ABSTRACT
. . .Repertory, always harassed by poverty and over-strain, is a scramble in which the fine art of play-production inevitably gets rough-edged. Its skilled men leave it for the London theatre of monotonies in which the fine art of acting is filed away by continual repetition of similar parts in similar characterless plays. The successful modern piece asks very little more of the successful modern player than the deft manipulation of a bundle of tricks. The art of some of our stars is a thing no more admirable than the dexterity of a conjurer. They carry their technique in their pockets from one stage-door to another as he transfers his silk hat, paper cylinders, and silk handkerchiefs from one children's party to the next. And then, suddenly and blessedly, something does turn up. A new mind comes into the popular theatre; a new adjustment of theatrical values is demanded. And the English actor can, thank heaven, respond.
