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Heliogabalus; A Buffoonery in Three Acts

By H. L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan

2020-02-20 20:54:01

Written on a lark by Mencken, with only a little assistance from his friend and Smart Set co-editor George Jean Nathan, in order to prove to themselves how easy it was to write a successful play. The result bears an uncanny resemblance to Mel Brooks' ... Read more
Written on a lark by Mencken, with only a little assistance from his friend and Smart Set co-editor George Jean Nathan, in order to prove to themselves how easy it was to write a successful play. The result bears an uncanny resemblance to Mel Brooks' hit, The Producers. Of it, Mencken wrote in 1937: ..".the hero should be a man universally disreputable, and...there should be nothing in the play save time-honored theatrical buncombe. Every sort of novelty in the plot was to be barred, and the so-called psychology was to be as transparent as possible." Despite their deliberate artlessness, they received numerous offers to stage the play, turning down a $10, 000 bonus and later the entreaties of John Barrymore's agent.  Less

Book Details

File size149.832 KB
Print pages196
PublisherPublic Domain Books
LanguageEnglish
ISBN978-1296950330

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