The Stage-Struck Press
I hear that Punch are planning to devise and produce a revue at a West End theatre next autumn. The sketches, lyrics and decor will be by the staff and regular contributors. Miss Vida Hope, who was responsible for The Boy Friend, will be the producer; and among those already active in this hopeful enterprise are Mr. Ronald Duncan and Mr. Wolf Mankowitz. The whole thing seems to me an admirable idea, and it will be interesting to see whether Punch's example proves infectious. Newspapers and periodicals are, after all, always sponsoring exhibitions, sporting events and Himalayan expeditions and will soon be paying for television programmes; it seems odd. when you come to think of it, that none of them has ever ventured into show business before. It is true that few organs would find it as easy as Punch will to project their personality across the footlights, though the Daily Mirror could rely extensively on strip-tease, the Daily Worker would not have far to look for its theme-song. and a stunning spectacle, All the News On Ice, might be mounted from Printing House Square. As for the Spectator, I feel sure that we could manage a pantomime, or at least a harlequinade.
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