" To which
Hippolyta, less tolerant than Theseus of the incapacity of the players
to whom she is listening, tartly retorts: "It must be your imagination
(_i.e._, the spectator's), then, and not theirs (_i.e._, the
actors')."
These sentences mean that at its very best acting is but a shadow or
simulation of life, and that acting at its very worst is likewise a
shadow or simulation. But the imagination of the audience is supreme
controller of the theatre, and can, if it be of adequate intensity,
even cause inferior acting to yield effects hardly distinguishable
from those of the best.
It would be unwise to press Theseus's words to extreme limits. All
that it behoves us to deduce from them is the unimpeachable principle
that the success of the romantic drama on the stage depends not merely
on the actor's gift of imagination, but to an even larger extent on
the possession by the audience of a similar faculty. Good acting is
needful. Scenery in moderation will aid the dramatic illusion,
although excess of scenery or scenic machinery may destroy it
altogether. Dramatic illusion must ultimately spring from the active
and unrestricted exercise of the imaginative faculty by author,
actor, and audience in joint-partnership.
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