n the middle of the stalls,
and that her conduct was a protest.

Of course there ought to be a gangway, and some day the County Council
will insist upon the formation of one in every theatre, or else force
the manager to put the rows of stalls so far apart that people can pass
along them in comfort. We know that on the whole managers do not care
much about the comfort of their patrons; they seem to act on the
supposition that plays are of only two classes, those so attractive that
you cannot keep the public away and those so unattractive that you
cannot get it to come.

The London _theatre de luxe_ is still a dream of the future, though
undoubtedly some playhouses are vastly more comfortable than others. The
authorities are lax in this matter, as in the matter of exits; the crush
in getting out of most of the playhouses is abominable. No doubt there
are extra exits which might be used in case of peril; people ought to be
compelled to use them every night, so that a habit would be established
on the part of audiences and also of the attendants.

The patience with which the audience endures the misconduct of some of
its members is surprising. We hear inarticulate noises of disapproval
when people gossip in the stalls and occasionally somebody goes so far
as to whisper "Don't talk"; the result is that the chatterers chatter
rather more quietly for a little while, and soon are as noisy as before.
Frequently some members laugh scornfully at pathetic passages moving the
heart of most of the house, and this laughter is often due to a snobbish
desire to show superiority to those who weep.

We have heard something lately of a phrase about "collective psychology
and the psychology of crowds." The phenomenon referred to very rarely
has much effect in the London playhouses at the first night: on these
occasions there are too many discordant elements. Most of the critics
form non-conductors to the passage of what has been regarded as
analogous to an electrical current, and their non-conductivity is very
little greater than that of many of the people who receive complimentary
tickets or have the honour of being on the first-night list. Perhaps
the general public is unaware that the more fashionable theatres have a
list of people to whom is accorded a preferential allotment of seats.

Sometimes there is a momentary thrill; one feels distinctly that the
audience is in unison, and that the pitch of feeling of the individual
is heig