, by Charles Scribner's Sons. All rights reserved.[M]Copyright, 1912, by Charles Scribner's Sons. All rights reserved.

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, byThe Stratford Journal.

[H]Pronouncedniece.

[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.Copyright, 1922, by the Dakota Playmakers.

[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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