THE DRAMATISING OF A NOVEL.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 24, Issue 18, 7 March 1913, Page 7

THE DRAMATISING OF A NOVEL.

In the process of dramatising of a novel there are always marked advantages and disadvantages. The' art of the writer of stories' differs materially from that of the playwright. The first is given a latitude denied to the second, who, as has been very truly stated, has' to think in situations, and whose • opportunities for building up a character are more limited. A play founded upon a popular novel may, on the other hand, b«T said to start with a certain amount of prestige. People arei eager to seel in the flesh the characters they have known,, loved, or hated in the pages of the novelist.

Against this has to he set the danger that the adapter may have formed a very different conception of a character from that conceived by the reader, in whom, consequently, a feeling of disappointment Is at once awakened. I need hardly remind you that Shakespeare himself founded most of' his plays upon, stories more or less well known. The great essential is that the adapter shall handle his material in such fashion that it shall he absolutely self-ex-planatory. I meant that, without any knowledge of the original, the audience can follow the course of the plot and thoroughly understand the characters And their motives.—Sir George Alexander, In the "Bra.”