The First Night
BUT let us return to the further current of events.
The first night is the fatal moment in which the play is turned into an event. Up to the very last rehearsal, parts of it might still be altered, and thus save the play from disaster. It was still a work of art in the process of construction, a world in the making, a star which is being born out of chaos. The first night is but the final expression of despairing resolution to allow the whole affair to take its own course, come what may. It is the moment in which both the author and the producer definitely abandon the matter to the care of other hands, at the same time cutting themselves off from the possibility of helping in any way. Neither the author nor the producer will ever feel the satisfaction
100
