Shorter Notices
Prompt Copy : The Brough Story. By Jean Webster-Brough. (Hutchinson. 15s.) FOR those who enjoy a whiff of old-fashioned grease-paint or a game of theatrical Happy Families Miss Jean Webster-Brough's proud and loving account of her forbears will provide nostalgic entertainment. The work of at least three of the famous Broughs must be within the memory of living play- goers ; and for collectors of theatrical history the book should be of interest in so far as it traces the story of one of the remark- able families that have enriched our theatre during the last hundred years. Miss Webster-Brough has carefully assembled and arranged her material. She composes each • portrait with skill, calling witnesses to provide authentic touches of character or background. Shyly, almost apologetically, she lays before us the treasures of her inheritance : letters, Press notices C' Mr. Brough and Miss Ellen Terry stood out by their special excellence. . .."), faded jokes, family anecdotes. Thus for about two- thirds of the book she methodically ranges her evidence, and succeeds in conveying an impression of each brilliant Brough in turn. The remaining third of the story is whiled away in personal reminiscence. Miss Webster-Brough has spent her life in the theatre, where she has encountered many famous and interesting persons ; she writes amusingly and has inherited a journalistic flair for a good story. But in closing the 'family album so firmly while we are still poring over the pictures, and introducing a number of illustrious but irrelevant personal- ities, she seems to lose the simplicity of her earlier chapters. We are in no mood for Californian sunshine while we remember the glow of floats and limes shining on Miss Fanny Brough, elegant in bonnet and bustle; or for adventure in E.N.S.A. while that portrait of the immortal Mary remains in the mind—prim, plump, humble, in her neat dress with the " bit of beige round the neck " ; scoring her startling successes and riding home to Clapham on the 'bus.
THEA HOLME.
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