The Theatre of Ideas, a Burlesque Allegory, and Three One-act Plays

The Theatre of Ideas is a 1915 volume by Henry Arthur Jones (1851-1929), the English dramatist, pairing a satirical burlesque allegory on the contemporary stage with three one-act plays. The title piece mocks the theatre of ideas associated with Shaw, Granville Barker, and the new drama, presenting the struggle between commercial entertainment and intellectual theatre as a comic allegory; Jones, though himself a campaigner for the drama’s literary dignity, kept a sceptic’s distance from the problem-play movement’s solemnity. The accompanying one-act plays show his command of the compressed form the music halls and triple bills demanded. The volume documents the Edwardian quarrel over what the English theatre should be, from a playwright who had fought on both sides. Free PDF download available on BDeBooks.