_Q._ From this I take it that it is invariably successful? _A._ Well, it is never a failure; or, rather, hardly ever. _Q._ Can you make your meaning a little plainer? _A._ If it is not invariably a triumph of coin, it is a success of esteem. The house is crowded for a couple of months. _Q._ And after? _A._ The Problem Play is not expected to have an after. _Q._ What is the essence of such a creation? _A._ The unconventional treatment of the conventional. _Q._ Give an example? _A._ Two men tossing up for a lady. In _Box and Cox_ the transaction was conducted with the assistance of a sixpence in the politest fashion imaginable; in a later version the affair could not be arranged without a pack of cards and much forcible language. _Q._ Was the scene the same in both, like the situation? _A._ No, in _Box and Cox_ the spot was a second-floor back; in the other, the interior of an observatory on the summit of a mountain. _Q._ Can you mention any other characteristic of the Problem Play? _A._ The dramatist should be daring. People should say of his work that it would have surprised their parents and startled their grandmothers into fits. _Q._ How can this desirable end be attained? _A._ By the playwright causing his heroine to throw a pocket-bible into the fire, or perform some other act of parallel eccentricity. _Q._ Should the heroine have any peculiarity? _A._ As a rule she should be a woman with a past. _Q._ But has not this type been worked to death? _A._ It has certainly seen much service, to that the newest kind of heroine is to be preferred. _Q._ What is the newest kind of heroine? _A._ The woman who, without having a past, has, under the influence of drink, seriously damaged the possibility of enjoying a future. _Q._ When does the leading situation arrive? _A._ At the end of the second act. What goes before and comes after that climax is, to a large extent, immaterial. _Q._ What is the customary fate of the heroine after the leading situation? _A._ On rare occasions, suicide "off." But the usual exit is a retreat in rear of the clergy. _Q._ What is the customary effect of the Problem Play? _A._ That for a considerably longer time than nine days it is a wonder. Every one talks about it, and many see it during that period. When the wonder is exhausted according to precedent the cause of the amazement is forgotten. _Q._ And, when this last season arrives, what does the author do? _A._ A dramatist, having written one Problem Play, usually writes another. * * * * * [Illustration: "DON JOSÉ." J-E CH-MB-RL-N, IN SPAIN, AS "THE TORY-ADOR."] * * * * * PROFESSIONAL AND JOURNALISTIC.--The Editor of an illustrated paper says that his only difficulty with his artists is "the Initial Difficulty." He now has on hand an illustrated alphabet ready for all emergencies. * * * * * THAT TUNE!