f whom I have spoken, but not
offered to the general public for a run, would satisfy any critic that
the English modern drama exists although we are still waiting for the
English modern theatre.

Moreover, we have the players. Some, though not many, of the
fashionable stars would serve, whilst there are numbers of really able
actresses and actors who have proved their ability to represent modern
comedy, but owing to the strange policy of managers are rarely employed
by the ordinary theatre--in London. In several cases the policy may be
sound, since the regular fare of the fashionable houses as a rule
demands a showy, but insincere, style out of the range, or at least the
demonstrated range, of the neglected players.

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 alr