micked. Let a dozen different ideals be
impersonated, then real, true and original talent will be revealed, new
ideas will be discovered which will no longer be guided by the author
and stage manager and theatrical director, but which will be free,
untrammelled, and no longer ready-made emotions."

This sounds rather daring, and the lady, before kicking the dramatists
out of the theatre, might consider carefully what is to become of the
players who have not sufficient brains in their skulls for there to be
any "boiling over." Some actors, no doubt, are intellectual men, but not
a few of the best possess no ideas of their own. This quotation and
others that follow come from a translation which appeared in _The Daily
Telegraph_ of a letter written by Yvette Guilbert to _The Figaro_.

It is noteworthy that this idea of dispensing with dramatists is not
new. Efforts were made in the days of _Le Chat Noir_ to evolve a new
kind of drama, in which the playwright had little concern. Moreover, Mr
Gordon Craig, one of the forces of the future--and of the present--has
revolutionary ideas on the subject.

Let us now see what the great _diseuse_ thinks of dramas and dramatists.
Here is a strong sentence by her: "The author ignores, or will not
admit, that, despite all his efforts, he never produces anything but a
half-dead child. The talented actor animates, nurses, consolidates,
fortifies and clothes it, suggests the proper gestures and attitudes,
infuses his own health and strength into this weakling, gives it blood
and, so to speak, makes it live. The playwright contributes the soul, it
is true; but, the soul being intangible, it is only a pitiable gift so
far as the dramatic art is concerned."

To anticipate an obvious objection she says, "Of course I know there
were a Shakespeare, a Racine, a Moliere, and some others.... What a pity
they had no descendants!" It is permissible to wonder whether the lady
has read much drama. Possibly she would ask why she should spend time in
reading mere "souls," and admit that her acquaintance with plays is
almost confined to works witnessed by her; and, indeed, seeing that,
according to her, "the _role_ of the comedian is superior to that of the
author," she may believe that a play only exists when it is acted, and
be quite unaware that an imaginative, intelligent person can get a high
degree of pleasure from reading a play.

The dramatist may well rest content with the suggestion that his