e are not here considering
the drama as an art of persuasion, we have not to decide between this
and the opposite, or Shawesque, principle of shocking and startling an
audience by the utmost violence of paradox. There is something to be
said for both methods--for conversion by pill-and-jelly and for
conversion by nitroglycerine.

Reverting, now, to the domain of pure craftsmanship, can it be said that
"the art of the theatre is the art of preparation"? Yes, it is very
largely the art of delicate and unobtrusive preparation, of helping an
audience to divine whither it is going, while leaving it to wonder how
it is to get there. On the other hand, it is also the art of avoiding
laborious, artificial and obvious preparations which lead to little or
nothing. A due proportion must always be observed between the
preparation and the result.

To illustrate the meaning of preparation, as the word is here employed,
I may perhaps be allowed to reprint a passage from a review of Mr.
Israel Zangwill's play _Children of the Ghetto_.[2]

"... To those who have not read the novel, it must seem as though
the mere illustrations of Jewish life entirely overlaid and
overwhelmed the action. It is not so in reality. One who knows the
story beforehand can often see that it is progressing even in scenes
which seem purely episodic and unconnected either with each other or
with the general scheme. But Mr. Zangwill has omitted to provide
finger-posts, if I may so express it, to show those who do not know
the story beforehand whither he is leading them. He has neglected
the great art of forecasting, of keeping anticipation on the alert,
which is half the secret of dramatic construction. To forecast,
without discounting, your effects--that is all the Law and the
Prophets. In the first act of _Children of the Ghetto_, for
instance, we see the marriage in jest of Hannah to Sam Levine,
followed by the instant divorce with all its curious ceremonies.
This is amusing so far as it goes; but when the divorce is
completed, the whole thing seems to be over and done with. We have
seen some people, in whom as yet we take no particular interest,
enmeshed in a difficulty arising from a strange and primitive
formalism in the interpretation of law; and we have seen the meshes
cut to the satisfaction of all parties, and the incident to all
appearance closed. There is no finger-post to direct our
anticipation on the w