ssumed that it is because I do not value construction.
I do value it. But it should be vital, not academic, organic, not
mechanical. Still, even mechanical construction is better than none
at all. A play without plot is invertebrate, without bones. It is
at his peril that a dramatist departs from accepted rules, even
those respecting "strong" curtains and "strong" exits, though in
certain cases weak curtains and weak exits may be more really
dramatic. Then, valuable as dialogue is, it may be redundant, and
make a play "flabby." The actor's rule, that all talk that does not
carry on the action is bad, is worthy of all due respect. "You
literary fellows want to say everything twice over," was the shrewd
criticism of a stage-manager in a certain case. But an actor is
often so absorbed in his own part that he does not easily estimate
the bearing of any given speech, even his own, upon the whole play.
"Cuts" at rehearsal are not unfrequently found to be too hastily
made. Then, what is the action? Not merely the external incidents,
but the shifting phases of thought, emotion, character, in the
_dramatis personae_. It is these that give the incidents their value,
and so give dramatic interest to the plot, or story. The dialogue
and the incidents are but two phases of the presentment of the
story. The action may be rapid or slow, direct, or with episodes.
All depends upon the treatment; and the play that one audience finds
detestable may delight another.

If THE BLACK CAT ever again come to the ordeal of the
footlights, I can only hope that it may find an audience as
sympathetic as that of the Independent Theatre.

OPERA COMIQUE,
STRAND, W.C.

THE INDEPENDENT THEATRE.
FOUNDER AND SOLE DIRECTOR, J.T. GREIN.

Third Season, Fifteenth Performance.

_FRIDAY, 8th December, 1893,_

_THE BLACK CAT,_

A PLAY IN THREE ACTS, BY

JOHN TODHUNTER.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE.

_Arthur Denham_ Mr. BUCKLAW.
_Fitzgerald_ Mr. NEVILLE DOONE.
_Cyril Vane_ Mr. ORLANDO BARNETT.
_Constance Denham_ Miss HALL CAINE.
_Blanche Tremaine_ Miss MARY KEEGAN.
_Miss Macfarlane_ Miss GLADYS HOMFREY.
_Undine_ Miss DORA BARTON.
_Jane_ Miss FORRESTER.

_The Play produced under the direction of_
Mr. H. DE LANGE.

The ACTION of the play takes place in Denham's Studio in
London, at the PRESENT DAY.

The Bla