Proverbs and Comediettas. By Percy Fitzgerald, M.A. (Strahan.)— These are
little plays "written for private representation." What we have read of them seem somewhat wanting in brilliancy and point, and, in our view, the dialogue ought to be uncommonly good, as the acting is not unlikely to be uncommonly bad. But there is nothing harmful or vulgar about them, and they have the advantage of being specially con- structed for their purpose ; the scenery is that of ordinary life, and the "cast" of characters is easily made up. —Drawing-Room Plays and Parlour Pantomimes (Stanley Rivers) is a volume which appears under the care of Mr. Clement Scott, and to which a number of distinguished writers of farce, Mr. E. L. Blanchard, Mr. Gilbert, Mr. J. P. Simpson, Mr. T. Hood, and others, have contributed. What these gentlemen write ought to be very amusing ; between them they provide for a great part of the annual consumption of jokes in London. To the writer per- sonally this sort of fun is dreary beyond description ; but he does not set up for a judge of it.—Charades en Action, par J. A. L. Kunz (Soton and Mackenzie, Edinburgh), affords an opportunity of combining instruc- tion with amusement. You act your charade and learn French at the same time.
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