The Theory of the Theatre

The Theory of the Theatre

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Theory of the Theatre, by Clayton Hamilton This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Theory of the Theatre
Author: Clayton Hamilton
Release Date: October 3, 2004 [EBook #13589]
Language: English
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Uniform with This Volume Studies in Stagecraft
By CLAYTON HAMILTON
Second Printing CONTENT: The New Art of Making Plays. The Pictorial Stage. The Decorative Drama. The Drama of Illusion. The Modern Art of Stage Direction. A Plea for a New Type of Play. The Period of Pragmatism. The Undramatic Drama. The Value of Stage Conventions. The Supernatural Drama. The Irish National Theatre. The Personality of the Playwright. Themes and Stories of the Stage. Plausibility in Plays. Infirmity of Purpose. Where to Begin a Play. Continuity of Structure. Rhythm and Tempo. The Plays of Yesteryear. A New Defense of Melodrama. The Art of the Moving-Picture Play. The One-Act Play in America. Organizing an Audience. The Function of Dramatic Criticism.
_$1.50 net_
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
NEW YORK

THE THEORY OF THE THEATRE
AND OTHER PRINCIPLES OF DRAMATIC CRITICISM
BY
CLAYTON HAMILTON
AUTHOR OF "MATERIALS AND METHODS OF FICTION"
NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
_Published April, 1910_

TO
BRANDER MATTHEWS
MENTOR AND FRIEND
WHO FIRST AWAKENED MY CRITICAL INTEREST IN THE THEORY OF THE THEATRE

PREFACE
Most of the chapters which make up the present volume have already appeared, in earlier versions, in certain magazines; and to the editors of The Forum, The North American Review, The Smart Set, and The Bookman, I am indebted for permission to republish such materials as I have culled from my contributions to their pages. Though these papers were written at different times and for different immediate circles of subscribers, they were all designed from the outset to illustrate certain steady central principles of dramatic criticism; and, thus collected, they afford, I think, a consistent exposition of the most important points in the theory of the theatre. The introductory chapter, entitled _What is a Play?_, has not, in any form, appeared in print before; and all the other papers have been diligently revised, and in many passages entirely rewritten.
C.H.
NEW YORK CITY: 1910.

CONTENTS
THE THEORY OF THE THEATRE

CHAPTER PAGE
I. WHAT IS A PLAY? 3 II. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THEATRE AUDIENCES 30 III. THE ACTOR AND THE DRAMATIST 59 IV. STAGE CONVENTIONS IN MODERN TIMES 73 V. ECONOMY OF ATTENTION IN THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES 95 VI. EMPHASIS IN THE DRAMA 112 VII. THE FOUR LEADING TYPES OF DRAMA 127 VIII. THE MODERN SOCIAL DRAMA 133
OTHER PRINCIPLES OF DRAMATIC CRITICISM
I. THE PUBLIC AND THE DRAMATIST 153 II. DRAMATIC ART AND THE THEATRE BUSINESS 161 III. THE HAPPY ENDING IN THE THEATRE 169 IV. THE BOUNDARIES OF APPROBATION 175 V. IMITATION AND SUGGESTION IN THE DRAMA 179 VI. HOLDING THE MIRROR UP TO NATURE 184 VII. BLANK VERSE ON THE CONTEMPORARY STAGE 193 VIII. DRAMATIC LITERATURE AND THEATRIC JOURNALISM 199 IX. THE INTENTION OF PERMANENCE 207 X. THE QUALITY OF NEW ENDEAVOR 212 XI. THE EFFECT OF PLAYS UPON THE PUBLIC 217 XII. PLEASANT AND UNPLEASANT PLAYS 222 XIII. THEMES IN THE THEATRE 228 XIV. THE FUNCTION OF IMAGINATION 233
INDEX 241

THE THEORY OF THE THEATRE

I
WHAT IS A PLAY?
A play is a story devised to be presented by actors on a stage before an audience.
This plain statement of fact affords an exceedingly simple definition of the drama,--a definition so simple indeed as to seem at the first glance easily obvious and therefore scarcely worthy of expression. But if we examine the statement thoroughly, phrase by phrase, we shall see that it sums up within itself the entire theory of the theatre, and that from this primary axiom we may deduce the whole practical philosophy of dramatic criticism.
It is unnecessary to linger long over an explanation of the word "story." A story is a representation of a series of events linked together by the law of cause and effect and marching forward toward a predestined culmination,--each event exhibiting imagined characters performing imagined acts in an appropriate imagined setting. This definition applies, of course, to the epic, the ballad, the novel, the short-story, and all other forms of narrative art, as well as to the drama.
But the phrase "devised to be presented" distinguishes the drama sharply from all other forms of narrative. In particular it must be noted that a play is not a story that is written to be read. By no means must the drama be considered primarily as a department of literature,--like the epic or the novel, for example. Rather, from the standpoint of the theatre, should literature be considered