we had a working agreement with him, and later, Mr. Archie
Selwyn, in discussing the story of the play with Mr. David
Belasco, aroused his interest. The latter saw "Paid in Full"
and "The Wolf," and so he sent for me, with the result that
"The Easiest Way" was first produced in Hartford, Conn., on
December 31, 1908. Since its New York production, it has been
presented in nearly every country of the world. It has not
always met with commercial success, but it has always been
regarded as a play of representative importance.

William Winter was one of the bitterest enemies of "The Easiest Way."
He placed it with "Zaza" and Brieux's "Three Daughters of M. Dupont."
As an opposite extreme view, we give the opinion of Mr. Walter Eaton,
written in 1909, concerning the play: "It places Mr. Walter as a
leader among our dramatists." In some respects, we may have surpassed
it since then, in imaginative ideality; but, as an example of
relentless realism, it still holds its own as a distinct contribution.
The text has been edited for private circulation, and it is this text
which is followed here. A few modifications, of a technical nature,
have been made in the stage directions; but even with these slight
changes, the directions are staccato, utilitarian in conciseness,
rather than literary in the Shaw sense.




DAVID BELASCO'S
STUYVESANT
THEATRE