Does the public for such a theatre exist? I think so. The number of playgoers is very large, and although only a comparatively small proportion goes out of its way to patronise the non-commercial drama a very large proportion has grown weary of the ordinary drama--a fact shown by the recent failure of plays which not many years ago would have been successful. Do the critics exist? They are an important element in the matter. The question is a delicate one for me to answer. Certainly some of our dramatic critics are men of culture and courage, able to appreciate new ideas. The difficulty is more with the newspapers than their representatives. For a sad aspect of the present state of affairs lies in the fact that the desire to obtain tittle-tattle and gossip concerning the players often outweighs the desire to obtain sincere, intelligent criticism, and the result is obvious. There is ten times more "copy" published about the persons and personal affairs of the author of a play and of its players than concerning its merits and faults. However, after taking all the elements into account, it may confidently be asserted that within the lifetime of the present generation of playgoers radical changes will have taken place, and even if we may not possess tragedy of the highest quality we shall have a theatre of modern English drama--serious comedy and also light comedy and farce--really expressive of current life and thought and fine enough in style to render the most critical Englishman proud of his country's drama. E.F.S. _October 1910_ The thanks of the author are due to the Proprietors and the Editor of _The Westminster Gazette_ for kindly consenting to the republication of articles which have already appeared in that journal. CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I THE DRAMATIC CRITIC His Qualifications--His Knowledge of Fashionable Society--His Duties and Difficulties--His Stock Phrases--The Circumstances under which he writes--His Fear of Libel Actions 1 CHAPTER II THE DRAMATIC CRITIC His Duty to be tolerant--His Sympathies when young--The Jaded Critic--His Unpaid Labours and his Letter Bag 28 CHAPTER III THE DRAMATIC CRITIC An Attack upon him--Why he is disliked--His Honesty--His Abolition--The Threatened Theatrical Trust 49 CHAPTER IV PLAYS OF PARTICULAR TYPES The Pseudo-Historical--The Horrible in Drama--The Immorality Play--Scripture Plays--Anecdotal Plays--The Supernatural 72 CHAPTER V PLAYS OF PARTICULAR TYPES Unsentimental Drama--The Second-hand Drama--Plays with a Purpose--Drama and Social Reform 99 CHAPTER VI THE PHENOMENA OF THE STAGE