Monsieur Barrault
SIR,—It must be a disquieting experience to any but the most self-assured playgoer to find his impressions of a performance diametrically the opposite of those of an eminent dramatic critic, and in such an event his most prudent course would appear to be to preserve silence. None the less the immense pleasure which I, for one, have derived from the per,
fonnances which I have been privileged to witness of M. Jean-Louis Barrault impels me to expose myself to Mr. Kenneth Tynan's censure.
May I—to begin with—affirm that, not five minutes but many days after, I can recall with delight every inflexion of M. Barrault's—to me— most moving voice ? May I also record that to me M. Barrault's " exhibition " (1 employ Mr. Tynan's epithet) as Mesa was not the "single weakness" of the evening in which Partage de Midi was per- formed, but its redeeming and abiding strength ?
Personally, I must confess to finding the play lacking in interest, and the character of Yse—even when played by Mme. Feuillere, with her endlessly repetitive reminders that she is a woman—extremely tedious. But of a greatly distinguished cast, he sensitivity, the flexibility, the passionate tension of M. Bartault seemed to me to soar above the limitations of the text, and make his artistry supreme.—Yours faithfully,
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