O.U.D.S. are playing The Shoemaker's Holiday for the first time
since 1913. They are always good in Elizabethan comedy and in this production at their best. David Raeburn, who directs, has got the feeling of the play and a grip of his cast;. he keeps it all going with pace and well-controlled high spirits. One might quarrel with a detail like his conception of the King, robed a la George IV and played as a society hostess. As a straight part it is unrewarding, and if Brian Eccles refuses to take it too seriously he is quite aware he can make the audience share in the slightly illegitimate fun.
There is some outstandingly good acting. Arthur Ashby's baroque style may hark back to the grand manner of Irving and Tree, but he carries it with some authority and is right for " mad Sim Eyre " ; a fine and even moving performance.. (Bert Parnaby who alternates with him is on a smaller scale ; he uses well his lucky gat of an endearing stage personality.) Robert Hardy's Cockney Firth is full of brisk invention; Norman Painting's little study of Scott is a delighttul comic miniature, and Bill Patrick gives to Ralph, the maimed' soldier, a dignity and pathos all too topical. The rest of the cast enjoy themselves in a happy unity with these, Michael Godley bringing even a mute scene-shifter to life. The ladies prove again that the club has no need to call on the professional actress.
Dekker, like many lesser Elizabethans, acts better than he reads ; they all had the feeling of the stage in their blood even if a Shake- speare had something more. The Shoemaker remains a fresh, good- hearted play, well worth reviving and well served in this young high- spirited revival. London audiences will have a chance to see -it at
Toynbee Hall during the week before Easter. JOHN BRYSON.