CONTEMPORARY ARTS
THEATRE
“ Golden City." A Musical Play by John Tore. (Adelphi.) READERS of the Spectator were told last week, by Mr. J. P. W. Mallalieu, M.P., a good deal more about Golden City than I am going to tell them now. " It has," wrote Mr. Mallalieu, who had attended a rehearsal, " songs which I still cannot get out of my head." Mr. Dalton, who had at one time a song in his heart, may perhaps have set some sort of fashion among the legislators of his party, who, after all, began their long and glorious spell in office by singing " The Red Flag "; but my dull ears found the ditties at the Adeiphi the reverse of haunting. I agree, on the other hand, with Mr. Mallalieu when he said that the show " has continuous movement "; there is an unceasing bustle throughout, no time being wasted on the outmoded device of the tableau vivant. But when he concluded " Above all, it has a real story " he took me out of my depth. There have, I am sure, been musical plays whose plots were even more artificial and even harder to follow than Golden City's, but I cannot recall having seen any of them. Beyond the fact that it took place in South Africa during the last century, that there was a great deal about gold in it and that at one stage a number of coloured gentlemen wearing sporrans round their knees did a Zulu war-dance in a cloud of smoke, I can tell you very little about it. Neither the acting nor the singing is at all good, the dancing has energy without élan and only the very handsome decor by Miss Audrey Cruddas strikes a note of taste and achievement.
Previous page
