ows that he fully appreciates the point; nor to Mr Granville Barker,
who produced _Strife_, for in _Waste_, which is in most respects the
greatest English drama of our times, he exhibited it with extraordinary
intensity, and also in _The Voysey Inheritance_, an admirable play,
which it is to be hoped we shall soon see again. It is to the beginners
that one would like to insist on the proposition that you must not push
your views down the throats of the audience, but leave spectators to
draw their own conclusions, taking pains to see that the conclusions
which they fancy are drawn voluntarily by them in reality are forced
upon them. Indeed, you must imitate the skilful professor of
legerdemain, and "palm" your views upon the audience as he "palms" a
card upon his victim.

Drama and Social Reform

Probably at no time and in no country has there been so much fuss about
the stage as nowadays in England, and the annual budget of our theatre
involves millions. Moreover, people often talk about it as a great
educational force, a great instrument for progress, a great vehicle for
the dissemination of ideas and so on. Yet the theatre in England remains
almost entirely aloof from real life. To the majority of playgoers, an
immense majority, it is merely a place of entertainment, except so far
as the plays of Shakespeare are concerned; they are supposed to have
some educational value, of what nature goodness knows.

Perhaps this phenomenon is not surprising, if one regards the matter
historically. The theatre has never forgotten that the Puritans
suppressed it for a time and have always been hostile, and it identifies
them with the Whig, the Liberal, the Radical, and the Socialist. It
recollects that the Royalists revived it, and have always been friendly,
and they are represented by the Tory, the Conservative, the Unionists
and the Tariff Reformers. So the stage does not lend itself readily to
ideas of reform, or sober study of life, or sober anything--indeed, it
has long been a little too closely connected with _the_ trade.

There must be players, managers, and some playgoers belonging to the
Liberals or Radicals, but they are much in the minority: rarely, if
ever, is a suggestion of Liberalism uttered in a theatre except by way
of well-welcomed scorn. We are almost all pro-Bungs, House-of-Lords men,
and ardent Tariff Reformers.

There is another important element in the matter--the theatre appears to
be peculiarly engr