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Show T H E COMPOSITION OF BALLETS. 145 strophe. Such is the state of things when the plot is well conducted and well sustained. Episode1 produces good effect and adds to the pleasure of the piece, by giving the imagination a kind of repose, or by diverting the attention from the principal personages. It must not, however, be too much prolonged, or it will injure the first action, and diminish the dramatic illusion which had been raised at the beginning. By reading ancient dramatic writers, it will be seen that two or three actions are passing at once in their pieces ; but it will also be observed that their theatres were divided into several parts, so that, frequently, that which on the modern stage is recited by them, was exhibited in action. The Olympic theatre at Vicenza will fully prove what is here advanced. This masterpiece of Palladio is an imitation of ancient theatres ; and the most remarkable circumstance in its construction is, this identical threefold division2. |
