[THE LITTLE PLAYS OF ST. FRANCIS. BY LAURENCE liOUS- MAN.
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON.] Tins stage setting of the Little Plays is good, the performance is reverent, and Mr. Housman, as all lovers of Franciscan tradition know, has written some passages of singular 'beauty. This said, my conscience as a critic calls a halt to praise. To those to whom Assisi and its story. is an inspiration, there will be something painful in seeing their saints incarnated 'with the soft voices and languid gestures of Englishmen. The action seemed to me too slow, and quite unlike anything that ever could have happened. That bright company who went across the world to thresh laughter and love from the husks of materialism had a fire and fervour, a wit and gaiety, and an insouciance and charm that certainly did not get across the footlights of the University College Theatre. I could not help being disappointed, but I hope that the Little Plays will be repeated next year and that others will like
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