The play itself, with its rather foolish figures from the Court and the easy buffoonery of its peasants, does not offer great chances of acting; and Miss Laura Cowie was the only one in the cast who added to her reputation. Her Hermia was a delightful performance full of charm and piquancy and real intelligence. Miss Lillah McCarthy sacrificed something of her personality to the exigences of a flaxen chevelure. Mr. Holloway's Theseus was wanting in kingliness, and his hunting scene was perhaps the worst thing in the play. He was not greatly helped by his Hippolyta, for Miss Evelyn Hope never began to look like a leader of Amazons. Miss Christine Silver's Titania had a certain domestic sweetness, but even a queen of fairies might be a little more queenly. Mr. Dennis Neilson-Terry as Oberon was a curiously effeminate figure for those who recalled the manly bearing of his mother in the same part. Of the two bemused Athenian lovers, Mr. Swinley, as Lysander, bore himself as bravely as could be expected.
Mr. Nigel Playfair had, of course, no difficulty with the part of Bottom, and Mr. Arthur Whitby's Quince and Mr. Quartermaine's Flute were both excellent. It is to the credit of the whole troupe of rustic players that nobody tried to force the fun.
Apart from a slight tendency to hurry, a trick that, except in swift dialogue or passionate speech, gives the effect of something learnt by heart and not spontaneous, the delivery of the lines—and some of Shakspeare's most exquisite are here—was done soundly.
Finally, no one who wants to keep level with the table-talk of the day should miss this interesting and intriguing production, especially if he hasn't been to Parsifal.
O. S.
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