ion of affairs is
irrefutable. Spectacular embellishments are so costly that, according
to the system now in vogue, the performance of a play of Shakespeare
involves heavy financial risks. It is equally plain that, unless the
views of theatrical managers undergo revolution, these risks are
likely to become greater rather than smaller. The natural result is
that in London, the city which sets the example to most
English-speaking communities, Shakespearean revivals are comparatively
rare; they take place at uncertain intervals, and only those plays are
viewed with favour by the London manager which lend themselves in his
opinion to more or less ostentatious spectacle, and to the
interpolation of music and dancing.

It is ungrateful to criticise adversely any work the production of
which entails the expenditure of much thought and money. More
especially is it distasteful when the immediate outcome is, as in the
case of many Shakespearean revivals at the great West-end theatres of
London, the giving of pleasure to large sections of the community.
That is in itself a worthy object. But it is open to doubt whether,
from the sensible literary point of view, the managerial activity be
well conceived or to the public advantage. It is hard to ignore a
fundamental flaw in the manager's central position. The pleasure which
recent Shakespearean revivals offer the spectator reaches him mainly
through the eye. That is the manager's avowed intention. Yet no one
would seriously deny that the Shakespearean drama appeals, both
primarily and ultimately, to the head and to the heart. Whoever seeks,
therefore, by the production of Shakespearean drama chiefly to please
the spectator's eye shows scant respect both for the dramatist and for
the spectator. However unwittingly, he tends to misrepresent the one,
and to mislead the other, in a particular of first-rate importance.
Indeed, excess in scenic display does worse than restrict
opportunities of witnessing Shakespeare's plays on the stage in London
and other large cities of England and America. It is to be feared that
such excess either weakens or distorts the just and proper influence
of Shakespeare's work. If these imputations can be sustained, then it
follows that the increased and increasing expense which is involved in
the production of Shakespeare's plays ought on grounds of public
policy to be diminished.

II

Every stage representation of a play requires sufficient scenery and