them in
order, amplified and strengthened them; and when at last he saw his way
clear he made out an elaborate and detailed scenario, containing the
whole story, with ample indication of all the changes of feeling which
might take place in any of the characters in any scene.

Then when he felt himself in the right mood, he feverishly improvized
the play, laughing over the jokes, weeping over the pathetic moments and
objurgating the evil deeds of the more despicable characters. But this
was only a first draft of the play; and it had to be gone over three or
four times, altered, condensed, sharpened, tightened in effect. The
first version was always too long; and the successive revisions reduced
it to scarcely more than a half of its original length. Sometimes he was
able to compact into a single pregnant phrase the substance of a speech
of many lines. And as the play slowly took on its final form Sardou not
only heard every word which every character had to speak, he also saw
every one of the movements which would animate the action. M. Binet
reminded him that when Scribe and Legouve were collaborating on
'Adrienne Lecouvreur,' Scribe asserted that he visualized all that the
actors would do, while Legouve heard all that they would say; and Sardou
then claimed that he was fortunate in possessing the double faculty of
both seeing and hearing.

Of course, Sardou stage-managed his plays himself, teaching the
performers carefully, and going upon the stage, if need be, to act the
scene as he wanted it to be acted, indicating the expression, the
intonation and the gesture which he felt to be demanded by the
situation.

He was equally meticulous in designing the scenery and the costumes; and
he was inexorable in insisting on the carrying out of his wishes. He had
a lively interest in painting, in sculpture and in architecture; and, in
fact, he confest, that if he had not been a playwright he would like to
have been an architect. This, it may be noted, is conformation of the
statement that there is a strong similarity between the art of
architecture and the art of the drama, due to the fact that both arts
are under the necessity of providing a solid structure to sustain the
fabric and to support the decoration.

B.M.

* * * * *

OF THIS BOOK THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THREE COPIES WERE PRINTED FROM
TYPE BY CORLIES, MACY AND COMPANY IN SEPTEMBER; MCMXVI