is the
result of the best, the highest, the most artistic, that man can do.

In the first place, there must be the dramatic poet. Dramatic
poetry is the subtlest, profoundest, the most intellectual, the
most passionate and artistic of all. Then the stage must be
prepared, and there is work for the architect, the painter and
sculptor. Then the actors appear, and they must be gifted with
imagination, with a high order of intelligence; they must have
sympathies quick and deep, natures capable of the greatest emotion,
dominated by passion. They must have impressive presence, and all
that is manly should meet and unite in the actor; all that is
womanly, tender, intense and admirable should be lavishly bestowed
on the actress. In addition to all this, actors should have the
art of being natural.

Let me explain what I mean by being natural. When I say that an
actor is natural, I mean that he appears to act in accordance with
his ideal, in accordance with his nature, and that he is not an
imitator or a copyist--that he is not made up of shreds and patches
taken from others, but that all he does flows from interior fountains
and is consistent with his own nature, all having in a marked degree
the highest characteristics of the man. That is what I mean by
being natural.

The great actor must be acquainted with the heart, must know the
motives, ends, objects and desires that control the thoughts and
acts of men. He must be familiar with many people, including the
lowest and the highest, so that he may give to others, clothed with
flesh and blood, the characters born of the poet's brain. The
great actor must know the relations that exist between passion and
voice, gesture and emphasis, expression and pose. He must speak
not only with his voice, but with his body. The great actor must
be master of many arts.

Then comes the musician. The theatre has always been the home of
music, and this music must be appropriate; must, or should, express
or supplement what happens on the stage; should furnish rest and
balm for minds overwrought with tragic deeds. To produce a great
play, and put it worthily upon the stage, involves most arts, many
sciences and nearly all that is artistic, poetic and dramatic in
the mind of man.

_Question_. Should the drama teach lessons and discuss social
problems, or should it give simply intellectual pleasure and furnish
amusement?

_Answer_. Every great play teaches many lessons and t