How To Produce Amateur Plays Part 15

S* _The Groove_ (Holt) (F)[20]

S* _Tradition_ (Holt) (F)[20]

[20] Apply to Samuel French for producing rights.

C* Macmillan, _Short Plays_ (Stewart and Kidd) (F)

C Forbes, _The Commuters_ (Samuel French) (F)

C _The Traveling Salesman_ (Samuel French) (F)

S Klein, _The Lion and the Mouse_ (Samuel French) (F)

R Thomas, _Arizona_ (Dramatic Publis.h.i.+ng Company) (F)

RD _Alabama_ (Dramatic Publis.h.i.+ng Company) (F)

C _Mrs. Leffingwell's Boots_ (Samuel French) (F)

C _The Other Girl_ (Samuel French) (F)

C _Oliver Goldsmith_ (Samuel French) (F)

C _The Earl of Pawtucket_ (Samuel French)(F)

C _The Capitol_ (Samuel French) (F)

COLLECTED VOLUME OF PLAYS

1. _Representative One-Act Plays by American Authors_, edited by Margaret G. Mayorga (Little, Brown), contains a large number of suitable plays for amateurs. Among these are:

R* _Sam Average_, by Percy MacKaye (F)

R* _Six Who Pa.s.s While the Lentils Boil_, by Stuart Walker (F)

S* _In the Zone_, by Eugene O'Neill (F)

R* _The Wonder Hat_, a Harlequinade by Ben Hecht and Kenneth Sawyer Goodman (F)

C* _Suppressed Desires_, by George Cram Cook and Susan Glaspell (F)

S* _The Last Straw_, by Bosworth Crocker (F)

2. _Representative One-Act Plays by British and Irish Authors_, edited by Barrett H. Clark (Little, Brown), contains, among others, the following plays suited to the requirements of amateurs:

R* _The Widow of Wasdale Head_, by Arthur Pinero (F)

C* _Rococo_, by Granville Barker (F)

R* _The Snow Man_, by Lawrence Housman (F)

C* _Fancy Free_, by Stanley Houghton (F)

3. _Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays_, edited by Frank Shay and Pierre Loving (Stewart-Kidd), includes the following plays for amateurs:

C* _Literature_, by Arthur Schnitzler (F)

C* _Francoise' Luck_, by Georges de Porto-Riche (F)

S* _Mary's Wedding_, by Gilbert Carman (F)

C* _A Sunny Morning_, by the Quinteros (F)

APPENDICES

APPENDIX I

COPYRIGHT AND ROYALTY

The following statement regarding royalties on amateur plays was prepared by Mr. Allen J. Carter, an attorney of Chicago, for one of the Drama League pamphlets listing amateur plays:

"The copyright law of the United States requires that every play, whether published or unpublished, for which copyright protection is claimed, must be registered in the copyright office at Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C. Until such registration, no action for infringement of copyright can be maintained. The register of copyrights keeps a complete record and index of all copyright entries and publishes a catalogue of such entries at regular intervals. Dramatic works are entered under Cla.s.s D and are found indexed under that heading in Part I, Group II of the catalogues. Copies of these catalogues are on file in most of the larger public libraries, and sets or parts of sets may be purchased from the Superintendent of Public Doc.u.ments at Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C. Anyone wis.h.i.+ng to learn whether a particular play has been properly entered for copyright need only consult a set of these catalogues. If such a set is not available, the information will be promptly furnished by the register of copyrights, Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C, upon request.

"Whenever a play has been published, examination of a copy of an authorized printed edition will disclose whether such play has been properly copyrighted. The law requires that a notice of copyright must be placed either upon the t.i.tle page, or upon the page immediately following, of each copy published or offered for sale in the United States. Such notice must consist either of the word 'Copyright' or the abbreviation 'Copr.', accompanied by the name of the copyright proprietor and the year in which copyright was secured by publication. If published prior to March 4, 1909, the notice may also be in the following form: 'Entered according to Act of Congress in the year ----, by A. B.

in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Was.h.i.+ngton.'

Whenever the author of a play or anyone to whom he has a.s.signed his rights publishes such play without proper notice of copyright in some one of the three authorized forms above mentioned, the play then and forever after becomes the property of the public and may be performed and printed at will by anyone. No subsequent attempt to copyright such play would be valid, and any valid copyright previously secured would be vitiated.

"A play which has never been published nor offered for sale, and which exists only in ma.n.u.script form, may be copyrighted upon proper entry being made at the copyright office in Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C. Should such play be later published, however, the publication must comply with all the requirements of the law as to notice of copyright.

"Any person who infringes the copyright in any play shall be liable: (a) To an injunction restraining said infringement; (b) to pay actual damages to the copyright proprietor, or in place of actual damages $100.00 for the first infringing performance and $50.00 for each succeeding one; (c) to imprisonment not to exceed one year, or to a fine not to exceed $1,000.00, or both, wherever such person has infringed such copyright wilfully and for profit.

"It follows, therefore, that if any group of amateurs perform a copyrighted play without having obtained the consent of the author or copyright proprietor, they are collectively liable to damages of at least $100.00 under whatever conditions the performance is given. If they do it wilfully and for profit, they are in addition each individually liable to fine and imprisonment under the criminal provision of the act."

APPENDIX II

A NOTE ON MAKE-UP

Make-up as an art and a science does not properly fall within the scope of the present volume. However, it has been thought advisable to insert at this place sections from an interesting paper on make-up by one who has made a thorough study of the subject. The author acknowledges his obligation to Miss Grace Griswold, who wrote the article, for permission to make this use of it.

_How and Where Lines Come into the Face A Study in Make-up by Grace Griswold_

Nearly all great actors are masters of make-up. They must be, for the illusions of the stage are no less pictorial than those of painting and sculpture, with the added elements of movement and voice, all of which must be brought into working harmony with the thought and feeling of the part, in a perfect portrayal. Any serious incongruity in externals is felt at once, and destroys the illusion.