THE PLAYGOERS' HANDBOOK TO THE ENGLISH RENAISSANCE DRAMA. By Agnes
Mure Mackenzie. (Cape. 5s.)—Miss Mackenzie writes with a broad-mindedness that is as refreshing as it is sane. She emphasizes the fact that there are " different sets' of draniatic conventions—different,
but not necessarily either better or worse." Plays like Mile- stones, which reflect changes in the externals of life, demand elaborate scenery. The Elizabethan drama, on the other hand, which deals with the elemental passions and emotions, depends almost entirely on the thing said and the thing done, and demands the simplest of stage equipment. Miss Mackenzie, having briefly traced the history of the drama from its earliest association with the Church, describes picturesquely and succinctly the theatrecraft of Shakespeare's day, and maintains that Shakespeare was an efficient playwright as well as a consummate poet and psychologist. She concludes with some valuable hints for the amateur production of Shakespeare's dramas.
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