24 FEBRUARY 1933, Page 13

Theatrical Loan Exhibition Toe attractive Theatrical Exhibition that is being

held for the next five weeks in the gilded saloons of Dudley Ithuse, Park Lane, to augment the building fund of the Paddington Dispensary for Tuberculosis, has more than a touch of pathos. The actor's art is so personal and so fleeting, it seems to say, that the oddest little relies of players long dead and gone must be made somehow to bring them to mind. Stage trinkets, such as a shoe buckle or a ring worn by Garrick or Mrs. Siddons, or the prayer-book of Madame Du Barry, or the costumier's small copies of the dresses worn at the first performance of The School for Scandal in 1777, or the Staffordshire figures of Garrick and Foote and Munden, or the Battersea enamel boxes with rude portraits of these and other once popular favourites —such things, which are here in profusion, arouse a mildly curious interest and yet exasperate because they tell us nothing.

The portraits, painted and engraved, are very numerous and often memorable. The " Sheridan " is a fine example of Reynolds' male portraits in his middle period, though the " Mrs. Sheridan " shows equally well how Sir Joshua could fail when he attempted the sentimental. There are several middling Hogarths, one of Garrick in the Drury Lane green- Mom. Zoffany, who excelled in his theatrical scenes, is well seen in a replica of the well-known Garrick Club picture or Garrick in Venice Preserved, of special interest to students of stage scenery and lighting. Among the modern works are G. F. Watts's charming portrait of Kate and Ellen Terry and Sargent's first sketch for his " Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth " which hangs in the Manchester Art Gallery. Among a group of stage dresses are the costumes worn by Miss Terry as Beatrice and Margaret and a harlequin's gay suit which will amuse the younger people who know not pantomime. Rare editions of plays abound, notably some of Mr. Dobell's fine Drydcns, and there are many playbills and autographs. Finally, there is a short series of theatrical models, such as Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and the original setting for the screen scene in The School for Scandal, built up from the designs that have been preserved. All who are interested in the theatre should visit this pleasant and well-