Act One
where actions spoke louder through words
an aside
Education thrives through error. When the pupil sees results differ from expectation, they are at an intersection to choose one of the following paths:
maintaining original behavior, keeping pride intact and remaining headstrong to inevitably make most of the same mistakes again.
accept the mistake, either working harder or seeking assistance from higher authority usually resulting in improvement.
give up.
The obvious path forward seems to be “accept the mistake,” the metaphorical straight line of the response-to-failure trident described above.
However, in the arts, ego may render it difficult for the artist to express humility and follow this second path. As they are predicated on exorbitant revision until perfection, it is critical to tap into the vulnerability and acceptance of there being room for improvement.
The first is typically temporary, but the second and third last forever, subject to user choice. Protagonist Moss Hart, a heralded 20th century playwright, finds himself at this trident often, ultimately led down his correct path by strong internal forces: intuition and desire for more.
return to matter
Nearly every instance I plunged further into Act One, there would be an authoral anecdote eerily similar to a moment in my own life. Divine timing and intuition explained that this book was meant to be read at this moment; infatuating intrigue made it hard to put it down.
The technique with which Hart expertly details his visceral reactions to moments of perceived failure, success, newfound hardship et cetera, compels the reader, especially one of artistic pursuits, to not only empathize with Hart’s headspaces but recall their own similar moments and feelings with impressive clarity. Such is the power of writing from personal experience that remains raw decades later.
His tone of voice is strikingly grounded, filled with a refreshing whimsy when remarking on what went awry and where he was pushed to pivot.
Hart shares a confession, resonant with a lust for life I possess, before his retrospective journey to the top regarding his infatuation with money. His slow-churning time in squalor:
“accounts, in some measure, for the extravagant win I have lived from the moment large sums of money began to pour in. I know my profligacy has been a cause of headshaking among my friends, but my hatred for those years I am now speaking of was bound to affect me one way or the other. Either would make me afraid of ever being poor again, and therefore cautious and miserly, or it would send me sprawling among the gaudy, foolish goods the world has to offer, leaving a trail of greenbacks flowing heedlessly behind me. The latter is what happened and I prefer it so. I’ve built needless wings on my house in the country and planted thousands of trees on my land…I am not a fool about money, but I do not live in fear of it” (27).
The expression of gratitude for greenbacks here, while mildly bombastic, seems to be truly good-natured. This reversal of financial standing is not concerned with power, however, but with the freedom to enjoy the beauty of life and create more of such. Hart is indulgent at his core, retributive for circumstances of his upbringing and combating such conditions, when capable, with a melange of Lobster Newberg and more hamburgers than one should be able to stomach.
This hunger does not falter. Intent on executing his vision and inebriated by lack of sustenance at the Kaufman residence, he works until he is full. And he is thus filled instead with achievement.
the pounce
“Every successful person i have ever known has had it…that instinct or ability to sense and seize the right moment without wavering or playing safe, and without many gifted people flicker, brilliantly and briefly, and then fade into oblivion, in spite of their undoubted talents.”
So as not to self-aggrandize and include himself in the above description, Hart speaks from a “first-person third-person,” his personal experience of others. It would not be much of a book to publish had he not possessed this quality, I suppose, so it is rather implied that the passage applies to himself as well.
I will go ahead and insert himself into his analysis of success, the “ability to sense and seize the right moment,” with a handful of seized moments from Moss Hart:
Persistence and patience with Jed Harris, lauded playwright who played with Hart’s time as he sought to pitch his play
Insisting on a true-to-his-heart play for his new comedy Once in a Lifetime, not a “musical comedy” suggested by George Kaufman’s production team
Catalyzing his family to leave their old life behind
There may be many more moments in Hart’s journey, subject to opinion, that constitute this seizure of and spring-ahead to a new level of achievement, success, life. I found these to be the most profound, pivotal ones. Besides, often it is a singular event we look back on as instilling faith in our course. A series always has a climax.