" SAKUNTALA."
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The best production of Sakuntala that has been seen in London was given on November 14th and 21st at the Winter Garden Theatre in Drury Lane (Holborn, Tube Railway). There are not enough people in town, unfortunately, to war- rant more than two performances, and it is in the hone that readers of the Spectator may be interested in the piece and go and see it, if it is revived, that these lines are written. I was delighted to find that the English production is as good as could be rendered by first-rate acting, perfect Indian dresses, appropriate music, and a well-inculcated Indian atmosphere. The sight of the performance was indeed a great treat, and all who saw the play must have felt its charm.
To Mr. Das Gupta, the organizer, too much credit cannot be given for the way in which he has coached the actors and looked after a thousand small points to maintain the Indian spi Tit. Dasyanta, the King of India, is finely played by Mr. Arthur Wontner. When making love in the first part as an unknown hunter he is light-hearted, and later becomes more and more impassioned in his courtship of Sakuntala. As the King in his own capital he is grave and thoughtful. His coldness in re- ceiving Sakuntala is marked. He declines to receive as a bride a woman whom he cannot recognize and who is with child.
- Finally his anguish and remorse over his blunder are adequate.
Miss Sybil Thorndike makes a charming Sakuntala. As the forest maiden she laughs and jokes heartily with her playmates. Her immediate passion for the young King awakens the soul within her. Touching as the drama is throughout, there is no part of it so truly pathetic as Sakuntala's parting with all her friends of the monastery. Finally Miss Thorndike rises to her full strength in the scene of ignoring and denial by the King and enacts the contending feelings of shame, indignation, and despondency to perfection. Miss Colette O'Neil and Miss Muriel Pratt are true Hindu maidens of the Hermitage and sweet companions to Sakuntala. Mr. Bruce Wilson played the part of the King's jester cleverly. His enormous bulk and queer humour kept the audience greatly amused. All other parts were well filled.
Spectator readers have a great opportunity of encouraging
Indian art by joining " The Union of the East and West." This has been got up by Mr. Das Gupta, who is a veritable enthusiast in the cause. Your readers interested might well send him the sum of five shillings, the annual subscription, at 14 St. Mark's Crescent, N.W. 1. It is a real reproach to us that no audience
can be obtained for such a play as Sakuntala after two nights.
The Athenaeum.
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