THE THEATRE
'tehan Follies." At the Whitehall Theatre
, a few years ago, the intimate review was revived by Norman ll and Herbert Farjeon, we welcomed the absence of a large, 'on-drilled chorus, and the substitution of a handful of grace- moving girls clad in flowing and pleasantly coloured draperies. this conception of a ehorus, suited to the limitations of a small is only of value if the movements are well thought out and kast to some extent) original in conception. Nowadays, as after revue treads London's tinier stages, the small chorus idea become a mere convention, and the movements only too often d us of a bored and perfunctory class engaged in elementary rthmics. Worse still, however' is the attempt to indulge in -dancing. On a small stage the pirouettes of a dancer are ous, since the restriction of movement is painfully obvious. ese thoughts are prompted by the less attractive part of the attune of Whitehall Follies, a revue which manages to combine very good with the very bad in a positively miraculous manner. the debit side, in addition to the ineffectiveness of the sentimental .scenes and the chorus movements, there are a number of pletely pointless sketches, with which an able cast struggles man- but in vain. Fortunately, however, the credit side lists one two admirable turns. There are, for instance, the Lai Founs, acrobatics and juggling combine into a truly electrifying bition of skill and contortionism. Nothing could exceed the ulness with which this Chinese tioupe juggles with twirling on the ends of slender sticks what time each member ties or herself into incredible knots. Then there are the Aspidistras, 'se Elsie French and John Mott, continuing unabated their parodies of Victorian drawing-room duets. My only regret this occasion is that they have not included their chef-d'oeuvre, lsior, in their repertoire.
the real raison-d'etre of Whitehall Follies is Gillie Potter. Potter is, of course, one of the Hogsnorton Potters, although does curiously little to remind us of this fact. He appears only ; first, as his well-known self, complete with his Harrovian gear, and, secondly, as a senile and wicked old judge, summing at considerable length, in the case of Rex v. Rattleribs, in
.ch the defendant is accused of the appalling crime of selling a ee-apple (Exhibit A) after the hour of 8 p.m. This scene is ed with humour, and also with a certain amount of wit ; and the brated Potter timing is well to the fore, both in his sudden lapses iudicial pomposity into the crudest Doric, and in the exquisite smutation of a quotation from a Victorian Act of Parliament a medical prescription. For the rest, Whitehall Follies contains t unamusing skit on Get a Load of This ; a beautifully spoken ologue on Norway by Greta Gynt, herself a Norwegian ; and e clever satire by Vida Hope, who, despite the weakness of much
her material, does succeed in putting into our minds the thought t if she goes on at this rate she will soon be changing her christian
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