622
PARTISAN REVIEW
a symphony, must vibrate with the passions and perceptions of the
time and place of its performance if it is to come to life. Perhaps
people flock to concerts, opera, and ballet because they provide
solace and uplift, a momentary escape from the unpredictable forms
and violent pressures of our age . Good drama cannot so easily lift off
from the taut fabric of contemporary life; it is harder than ever for it
to supply satisfying symmetry and harmonious endings. Where the
wordless arts comfort and elevate, serious drama confronts and
troubles.
But the way American theatre works now obliges even those
most dedicated to serious drama to collaborate with its contrary - by
packaging and promoting in ways scarcely distinguishable from the
commercial world. Thus is the unique public encounter with drama
undermined, the presence of a play here and now lessened. Some–
times, America the limitless seems to offer almost too much freedom
to convert anything into something else, profitably.
Perhaps my quest for this elusive public dimension of theatre is
quixotic, but my best experiences all tell me that drama reaches its
heights when the theatre is fully accessible to all parts of society. Nor
can I rid myself of the conviction that the arts are something we
possess in common. I inherited this belieffrom generations of British
visionaries and practical idealists , from William Blake to Matthew
Arnold. Their principles and actions led to the creation of a network
of publicly-funded theatres, orchestras, libraries, and museums with
which I and my contemporaries grew up, and to which we felt we
had a right.
That is where my idea of a natural public dimension comes
from; and being in America, where it is missing, has made me fully
realize the meaning I attach to it: that the theatre paramountly, and
with it all the arts, is not an exclusive privilege but a privilege held in
common .
Although good drama today probably has to confront and dis–
turb, it also confirms, reminds , and can unite. A play can pass
beyond its initially troubling impact to hold an audience together in
a perception of life which, however disconcerting or implacable , is
less crushing because it is truly shared by members of that audience.
And that marks the truths which the artist puts forward from the in–
sistent and widely-disseminated ideas with which pundits and poli–
ticians attempt to remodel our world .
"Perhaps good art tells us more about our lives and our world
than any other kind of thinking or speculation - it certainly speaks to
