ABSTRACT
Before long, if the vogue of Chekhov continues, his plays will be in danger of becoming set-pieces in the school of acting, or, to say the same thing in opposite terms, we shall be in danger of so considering them. If that should happen, what a pity it will be, for no play-going is less profitable than that which looks chiefly for the details of particular performances, and is incapable of yielding itself to the general impression of a play. Already it is hard sometimes not to treat the work of Shakespeare with overmuch familiarity; having seen a play of his again and again, we are tempted to lay the emphasis of our attention on the actors rather than on the poet. This is all very well for those whose duty it is to award prizes, but it is a dull affair in the theatre. It means missing so much.
