I know that there are
haughty-souls who make no such submission, and express themselves in
dramas which, so far as their proportions are concerned, might as well
be epic poems or historical romances.[6] To them, I repeat, I have
nothing to say. The one and only subject of the following discussions is
the best method of fitting a dramatic theme for representation before an
audience assembled in a theatre. But this, be it noted, does not
necessarily mean "writing down" to the audience in question. It is by
obeying, not by ignoring, the fundamental conditions of his craft that
the dramatist may hope to lead his audience upward to the highest
intellectual level which he himself can attain.
These pages, in short, are addressed to students of play-writing who
sincerely desire to do sound, artistic work under the conditions and
limitations of the actual, living playhouse. This does not mean, of
course, that they ought always to be studying "what the public wants."
The dramatist should give the public what he himself wants--but in such
form as to make it comprehensible and interesting in a theatre.
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