playwright does his work, must always be the exhibition of objective acts.

In all these general ways the work of the dramatist is affected by the fact
that he must devise his story to be presented by actors. The specific
influence exerted over the playwright by the individual performer is a
subject too extensive to be covered by a mere summary consideration in the
present context; and we shall therefore discuss it fully in a later
chapter, entitled _The Actor and the Dramatist_.

At present we must pass on to observe that, in the second place, the work
of the dramatist is conditioned by the fact that he must plan his plays to
fit the sort of theatre that stands ready to receive them. A fundamental
and necessary relation has always existed between theatre-building and
theatric art. The best plays of any period have been fashioned in
accordance with the physical conditions of the best theatres of that
period. Therefore, in order fully to appreciate such a play as _Oedipus
King_, it is necessary to imagine the theatre of Dionysus; and in order to
understand thoroughly the dramaturgy of Shakespeare and Molière, it is
necessary to reconstruct in retrospect the altered inn-yard and the
converted tennis-court for which they planned their plays. It may seriously
be doubted that the works of these earlier masters gain more than they lose
from being produced with the elaborate scenic accessories of the modern
stage; and, on the other hand, a modern play by Ibsen or Pinero would lose
three-fourths of its effect if it were acted in the Elizabethan manner, or
produced without scenery (let us say) in the Roman theatre at Orange.

Since, in all ages, the size and shape and physical appointments of the
theatre have determined for the playwright the form and structure of his
plays, we may always explain the stock conventions of any period of the
drama by referring to the physical aspect of the theatre in that period.