" International Ballet." At the Lyric Theatre.
THE THEATRE DURING its present season the International Ballet has revived that nineteenth-century classic Giselle, in which Mona Inglesby dances the title-role effectively, but without the special charm that Margot Fonteyn brings to the part in the Sadler's Wells version ; the chief feature of the season is 4he production of a new ballet, Everyman. This is an ambitious attempt to capture in this form the spirit of the famous mediaeval play, and those who know that dramatic masterpiece will be very critical of the ballet. In this spectacular and indirect treatment the austere force and majesty of the original are necessarily lost. But for those to whom the play is unknown the ballet may seem impressive, for it has distinct merits. Leslie French, who has produced it, plays the part of Everyman well and speaks the words allotted to him clearly and with dignity. The costumes of William Chappell are excellent, and Rex Whistler's scene appropriate, if not particularly striking. The music has been deftly arranged, from orchestral works by Richard Strauss, by Ernest Irving. I recognised a large part of Till Eulenspiegel for the animated scenes, and the tone-poem Death and Transfiguration was drawn on for the finale. This music, with its post-Wagnerian outward sump- tuousness and inner hollowness, marks well the difference between this ballet and the original play. The original Everyman is utterly sincere and direct, and terrific in its impact upon the spectator; ballet is not unserious and not (especially for those who do not now the play) ineffective ; but words—unless used for comic effect—do not blend with miming, and the mixture has an uneasy, uncertain character which destroys its integrity. JAMES REDFERN.
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