“The Theatre is a wonderful creature, ever-renewing,
like Spring. Sometimes people—usually Broadway people, who do not know her as well
as they imagine they do, refer to her as The Old Lady, but she is not old. Of
course she makes such johnny-come-latelies as the lyric, the novel and the
philosophical essay seem like babies, because she is as old as Prophecy and the
Epic, with which she has a strong kinship. But that is not to be old; that is
merely to be greater and wiser. She is wonderfully wise and generous, and
large-minded enough to be proud of her bastards, the film and television, even
though they are still somewhat embarrassing in their attempts to find their
feet.”—Canadian man of letters (including plays) and former actor Robertson
Davies (1913-1995), letter to Herbert Whittaker, May 7, 1984, in For Your Eye Alone: The Letters of Robertson Davies, edited by Judith
Skelton Grant (1999)
Not a bad thought to keep in mind for those who watch the Tony Awards on June 9...
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