Judas : A Tragedy in Three Acts. By Claude Houghton.
(C. W. Daniel. 3s. 6d. net.)—The Prophet A Play in Six Scenes. By Frank G. Layton. (Same publisher and price.)— Mr. Houghton's rather turbid tragedy calls to mind the village organist's hymn tune which was sung for no intrinsic merit of its own but because the tenor had a note in the third line that made people cry. Certainly, in the third act of Judas there is a scene worthy of far better context. Indeed, when Mr. Houghton does not make his Judas talk like Samson Agoniates he can write dialogue that is both dramatic and moving. In The Prophet Mr. Layton has not been oppressed by the necessity of writing a tragedy, although he has made use of materia tragica. A threatening attack on Jerusalem by the Assyrians and the fall from power of a foreign official who has been misadvising King Hezekiah are the chief materials in this play. If at times the dialogue is alarmingly colloquial it is, at any rate, less distasteful than hath-doth." The Prophet should be effective on the stage, for one's general impression after reading the play is of a brisk and, towards the close, an almost breathless allegro.
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