The Optics--Make-up--Gesture--Scenery at the French Plays--Stage Costumes--Colour--Stage Meals 118 CHAPTER VII THE MORALITY OF OUR DRAMA Mr Harry Lauder on the Morals of Our Drama--Double Entente--Moral Effect on Audience--An Advantage of French Dramatists 149 CHAPTER VIII CASUAL NOTES ON ACTING Mr H.B. Irving on his Art--Mr Bourchier and "Max" on English Acting--The Sicilian Players--Alleged Dearth of Great Actresses--Character Actresses--Stage Misfits--Stars 167 CHAPTER IX STAGE DANCING The Skirts of the Drama--Isadora Duncan 195 CHAPTER X THINGS IN THE THEATRE A Defence of the Matinée Hat--A Justification of certain Deadheads--Theatrical Advertisements--Music 205 CHAPTER XI IN THE PLAYHOUSE Laughter--Smoking in the Auditorium--Conduct of the Audience--Concerning the Pit--Why do we go to the Theatre? 229 CHAPTER XII MISCELLANEOUS Signor Borsa on the English Theatre--G.B.S. and the Amateurs--Cant about Shakespeare--Yvette Guilbert on Dramatists 252 CHAPTER XIII MISCELLANEOUS Finance in Plays--Some Unsuccessful Dramatists--The Ending of the Play--Preposterous Stage Types--The Professions of the Dramatis Personae 271 CHAPTER I THE DRAMATIC CRITIC His Qualifications The production of a play in the Russian tongue renders topical a phrase once used, not unhappily, by Mr Cecil Raleigh concerning the qualifications of the dramatic critic. After listening to a somewhat extravagant speech about the duties of the critic, he said that the dramatic critic ought, apparently, to be a "polyglot archangel." During the last few years we have had plays in Russian, Japanese, Bavarian _patois_, Dutch, German, French and Italian, to say nothing of East End performances in Hebrew and Yiddish, which we neglect. Latin drama we hear at Westminster; a Greek company came to the Court but did not act. A Chinese has been promised, and a Turkish drama threatened; Danish has been given; there are awful hopes of Gaelic and Erse; and goodness knows why we have escaped Echegaray, Lope di Vega and Calderon in the original. A Mezzofanti would be at a premium in the craft if knowledge of languages alone were sufficient; but one may know many tongues and possess no judgment.