ABSTRACT
IREMEMBER feeling much perplexity because Hedda Gabler did not pay its expenses, although every one who went to see it was interested and pleased ; every one left the theatre talking eagerly of the characters, the incidents, and the motive of the play. The remarks themselves may not have betrayed much wisdom, but they left no doubt that every one had been interested. Here then was a piece that interested every one, and yet did not pay its expenses, while a play called The Dancing Girl,which interested no one, drew large audiences. I noticed that every one left the theatre saying ‘ it was a stupid, silly play .... nothing in it, very silly,’ &c. I did not hear any other comment, yet everybody went to see The Dancing Girl ; it was a great success ; it made money. The fascination of riddles is inherent in man, and I spent my spare time in trying to solve this riddle. On the right hand we had a play which pleased every one who saw it, but it did not draw sufficient money to pay its expenses ; on the left hand we had a play which displeased every one, but drew crowded houses, and made heaps of money for the management and the author. It seemed incredible that people should seek what they dislike and avoid what they like, and for many years I pondered this question as others have pondered the doctrine of free will and predestination. At last the answer came : People seek amusement, not pleasure, in a theatre. To obtain pleasure in a theatre, a man must rouse himself out of the lethargy of real life ; his intelligence must awake, and the power to rouse oneself from the lethargy of real life is becoming rarer in the playgoer and more distasteful to him. That is my wonderful discovery ! The playgoer wants to be amused, not pleased ; he wants distraction —the distraction of scenery, dresses, limelight, artificial birds singing in painted bowers. In Mr. Tree's production of the Midsummer Night's Dream an artificial rabbit hops across the stage, and the greatest city in the world is amused. The London playgoer is content to be distracted if he is not amused ; the one intolerable thing is that the author should attempt to stir him out of the lethargy of his dinner ; he prefers to be mildly bored. That is the best explanation I have discovered of the somewhat surprising fact that people avoid the plays they like and go to the plays they dislike.
