Chapter 81 Maugham's view on drama

British novelist and playwright Maugham began writing at the age of eighteen (1892), and published his first novel "Liza of Lamberth" (Liza of Lamberth) at the age of twenty-three; During the years, he created many novels and stage plays, but he still had no literary name. At the age of 33, his play "Ms. Frederick" (Lady frederick) got the chance to be staged, and he performed four or two performances in a row. It was a great success, and even its novels began to attract the attention of the world.Therefore, in terms of the history of Maugham's fame and the value of his works, he should be more of a playwright; and his novels and plays are also adapted by each other.Therefore, in his autobiography, there are quite a few chapters dealing with drama issues.Although his theatrical views and experience are far behind, there are still some reference points.

Maugham's various works are profound, but their most distinctive feature is their popularity, which can be accepted by readers and audiences of any class (degree), especially in the aspect of drama creation. Focusing on the effect of performance, it can hit every shot and achieve success.However, the popular line he followed and the style of focusing on the audience are definitely different from the misunderstanding of the word popular that some people in the theater circle blindly cater to the low taste of the audience. Instead, he is able to grasp the common understanding and common Interesting themes, with ingenious drama structure, vivid expression, and easy-to-understand (popular) dialogues to reveal some profound philosophies, so it can not only entertain the audience, but also inspire the audience. It does not cause the audience to leave the theater for nothing.For this reason, the performance of his drama works will make high-class audiences not feel vulgar; low-class audiences will not find it difficult to understand.

Regarding the issue of emphasizing the audience rather than catering to the audience, Maugham believes that drama is the crystallization of the cooperation between writers (including writers and directors), actors and audiences, so all the best dramatists should focus on the audience when writing, Although they can't help complaining about the audience, they should know that theater depends on the audience.What can theater do without an audience? However, the difference between paying attention to the audience and catering to the audience is that the former pays attention to the audience's current experience and spiritual needs, so as to give them new nourishment and comfort when they are at a loss or thirsty for something. Then it will be popular; while the latter caters to the audience, just giving them something they already know, and its marginal utility is already limited, so it will be easy to get bored and abandon it!This is why the swarm of follow-ups will inevitably fail.From this point of view, people and things that the audience has never seen or known are what they are interested in, and the playwright must satisfy them from these aspects.Therefore, Maugham said with emotion: the general intelligence of the audience is much lower than that of other smarter people, and this is what the writer must discuss.In other words, the true meaning of valuing the audience is to elevate one's play above the intelligence of the audience, which is certainly not comparable to those who only know how to cater to the audience.

Due to the audience's constant demands for novelty, theater managers and scriptwriters are often confused about the direction, so that sometimes it is good, sometimes it is bad, and accidents happen repeatedly.Successful playwrights such as Somerset Maugham also said angrily: the audience is a very strange animal, rather than saying that they are smart, it is better to say that they are cunning.And say: they get bored easily; they like novelty; they change all the time.Maugham recognized that the audience's cooperation has a certain limit, and he warned himself that he must never take the same path a second time.In order not to bore the audience, it is necessary not only to change the theme from time to time, but also sometimes to extend the theme to an unnecessary length, or to compress the theme, just to hope that the interest of the audience will continue unabated.But the result of such repeated attempts not to tire the audience, Maugham said, was to tire himself for it.

Therefore, Maugham said with emotion: I yearn for the freedom of novels, and I am happy to think of the neglected readers. They are willing to listen to what I have to say, and I can also establish an intimate relationship with them, which cannot be expected in the theater. Created in the publicity pattern.So he settled down to write novels again; but before long, he would still have plays published, after all, he was also fond of plays, which made him reluctant to abandon them completely. Although Maugham does not object to the playwright's exaggeration of the plot, he believes that it should not exceed the audience's approval, otherwise, the audience will refuse to accept it.Maugham said: If the plot can arouse the interest of the audience, they may not care about its possibility, which is a characteristic that Shakespeare used exaggeratedly;Because the audience insisted that any plot must have convincing reasons; its moral standards must also be the general standards of the masses.From this point of view, isn't this also one of the popular characteristics of the success of Maugham's plays?On the other hand, some of today's weird dramas with outrageous variation plots are not accepted by the audience, and you should know what is missing!

Regarding the emphasis on the performance effect of dramatic works, Maugham believes that what cannot be performed is not a script.He said: A script that can only be read in the study is just a novel of dialogue.This script may have its merits, but it is no longer a script, it is neither a mule nor a horse.Therefore, Maugham often argues with theater managers. The manager cannot see the dramatic effect of the potential atmosphere that has not been performed, and the advantages that can be seen from the script may not have the performance effect.These two different situations also explain why some drama works were contemptuously successful unexpectedly.I don't know how many regrets there are, which make the playwright short of breath!

Basically, Maugham unabashedly sees theater as a commodity.For some playwrights who are high-spirited or lonely, especially when the scripts they write fail, they complain that the audience has no ability to appreciate them. It is considered that it is in vain to do things that are not suitable for drama, but the audience it gets is cheap customers who enter the theater for free.But Maugham's commercial dramas are not low-level and vulgar works, but start from emphasizing concepts, follow a popular and connotative path, and use the special charm of drama to grasp the audience and achieve success.And think that this is not his unique advantage, it can also be seen from the scripts of Vega, Shakespeare, and Moliere and other playwrights.

Maugham's drama creation career has enjoyed a long reputation.At the age of fifty-nine in 1933, his final play "Sheppey" (Sheppey) premiered, and it could still perform as many as eighty-three consecutive performances.And his early play "The Noble Spaniard" (The Noble Spaniard), which was performed in 1909, still had to be published by a publisher when he was 79 years old in 1953, which shows his His reputation is long and enduring, just as his longevity is admirable as he lived to ninety-one years old.