the stage
as a whole. No matter how poor a play is or how much a critic dislikes
it, he must consider what the stage people are trying to do and judge
accordingly. In many cases it is not the individual play that deserves
adverse criticism, but the kind of play. All of these things must be
considered; every dramatic critic must have perspective. He must be fair
to the stage people and to the public; his influence is greater than he
may imagine.

No matter how strong the occasion for condemnation may be, the dramatic
critic is never justified in speaking bitterly. The poor production is
not a personal offense against him nor against the public. It is simply
a bad or an unworthy attempt and his duty is confined to pointing how or
why it is not worthy. That does not mean that he is justified in using
bitter, abusive, or even sarcastic language. It is great sport to make
fun of things and to exercise one's wits at some one's else expense--it
is also easy--but that is not dramatic criticism. The public asks the
critic to tell them calmly and fairly, even coldly, the reasons for or
against a production--the reasons why they should, or should not, spend
their money to see it--bitter sarcasm overreaches the mark. Just as soon
as a critic tries to be personal in his remarks on a play he is
exceeding his prerogative and is open to serious criticism himself.

The necessary attributes of a dramatic reporter, as we have seen, are:
fairness, logical thinking, and a background of stage knowledge. And of
these three, the background is of the greatest importance; it is the
stimulus and the check for the other two. The more a critic can know
about every phase of the theatrical profession, contemporary or
historical, the better will be his criticisms. The more knowledge of the
stage that his copy shows, the more greedily will his readers look for
his "Theatrical News" each day. However clear his idea of a play may be
he cannot express it clearly and readably without a background of other
plays to refer to. And, by the same sign, a wealth of allusions and a
quantity of theatrical lore will often carry a critic past many a play
concerning which he is unable to form a clear opinion. To develop your
ability as a dramatic reporter, watch the theatrical criticisms in
reputable dailies and weeklies and learn from them.

XVII

STYLE BOOK

_Being a copy of the Style Book compiled for the Course in
Journalism of the Univer