Sarah Bernhardt, possibly the greatest actress of the late nineteenth century, was a symbol of French Romantic theatre at its height and of the melodramatic excesses that led to its demise. The theatre of Bernhardt's time was changing rapidly, and Salmon depicts this change as it was reflected in her roles, temperament, and approach to acting. This book reexamines Sarah Bernhardt, not solely as an individual, but in comparison with other contemporary thespians and their styles and approaches to theatrical performance. The romantic vision of Bernhardt and her contemporaries in time produced...

Eric Salmon contends that modern theatre is artistically endangered. This book is his evaluation of the present state of English-speaking theatre and an examination, through examples of twentieth-century plays, both good and bad, of the reasons for it. Salmon's method is critical-argumentative. He is as much concerned with staging methods and playing as with the plays themselves, though he regards the playwright as the primary artist in the theatre and the actor as an interpretor.