ENGLISH PLAYWRIGHT DEAD

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 72, Issue 8, 10 January 1929, Page 8

ENGLISH PLAYWRIGHT DEAD

HENRY ARTHUR JONES many popular successes (Australian Press Assn.—United Service.} IJ >Xi The death has occurred of Mr Henry Arthur Junes, the dramatist, al the age of 78. Air Henry Arthur Junes was born in September, 1851, at Grand borough. Bucks, where his lather was a farmer. He went to school at Winslow and at the age uf 13. an opening was found for him with a Bradford firm, but he did not care for commerce and soon began to write. H e had, however, to remain in business for a long time, but he submitted articles regularly to editors. When he was IS, he had to go to London for his firm and for the first time visited a theatre. He decided to become a dramatist. Nine years of unsuccessful effort followed. He lived jpostly in Bradford, but was utter, in the Midlands and the West of England as a commercial traveller and occasionally visited London. His leisure

was devoted to writing and to the theatre, where he studied dramatic, construction. He would witness the sam c play five or six times and was thus able to analyse its structure. But the managers remained as obdurate as the publishers, although he had succeeded well enough in business to be able to marry in September. 1872. in addition to -» number of plays he had written a three-volume novel which he was unable to place. This was later utilised in “The Silver King.’ 7 At last his patience was rewarded A one-act play was accepted by Air Kou?by, manager of the Exeter Theatre, and produced there on December 11, 1878. “Only Round the Corner' 7 was followed in 1879 by a comedietta.

“A Clerical Error,’-’ which, after going the rounds in London, had been submitted to Mr Wilson Barrett, then managing the Grand Theatre, Leeds. He accepted it and produced it at the Court Theatre, London. wher e it ran for some time and has been frequently played since. Jones’ next piece, “His Wife, 77 was written for Miss Bateman at the Sadler s Wells Theatre, and also ran for some time in the provinces

It was in November. 18S2. that he spring into fame with the melodrama

*‘Th P Silver King.’’ produced by Wilson Barrett at th e Princess 7 Theatre. The play in the -writing in which Henry Herman collaborated, took London bv stonn and ran for over a vear. Sim-e then it has been played steadily all over the English-speaking world. In 1884, tired of conventional melodrama, he decided to w rite a play of character and on September 25. “Saints and Sinners,” the first of a scries of studies of modern English life with which his name has become so closely identified, was put on at the Vaudeville. It evoked considerable criticism, but ran for 200 nights. Jones then reverted to melodrama, writing “Hoodman Blind.’ 7 “The Noble Vagabond.” “The Lord Larry.’ 7 “Heart of Hearts,’’ “Hard Hr? ’ etc. But, feeling that he was capable of better work, he produced “Th c Middleman” (1889). “Judah’ 7 (1890). a play uf daring originality and “The Dancing Girl' (1891), put on at the Haymarket with the late Sir Beerbohm Tree in the leading part. This was m some ways his most successful pie<: ( -» and ran for nearly a year. In November. 1891. Jones undertook the management ot the Avenue Theatre. London, where he produced “The Crusaders, 77 and revived “Judah” Among his most suceess•ni efforts have been “Mrs Dane’s De fence, 77 “The Liars,’’ and “The Lie.” H.is work is well known on the Continental stage translations of a number of his pieces having been piaved all over Germany. Austria. Belgium. Holland and Denmark. Altogether he wrote over 30 dramas, and these include: “The Case of Rebellious SSu-an.” “The Manoeuvres of Jane,’ 7 “Whitewashing Julia.” “Joseph Entangled, 7 ’ “Dollv Reforming Herself, 77 and “The, Pacifists’* (1917), a war play. Several of his dramas were first produced in the United States—“ The Goal’ 7 at Chicago, and “The Hypocrites, 77 “The Evangelist. 77 “Lvdia Gilmore.' 7 “Th e Lie,’ 7 “The Cock of the Walk’ 7 (1915), in New York In addition lu his plays he was the author ot several books on the theatre, also ‘‘Patriotism an«l Popular Education, ’ ‘’Shakespeare and Germany. 77 and “What is Capital/’’ He also indulged in vigorous newspaper polemics against Bolshevism and against the views of H. (4. Wells and Jiemard Shaw.