... STRANGE that the only two theatrical enterprises launched in Central London since it became a mighty uncomfortable and dangerous place should have been Shake spearean. And yet, perhaps, not so strange. It was wisely pointed out the other day that times of stress have invariably seen a revival of interest in the classics although I have not the space here to furnish the reasons for this, I am ...

... (Leaflet No. 117, Ministry of Agriculture, Stormont, Belfast). Very large quan tities of seed potatoes are now being grown in Northern Ireland and an even greater demand is expected when seed can be certified as being free from eelworm. This leaflet has some remarkably good pictures of eelworm cysts on potato roots taken by the Long Ashton Research Station at Bristol. The eelworm pest develops ...

... . inis nuge tract or central Am nca is indeed unknown had it een better known, Mr. Mervyn G. Palmer surely would never have attempted to cross it from the Caribbean to the Pacific Ocean ,vith only £20 as his whole fortune. As a result of this trip many ani tals, etc., hitherto unknown to sci nee, will be seen bearing Mr. Palmer's name in the British and >ther museums. It was a one-man colect- ...

... BUMPED into Reggie Forsythe the other afternoon. Doing anything much I enquired. Not much, he replied. I rehearse with Arthur Young at five-thirty broadcast at seven-thirty do two shows at Hatchett's broadcast again (this time to America) at one- thirty then start my day's work at the Embassy. But I '11 be free about five a.m. Come round, and I '11 play you my latest composition, Serenade to ...

... THE CINEMA By JAMES AGATE The Past Year's Films AT this time of year the correct or at least the expected thing is to write an article entitled The Year's Best Films. And at once the old, old question has to be asked-- Best films for whom? Which brings me still nearer to first principles when one begins to ask oneself-- What is a good film, and what is a bad? Let me deal with the bad films ...

... THE CINEMA By JAMES AGATE WHAT PLEASES THE PUBLIC THE other day I read somewhere-- precisely where doesn't matter-- an attack on the quasi-musical person. It was a witty and an erudite attack, but completely invalidated, to my mind, by the notion, undeclared though implied throughout the article, that great composers write their music for the benefit of musical critics only! I think I never ...

... Blithe Spirit (Piccadilly) By Herbert Farjeon MR. NOEL COWARD calls his new play An Improbable Farce, which is a bit of pleonasm, for are not all farces, in their very nature, improbable? Super natural would have been a happier word, since Blithe Spirit skylarks with the occult, extracting its humours from the materialisa tion of a dead wife, perceptible only by her living husband. Fear ...

... Elizabeth Betvens Creatures of Circumstance Treadmill Leave to Presume the Death The Novel Since 1939 QUITE an interesting study for the sub- historian could be: errors which gave rise to famous false alarms. These, I imagine, would be found to thicken with the approach to our own fortunate day: the type writer must be responsible for many. I advisedly say the typewriter, not the young lady at ...

... TU By Horace Horsnell Sky High (Phoenix) Those two queens ot Burlesque, iviesaames Hermione Baddeley and Hermione Ging- old, have become popularly associated as a kind of dual constellation in the vaudeville heavens, where they shine with mutual and derisive glory. When last we saw them fooling there together, the slogan was Rise Above It Now it is Sky High, which seemed to promise even higher ...

... Golden Eagle (Westminster) THE new play is pleasing alike to eye and ear. Costumes designed by Mr. Gower Parks divide the stage into delightful patterns of black and gold, swarthy green, pearl white, and ruby-hearted crimson. To the movement of these colours Mr. Robert Atkins's production imparts a slow grace. The dialogue of Mr. Clifford Bax has leisurely elegance and the incidental music of ...

... TU By Horace Horsnell Living Room (Garrick) ONCE upon a time there were two kindly old maids named Vicky and Deborah who lived with Molly, their niece, in a fool's paradise somewhere up north. They were neither rich nor poor, but just com fortable. Their father had left, them a little house property for what they had fondly assumed was life. And since Molly, their only relative, was an orphan, ...

... By Horace Horsnell Strike a New Note (Prince of Wales) IN this type of popular revue, a new note is certainly to be welcomed; and if Mr. George Black's latest rouser does not con sistently strike it, the players do. They are young, eager, and professional. The programme informs us that they are boys and girls who have been gathered from every part of the country, needing but the opportunity to ...