18 NOVEMBER 1955, Page 8

THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS has published Joseph Chiari's play, Mary

Stuart. I was glad of the chance of reading it in book form. When I saw it in Edinburgh at the Festival last year, with Catherine Lacey in the title role, I was struck by the power and quality of many of the scenes. There have been a great many plays in English about Mary, but none that I have read has the depth of feeling which informs this one. This is not quite so surprising as it may seem, for Mr. Chiari is a Corsican who knows Scotland better than most Scots. He became de Gaulle's representative there in 1940 and was French Consul in Edinburgh till 1949. Everyone was sorry when he left Edinburgh, first to lecture at Manchester Uni- versity and then latterly in London. I now look forward to his debut as a playwright in London.