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[Illustration: EUGENE WALTER]
(Born, Cleveland, Ohio, November 27, 1874)
When questioned once regarding "The Easiest Way," Mr. Eugene Waltersaid, "Incidentally, I do not think much of it. To my mind a good playmust have a tremendous uplift in thought and purpose. 'The EasiestWay' has none of this. There is not a character in the play reallyworth while, with the exception of the old agent. The rest, at best,are not a particular adornment to society, and the strength of theplay lies in its true portrayal of the sordid type of life which itexpressed. As it is more or less purely photographic, I do notthink it should be given the credit of an inspiration—it is ratherdevilishly clever, but a great work it certainly is not."
Such was not the verdict of the first night audience, at theStuyvesant Theatre, New York, January 19, 1909. It was found to beone of the most direct pieces of work the American stage had thus farproduced—disagreeably realistic, but purging—and that is the test ofan effective play—by the very poignancy of the tragic forces closingin around the heroine. Though it is not as literary a piece ofdramatic expression as Pinero's "Iris," it is better in its effect;because its relentlessness is due, not so predominantly to the moraldowngrade of the woman, as to the moral downgrade of a certain phaseof life which engulfs those nearest the centre of it. The play rouseda storm of comment; there were camps that took just the stand Mr.Walter takes in the opening quotation. But the play is included inthis collection because its power, as a documentary report of aphase of American stage life, is undeniable; because, as a piece ofworkmanship, shorn of the usual devices called theatrical, it comesdown to the raw bone of the theme, and firmly progresses to its greatclimax,—great in the sense of overpowering,—at the very fall of thefinal curtain.
Mr. Walter's various experiences in the theatre as an advance man, hisstar reporting on the Detroit News, his struggles to gain a footingin New York, contributed something to the bitter irony which runs asa dark pattern through the texture of "The Easiest Way." He is one ofthe many American dramatists who have come from the newspaper ranks,having served on the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Press, the NewYork Sun and Globe, the Cincinnati Post and the Seattle Star.Not many will disagree with the verdict that thus far he has notexcelled this play, though "Paid in Full" (February 25, 1908)contains the same sting of modern life, which drives his characters tosituations dramatic and dire, making them sell their souls and theirpeace of minds for the benefit of worldly ease and comfort. Note thistheme in "Fine Feathers" (January 7, 1913) and "Nancy Lee" (April 9,1918). In this sense, his plays all possess a consistency which makesno compromises. Arthur Ruhl, in his "Second Nights", refers to Walteras of the "no quarter" school. He brings a certain manly subtlety tobear on melodramatic subjects, as in "The Wolf" (April 18, 1908) and"The Knife" (April 12, 1917); he seems to do as he pleases with histreatment, as he did right at the start with his first successfulplay. For, of "The Easiest Way" it may be said that, for the firsttime in his managerial career, Mr. David Belasco agreed to acceptit with the condition that not a word of the manuscript should bechanged.
It is interesting to note about Walter that,