In The Theory of the Modern Stage leading drama critic Eric Bentley brings together landmark writings by dramatists directors and thinkers who have had a profound effect on the theatre since the mid nineteenth century from Adolphe Appia to Emile Zola. Here Antonin Artaud sets out a manifesto for a Theatre of Cruelty Bertolt Brecht discusses the tension between entertainment and instruction in experimental drama and Bernard Shaw defends himself as a realist while W. B. Yeats describes the creation of a Peoples Theatre. The ideas of theatres great makers are revealed by their best expositors as Eric Bentley writes about Stanislavsky belief in the importance of emotional memory when creating a dramatic role and Arthur Symons considers Richard Wagner and the relationship between genius art and nature.