THE BALLET
" Comus "
MR. ROBERT HELPMANN'S first, or at any rate his first important, ballet, was produced by the Sadler's Wells company last week. His translation of Milton's masque of Comus into the terms of modern ballet is highly successful, and in conjunction with Mr. Lambert's skilfully arranged selection from Purcell's dramatic music and Captain Oliver Messel's fanciful Carolean costumes, makes a distinguished entertainment.
Unlike so many contemporary adaptations of the classics, the action keeps exactly to Milton's dramatic poem. There was,. indeed, no cause for the choreographer to alter it, for it is admir- ably suited for presentation in dancing, as, indeed, one might expect of a masque where miming plays an equal part with poetry and music. The original music for the piece by Milton's friend, Henry Lawes (" Harry whose tuneful and well-measured voice first taught our English music how to span words with just note and accent "), had to be discarded as being insufficient in extent and hardly rich enough in content for the present purpose and the modern theatre. It might have been worth while, none the less, to keep the songs, if a singer were available, for they are first-rate, even if all that Milton claims for them in priority of just note and accent cannot be upheld against Dowland and Campion, Byrd and Gibbons. Milton's own voice is not entirely discarded, for Mr. Help-- mann has retained for his own utterance in the part of Comus two famous speeches—the address to the rout in the first scene and that in which Comus attempts to bewitch the Lady in the second. This introduction of the spoken word into ballet, especi- ally in the form of long speeches delivered while the action halts, is a bold experiment and might be a disastrous one. But Mr. Helpmann's musical declamation saves the situation, even if it does not entirely cover up the sudden transition from one kind of poetry to another. The adjustment might be made easier for the audience by providing the speeches with a musical accompani- ment, unobtrusive in itself but continuing the music throughout the performance. The transition from music to speech always jolts the ear and breaks illusion ; hence its disappearance from tragic opera. In comedy the convention is more readily accepted. The choreography is well devised and shows imagination with- out ever becoming far-fetched, as so often happens when the desire to devise something new is not held in check by good judgement. It might in places be rather more fully developed. The " light fantastic round " of Comus's rout seemed too little elaborated to match the rich imagery of the preceding speech. And, though the first entry of Sabrina and her nymphs was effectively river-like, it was not apparent why the stream should promptly have ebbed away again—unless it was to get rid of an inconvenient veil. Their subsequent dance was rather a bore, and that is a phenomenon which does not, I believe, travel up the Severn as far as Ludlow.
The dancing, particularly of Miss Margot Fonteyn as the virginal Lady and Mr. Helpmann in the title-part, was excellent. The company, and this ballet, suffers from the loss of male dancers, a greater number of whom are obviously needed. But, even with this handicap, Comus must be numbered among the best things Sadler's Wells has given us. It was a remarkable achievement to produce in these days so rich a spectacle as the second scene with its grand Piranesi-like setting.
DYNELEY HUSSEY.
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