Of the new pieces, Fitch's "The Moth and the Flame" has remained
unpublished until now. It exemplifies many of his most sprightly
observational qualities. "The Truth" and "The Girl with the Green Eyes"
are more mature, but are no less Fitchean than this. Mr. David Belasco's
"The Return of Peter Grimm" is as effective in the reading as it was on
the stage under his triumphant management. Mr. Eugene Walter's "The
Easiest Way," at the last moment, was released from publication in the
_Drama League Series of Plays_; it still stands as America's most
cruelly realistic treatment of certain city conditions. In the choice of
Mr. Augustus Thomas's "In Mizzoura"--"The Witching Hour" having so often
been used in dramatic collections--the Editor believes he has
represented this playwright at a time when his dramas were most racy and
native.
This third volume, therefore, brings examples of the present American
stagecraft to date. Had his policy of selection not been exclusive, but
rather inclusive of plays easily accessible to the student, the Editor
might have reached out for Mr. George C. Hazelton's and Mr. Benrimo's
"The Yellow Jacket," Mr. Charles Kenyon's "Kindling," and Mr.
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