12 DECEMBER 1931, Page 34

Current Literature

NATIVITY plays so seldom contain verse having any relation to poetry that Miss Mary D. Stock's King Herod (Sidgwick and Jackson, 3s. 6d.) is particularly welcome. The three chief scenes show the Court of Herod, a hillside on the outskirts at Bethlehem, and the beginning of the Flight into Egypt. All the prose speeches are really good, though some are a little too long, and the verse is good enough to bear comparison with some of the supplementary carols, selected from the Oxford Book of Carols. A valuable addition is the preliminary chapter on costumes and stage directions. The play could be produced quite easily, and should be very effective. It has already been played by members of the Manchester University Settlement.

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