“In My Mind's Eye, Horatio”

Abstract

The average theatre-goer probably does not know that the Greek root of the word “drama” implies action or doing; he does not know that Aristotle's definition of tragedy in the sixth chapter of his Poetics includes the phrase that serious drama is properly “in the form of action, not of narrative.” Yet to him the idea that the dramatist might tell some of his story instead of showing it on the stage would seem preposterous: a play is a play, to be shown, not related; and most play-goers instinctively look upon verbal descriptions and second-hand reports as disappointing substitutes for action itself.