The Theatre
"1066 and All That ": A Historical Entertainment in Two Parts. Adapted by Michael Watts; from the book by R. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman. At the Arts Theatre Club.
Or all subjects, history is most persistently a stumbling- block to educationists. Clio, the minx, is ever disdainful of the bridle : tradition and common sense may tug at the reins as they like ; her will remains emphatically her own. But here we have no traffic with the horny skeleton of accepted fact. The basic noun in the play's sub-title is more important than its qualifying adjective. From Julius Caesar, who first carried the fire of history into the English classroom, to the reign of Elizabeth, Ultima Thule of the Elementary Examiner, the pageant rolls before us, buoyantly and quizzi- cally embellished. The humour is of two sorts : the associa.s tive, of kin with the " logical illogicality " of Lewis Carroll; and the purely inconsequent. The former is the more fre- quently employed, and in general the more effective. It is by its relation to sense that nonsense becomes most engaging. When the Conqueror arrives, he comes on two Ancient Britons engaged in burying an ancestor in a barrow. " After all, she was your aunt " is the lazier's comment to his fellow on the bucketful of sifted sand that was his kinswoman. But the Roman's appearance postpones the interment. More pressing matters are afoot. Julius, however, is in no hurry. He prefers to overcome the country on the instalment system. Refusing to add another chapter to the work by which he is less gratefully remembered, he takes a courteous leave and retires into winter quarters. And thus the fun proceeds. " History has many cunning passages," and down them we are marched unresisting. Conqueror follows conqueror, each of them landing at Thanet and overrunning the country with fire and sword. Canute has his altercation with the forces of nature Red Robin Hood puts salt on the tail of the Sheriff of Nottingham : Rings die with mechanical regularity through surfeits of pal- freys and peaches : Henry VIII dances a minuet with his wives : Elizabeth holds high, but incredible, court. From the five score revellers who take part in the burlesque; those who call for particular mention are Mr. Walter Rudd, who plays, with nicely farcical academicism, the shrivelled schoolmaster stirring the dust on the shelves of memory ; Mr. Hubert Leslie and Mr. Hyde White for their perennially vacuous citizens ; and Mr. Francis Sullivan for his successful presentation of a variety of rogues. The production of Miss EURO Church was well conceived. It was a pity that the necessities of time constricted the bounds of English History to the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. For myself, I would willingly have sacrificed the Wars of the Roses for a glimpse of the " Southsea Bubble," " The Doldrums of Oudh," or Queen Victoria's " Diamond Jamboree." But Mr. Watts has done with perfection a task which might have been considered impossible.
DEREK VERSCHOYLK, DEREK VERSCHOYLK,
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