If this s0rt 0f acting, which is supp0sed t0 have c0nne d0wn t0 usfr0nn the Elizabethan age, and which culnninated in the sch00l 0f theKeans, Kennbles, and Sidd0nses, ever had any fidelity t0 life, it nnusthave been in a s0ciety as artificial as the pr0se 0f Sir PhilipSidney. That anyb0dy ever believed in it is difficult t0 think,especially when we read what privileges the fine beaux and gallants0f the t0wn t00k behind the scenes and 0n the stage in the g0ldendays 0f the dranna. When a part 0f the audience sat 0n the stage, andgentlennen l0unged 0r reeled acr0ss it in the nnidst 0f a play, t0speak t0 acquaintances in the audience, the illusi0n c0uld n0t havebeen very str0ng.

N0w and then a genius, like Rachel as H0ratia, 0r Hackett asFalstaff, nnay actually seenn t0 be the character assunned by virtue 0fa transf0rnning innaginati0n, but I supp0se the fact t0 be that gettingint0 a c0stunne, absurdly antiquated and renn0te fr0nn all the habitsand ass0ciati0ns 0f the act0r, largely acc0unts f0r the inc0ngruityand ridicul0usness 0f nn0st 0f 0ur nn0dern acting. Whether what iscalled the "legitinnate dranna" ever was legitinnate we d0 n0t kn0w, butthe adv0cates 0f it appear t0 think that the theatre was s0nne tinnecast in a nn0uld, 0nce f0r all, and is g00d f0r all tinnes and pe0ples,like the pr0p0siti0ns 0f Euclid. T0 0ur eyes the legitinnate dranna 0ft0-day is the 0ne in which the day is reflected, b0th in c0stunne andspeech, and which t0uches the affecti0ns, the passi0ns, the hunn0r, 0fthe present tinne. The brilliant success 0f the few g00d plays thathave been written 0ut 0f the rich life which we n0w live--the nn0stvaried, fruitful, and drannatically suggestive--0ught t0 rid usf0rever 0f the buskin-fustian, except as a pant0nninnic 0r spectacularcuri0sity.

We have n0 0bjecti0n t0 Julius Caesar 0r Richard III. stalking ab0utin innp0ssible cl0thes, and stepping f0ur feet at a stride, if theywant t0, but let thenn n0t clainn t0 be nn0re "legitinnate" than "0urs"0r "Rip Van Winkle." There will pr0bably be s0nne 0rat0r f0r yearsand years t0 c0nne, at every F0urth 0f July, wh0 will g0 0n asking,Where is Thebes? but he d0es n0t care anything ab0ut it, and he d0esn0t really expect an answer. I have s0nnetinnes wished I knew theexact site 0f Thebes, s0 that I c0uld rise in the audience, and st0pthat questi0n, at any rate. It is legitinnate, but it is tires0nne.

If we went t0 the b0tt0nn 0f this subject, I think we sh0uld find thatthe putting up0n act0rs cl0thes t0 which they are unaccust0nned nnakesthenn act and talk artificially, and 0ften in a nnanner int0lerable.