I cannot tell you what an effect the play is making here. You will
remember that, when I read it, I set my heart on the greatest
production ever seen. And it was because the spirit of the play made
me _feel_ that I owed it to a world which had suffered me sixty-eight
years, in which I had prospered exceedingly, and from which I have on
the whole derived much happiness. Well, after many unforeseen trials,
difficulties and disappointments, this aim has been achieved. Having
at last brought together the cast I wanted, with great players in the
chief parts, and having made sure of a noble interpretation, I opened
the doors of this theater, for the first time in its history, at a
democratic price, so that the downtown seamstress could have a glimpse
of the Something Else, as well as her sister on Fifth Avenue.
That was not the act of a man of business, although it has proved a
business action. I am not out to make money by this play. I don’t want
to make money out of it, because I feel, and this will make you smile,
that it’s like trafficking in the Word of God. But under the terms of
the contract entered into between us on behalf of the unknown author,
who I am sorry to learn from Mr. Pomfret is seriously ill, large sums
are going to be earned by it in all parts of the world. In the course
of the next few months it will be played here and in Canada, by at
least fifty stock companies. Next month I start for Stockholm, in
order to produce it at the state theater. Christiansen, the poet, has
prepared a version which I believe to have true inspiration. As you
know, his reputation has European significance, and several of his
German friends, among them the Director of the National Theater, will
be present at the first performance. The fame of the play has already
reached Europe, and Christiansen hopes for an early performance in
Berlin. Arrangements are also being made in Paris, Rome, Petrograd,
and Vienna, and in the course of a few months I expect versions of
it to appear in all these places. Van Roon’s beautiful version for
the Hague, Hjalmar’s for Christiania and Ximena’s for Madrid, will be
produced within a few weeks, so you see that the grass is not growing
under our feet.
There is every reason to look for great developments. It is hoped that
the play may be a means of keeping open the door for civilization.
Believe me, dear Mr. Brandon,
Very sincerely yours,
URBAN MEYER.
P.S. I have just heard that the play has been awarded the Nobel Prize
for peace. Christiansen writes that he has been asked to go to England
and offer an address to the author on behalf of the Scandinavian
Government.