a speech, and go
off with another; but it is not of the least importance how they come or
go, if they have something interesting to say or do." Maxwell, it must
be remembered, is speaking of technic as expounded by the star actor,
who is shilly-shallying--as star actors will--over the production of his
play. He would not, in his calmer moments, deny that it is of little use
to have something interesting to say, unless you know how to say it
interestingly. Such a denial would simply be the negation of the very
idea of art.]

[Footnote 2: A dramatist of my acquaintance adds this footnote: "But, by
the Lord! They have to give advice. I believe I write more plays of
other people's than I do of my own."]

[Footnote 3: It may be hoped, too, that even the accomplished dramatist
may take some interest in considering the reasons for things which he
does, or does not do, by instinct.]

[Footnote 4: This is not a phrase of contempt. The would-be intelligent
playgoer is vastly to be preferred to the playgoer who makes a boast of
his unintelligence.]

[Footnote 5: In all the arts, however, the very idea of craftsmanship
implies some sort of external percipient, or, in other words, some sort
of an audience. In point of sheer self-expression, a child's scrabblings
with a box of crayons may deserve to rank with the most masterly canvas
of Velasquez or Vermeer. The real difference between the dramatist and
other artists, is that they can be _their own audience_, in a sense in
which he cannot.]

[Footnote 6: Let me guard against the possibility that this might be
interpreted as a sneer at _The Dynasts_--a great work by a great poet.]

_CHAPTER II_

THE CHOICE OF A THEME

The first step towards writing a play is manifestly to choose a theme.

Even this simple statement, however, requires careful examination before
we can grasp its full import. What, in the first place, do we mean by a
"theme"? And, secondly, in what sense can we, or ought we to,
"choose" one?

"Theme" may mean either of two things: either the subject of a play, or
its story. The former is, perhaps, its proper or more convenient sense.
The theme of _Romeo and Juliet_ is youthful love crossed by ancestral
hate; the theme of _Othello_ is jealousy; the theme of _Le Tartufe_ is
hypocrisy; the theme of _Caste_ is fond hearts and coronets; the theme
of _Getting Married_ is getting married; the theme of _Maternite_ is
maternity. To every play it is possible,