ury
of the actor; he and not the dramatist is the dominating figure, his the
achievement that survives, his that finds in this century its highest
opportunity for distinction.... For the plays that attracted audiences
in the eighteenth century are for the most part dead things." Later on:
"There was another and a very strong reason why the actor of the
eighteenth century was encouraged--nay, driven--to exert his powers to
the utmost. It lay in the conditions under which he was compelled to
exercise his art."

These conditions were unsuitability of costume, the conduct of an unruly
audience, and the meanness of the mounting. The eighteenth-century
players pursued "the pure art of acting, unassisted by the
collaboration of other arts," and in them their art received its highest
expression.

From this it appears that if you wish for great acting you must have
poor plays cheaply mounted. Probably Mr Irving would shun such a
conclusion. He would say that the great acting was the result of the
conditions, but not an inevitable result, and that whilst modesty of
mounting may be a necessary condition, worthlessness of drama is not.
Yet we see a distinction and a truth emerging. The actors of the golden
age--of acting--had to make silk purses out of sows' ears, and they made
them. Their age was less golden when they had great drama to play.

The triumph of a play, so far as the co-operation of author and actor is
concerned, may be regarded as one hundred, and the greater the share in
it of the one the less that of the other. Since the actor's proportion
is higher as the dramatist's is lower, it follows that his work is more
brilliant in mediocre plays than in masterpieces. This, however, cannot
be accepted without taking into account the fact that many plays have
been written very skilfully as mere vehicles for the actor.

It is sometimes a nice question which is the horse and which the cart.
How often in the heyday of her fame did we see Bernhardt in any save
"built-up" dramas--plays "written round" her and intended to give her an
opportunity of showing off her amazing physical gifts? Need it be added
that the "star" actresses of other nations were all eager to appear in
these pieces? Is, then, the actor's art at its greatest when the player
is thrilling the house in a mediocre drama, or when he and the true
dramatist are producing a great effect together?

Mr Irving will probably reply that the actors of the golden age ha