The Frame

“Art consists of limitation. The
most beautiful part of every
picture is the frame.”
G. K. Chesterton

Having a set of rules or specifications is much easier than a blank sheet. It helps bring focus. The basis of classical theatre post-Aristotle was the imposition of the three unities: of time, of place and of action: 24 hours, one city or smaller, one main plot. Even with – or arguably because of – those limitations, those Greeks banged out some crackers.

To be honest Aristotle mainly insisted on unity of action. Various French and Italian neoclassicists extrapolated his ideas to that trio of rules.

The rule book (he didn’t write plays himself)