curls flying behind her--an'--an
organic, not mechanical. Still, even mechanical construction is better than none at all. A play without plot is invertebrate, without bones. It is at his peril that a dramatist departs from accepted rules, even those respecting "strong" curtains and "strong" exits, though in certain cases weak curtains and weak exits may be more really dramatic. Then, valuable as dialogue is, it may be redundant, and make a play "flabby." The actor's rule, that all talk that does not carry on the action is bad, is worthy of all due respect. "You literary fellows want to say everything twice over," was the shrewd criticism of a stage-manager in a certain case. But an actor is often so absorbed in his own part that he does not easily estimate the bearing of any given speech, even his own, upon the whole play. "Cuts" at rehearsal are not unfrequently found to be too hastily made. Then, what is the action? Not merely the external incidents, but the shifting phases of thought, emotion, character, in the _dramatis personae_. It is these that give the incidents their value, and so give dramatic interest to the plot, or story. The dialogue and the incidents are but two phases of the presentment of the story. The action may be rapid or slow, direct, or with episodes. All depends upon the treatment; and the play that one audience finds detestable may delight another. If THE BLACK CAT ever again come to the ordeal of the footlights, I can only hope that it may find an audience as sympathetic as that of the Independent Theatre. OPERA COMIQUE, STRAND, W.C. THE INDEPENDENT THEATRE. FOUNDER AND SOLE DIRECTOR, J.T. GREIN. Third Season, Fifteenth Performance. _FRIDAY, 8th December, 1893,_ _THE BLACK CAT,_ A PLAY IN THREE ACTS, BY JOHN TODHUNTER. DRAMATIS PERSONAE. _Arthur Denham_ Mr. BUCKLAW. _Fitzgerald_ Mr. NEVILLE DOONE. _Cyril Vane_ Mr. ORLANDO BARNETT. _Constance Denham_ Miss HALL CAINE. _Blanche Tremaine_ Miss MARY KEEGAN. _Miss Macfarlane_ Miss GLADYS HOMFREY. _Undine_ Miss DORA BARTON. _Jane_ Miss FORRESTER. _The Play produced under the direction of_ Mr. H. DE LANGE. The ACTION of the play takes place in Denham's Studio in
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