What does the poet say happens to the theater

Stevens uses theater as an extended allegory for poetry: "the script," "the theatre was changed," "a new stage." In using one art form to talk about another, the poem draws attention to the verbal and performative aspects of poetry, specifically its interactions with its audiences—a topic that poets might be less likely than actors to think about. This symbol encourages the poem's readers to think about poetry's role on the 'stage' of society, and that stage as a physical environment that undergoes changes as time goes on: changes that must be reflected in the poetry of the era.