THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE, 1924. By James Agate. (Chapman and Hall.
78. 6d.) THE CONTEMPORARY THEATRE, 1924. By James Agate. (Chapman and Hall. 78. 6d.)
A BOOK which is merely a collection of reviews that have already appeared in the Sunday newspapers seems at first sight scarcely a volume that many would desire to read, and yet chance has brought the book to a reviewer 'who although not having seen a single one of the performances referred to has been able to savour with immense gratification this stimulating volume of critical prose. The papers can scarcely be classed as literature, but they are certainly some- thing far superior to the journalism about the theatre to which we are accustomed, and the causes of this are not difficult to discern. Mr. Agate has a wide knowledge, not merely of
dramatic literature, but of literature in general, which he can quote aptly with the best ; and, -more important still for his
purpose, he is one who sees life most vividly through the medium of the theatre, that is to say his responses to any emotion are probably more frequently evoked by the stage than by other experiences. Therefore he records his impres- sions with spirit and enthusiasm which are so contagious that we are bound to share them ; we feel that our own appre- ciation of those plays would have been much the same as Mr. Agate's. Not least he is undoubtedly a fine judge of acting, there is a very warm corner in his heart for actors and actresses, and his recollections of fine performances is a thing to envy, to wonder at ; indeed if the reader is not wary he may even imagine that Mr. Agate really witnessed Davy Garrick and other such Thespian wraiths.
There are many critical dicta scattered in these notices which offer a tempting challenge, scarcely any more so than that which accuses Mr. Galsworthy of deriving from Mr.
C. K. Munro. Mr. Agate has, too, a very downright way of deal- ing with people who provoke him—he positively bastinadoes Charles Lamb and Mr. Shaw. The article on William Archer deals only with Archer as dramatic critic, his dramatic work is not mentioned, and his translation of Ibsen is barely referred to. But it would be absurd to discuss such questions as popped up in the hurry of theatrical reviewing. All these papers have charm of writing, of personality, of enthusiasm, and if some of them are about plays which are already for- gotten it is at least pleasant to reflect that they gave Mr. Agate an occasion to discourse to us. Let that count to them for a merit indeed.
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