ENTOMOLOGY AT PRAGUE
" THE INSECT PLAY," BY THE BROTHERS CAPER. THE LONDON LABOUR DRAMATIC FEDERATION. STRAND THEATRE.
THE authors of this exciting and original play, perhaps one of the three most remarkable plays produced in Europe since the War, have chosen to satirize humanity in a novel way. They show us our insect prototypes, and this idea is the be- ginning, middle and end of it all. There is no plot. The play (which Mr. Playfair produced with considerable success two or three years ago) is not only interesting from the dramatic point of view, but is also a very subtle piece of propaganda on the part of the London Labour Dramatic Federation which was responsible for the performance I saw. The Capeks are ruthless iconoclasts. The scales are torn from our eyes and we are forced to see each section of society in its equivalent insect type. The satire is equally merciless to all classes, of which the most obvious and therefore the least interesting are the butterflies, who flit through life, playing their gay and half-real games of " Catch me, if you can." Next we see the " creepers and crawlers " in the form of Mr. and Mrs. Beetle, who are symbolical of those obsessed with the acquisitive sense, horrible in their materialism, guarding jealously their little pile, their " lump of muck," lest someone should steal it from them. As a contrast it is refreshing to watch the happiness, fleeting though it may be, of Mr. and Mrs, Cricket, model suburban householders as they are. In the third act, which was admirably staged, we see the soulless factory hands concentrated on the manufacture of war machines, their over- lords always behind them speeding up production, until at last, when the atmosphere is so tense that one is breathless, the storm bursts, a casus belli is discovered, and war is declared, We are left with the spirit of militarism pervading the world, fruitful of nothing but bloodshed and chaos. Finally, we are given the impression of the brevity of life and the persistent presence of death, but this last act and the epilogue, which I believe is not the original version of the Capelcs, are confused and inartistic. A shade of hope has been introduced which does not ring true. The. Insect Play is depressing, but its satire is brilliant and interest is held throughout by the unusual method of illustrating it. As for this particular performance, it was wholly.admirable -when all the obvious difficulties, are taken into consideration.
C. S.
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