Whether we like it or no (and some theorists do not like it at all),
scenery has ceased to be a merely suggestive background against which
the figures stand out in high relief. The stage now aims at presenting a
complete picture, with the figures, not "a little out of the picture,"
but completely in it. This being so, the playwright must evidently, at
some point in the working out of his theme, visualize the stage-picture
in considerable detail; and we find that almost all modern dramatists
do, as a matter of fact, pay great attention to what may be called the
topography of their scenes, and the shifting "positions" of their
characters. The question is: at what stage of the process of composition
ought this visualization to occur? Here, again, it would be absurd to
lay down a general rule; but I am inclined to think, both theoretically
and from what can be gathered of the practice of the best dramatists,
that it is wisest to reserve it for a comparatively late stage. A
playwright of my acquaintance, and a very remarkable playwright too,
used to scribble the first drafts of his play in little notebooks, which
he produced from his pocket whenever he had a moment to spare--often on
the top of an omnibus.
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