The Man who ate
the Popomack
_This Play has been selected for publication by the Reading Committee of
the_ British Drama League.
THE MAN WHO ATE THE POPOMACK
A Tragi-Comedy of Love in Four Acts
By W. J. Turner
Oxford Basil Blackwell
_Publisher to the_ Shakespeare Head Press
_of_ Stratford-upon-Avon
1922
_All performing rights are reserved by the Author. Applications
regarding the amateur acting rights of this Play should be made to the
Secretary of the_ Incorporated Society of Authors, _1 Central Buildings,
Westminster, London, SW1_.
TO
D·M·T
Note
I want to say a few words about the technique of this play. I have not
hesitated to allow two scenes existing only in the minds of some of the
characters to take their place on the stage. It is my belief that the
dramatic principles inculcated by all writers on the theatre have only a
narrow, logical foundation and that like the rules of harmony and
musical form with which unmusical professors have always tried to
throttle creative musicians, they are aesthetically worthless. I also
wish to add that actors must not think that the art of acting—unlike
every other art—has already reached perfection. I prophesy that ranges
of expression will be developed of which the present-day European or
American actor has no conception—although, as with many new things, the
first beginnings of this new art may be traced back in the past, as far
as the fifteenth century in Japan and, probably, further elsewhere. The
actor who is not prepared to cope with the difficulty of suggesting the
various states of consciousness depicted in this play—the dream, the
sub-conscious memory, the imagination—is unworthy of his art. This
applies equally to the producer.
For the rest I hope no one will be so foolish as to say this play is
badly constructed. It may be a bad play, but it is certainly not
constructed according to the rules laid down by dramatic critics.
W. J. T.
Scenes and Characters
ACT I. _Blair’s Picture Gallery off Regent Street_ page 1