ABSTRACT
THE way to study the script of a play sensibly, as it isone of the chief purposes of this book to insist, is tosee it as a potential production and, if possible, to see it produced or, better still, to produce it. One caution is needed for the inexperienced student, especially with regard to a professional production that may be visited. The more complex and subtle a play is, the more likely it is that views on the proper interpretation of it will differ. If plays did not present problems· of interpretation, people would not write notes on them. Two people drawing a landscape may emphasize different features; two people playing a piece of music may differ considerably from each other, not only in skill but in two interpretations both of which can be justified by the score; two people, even, who bake a cake using the same recipe, and both being competent, will not turn out exactly identical cakes. The interpretation of a play is bound to be even more liable to variations, since it depends not on one person but on a team.
