Craftsmanship can,
within limits, be acquired, genius cannot; and it is craftsmanship that
pilots us through the perils of the first performance, genius that
carries us on to the apotheosis of the thousandth. Therefore, our
primary concern must be with the arousing and sustaining of curiosity,
though we should never forget that it is only a means to the ultimate
enlistment of the higher and more abiding forms of interest.
* * * * *
[Footnote 1: The view that the dramatist has only to think of pleasing
himself is elsewhere dealt with.]
[Footnote 2: Two dramatists who have read these pages in proof, exclaim
at this passage. The one says, "No, no!" the other asks, "Why?" I can
only reiterate that, where there exists a strong and generally accepted
tradition, the dramatist not only runs counter to it at his peril, but
goes outside the true domain of his art in so doing. New truth, in
history, must be established either by new documents, or by a careful
and detailed re-interpretation of old documents; but the stage is not
the place either for the production of documents or for historical
exegesis.
Pages:
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242