ve what they say. It has been
pretended that Shakespeare would have been delighted by such productions
of his works as we have seen in modern times, and have rejoiced in the
pictures contrived by the scene-painter, costumier and others working
under the direction of the producer. To this it has been objected that,
though the pictures might have pleased him, he would have been disgusted
by the fact that a good many of his beautiful lines have to be cut
because of the length of _entr'actes_ and occasional pieces of stage
business designed in order to draw the attention of the audience to the
beauty of the scenery.

The reply is made that a large quantity of the most famous passages in
Shakespeare are descriptive of scenery, and would not have been written
but for the fact that he had no other means of conveying his ideas to
the audience. If there be any truth in this, one may be very thankful
for the fact which coerced him into his word-painting. Certainly the
world has profited by this compulsion, for millions who have never and
will never see the theatre's efforts to represent Shakespeare's pictures
have had infinite pleasure from the author's successful endeavours to
realize his ideas by the force of words.

As I have already mentioned, Mr H.B. Irving ascribes the alleged
superiority of the Garrick-period actors to their lacking the help of
the fine scenery of notable contemporary dramas. It would seem to follow
that in his opinion the alleged weakness of modern acting is due to the
fact that the players rely too much upon the plays and scenery. Upon
this aspect of the matter no opinion need be offered, but it may be said
confidently that Mr Irving's theory applies to dramatists, and that the
existing playwrights unconsciously become somewhat less self-reliant
because they have such assistance from the producers.

The art of the theatre is the art of illusion and also of compromise,
and no rule connected with the stage can be pushed quite home to its
apparent logical conclusions: therefore one must have some amount of
appropriate scenery, and costumes may not be flagrantly incongruous; but
when once these modest demands have been satisfied the audience will be
well content with mounting in which nothing more is involved if the play
be well written and acted, and agreeable in style to its taste; and we
know very well that some of the longest runs have been enjoyed by works
produced at little cost.

The New Royalty p