producer’s agony. They attend first nights in order that they may take a bloodthirsty delight in the terrible situation on the stage, where every moment something can break down, become confused, and ruin the whole show. One goes to first nights just as the old Romans used to go to the arena to watch the Christians being tortured, and the wild animals tearing each other to pieces, out of a curious pleasure extracted from the agony and the unnatural excitement of those who are sacrificed.
Just at the moment when the first night public is settling itself down, with a rustling of generous conversation, in the gleaming arena, the author, with a strange and unbearable pain in the pit of his stomach, is rushing round the theatre. The players in their make-up peep through the spy-glass in the curtain at the audience, feel quite unwell owing to the usual first night panic, and rage about in their dressing-rooms because they have got an ill-fitting wig, or because their costumes won’t fasten properly.
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