5 APRIL 1930, Page 34

It seems to be in the theatre, and perhaps also

in poetry, that the much boomed Scotch Renaissance shows most signs of taking shape. Of The Switchback : The Pardoner's Tale : The Sunlight Sonata, by James Bridie (Constable, 7s. 6d.), two of the plays, The Switchback and The Sunlight Sonata, have been produced, one in Birmingham and one in Glasgow. They all of them show an apt, if somewhat sardonic wit and a preoccupation with moral issues which is very national in character. We are glad to see, on the other hand, that the author has kept away from the bens and the glens except as places for picnics, and has confined the use of dialect, or should one say, the Scottish language, to those persons in the plays who are likely to have used it. All three show a certain awkwardness in construction, but they provide . many excellent situations which give scope for very fine acting either of the classical or the modern school.

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