... pTIOOS CRITIC. 41rHiS OAERICK THEATRE. THE tell me that the theatres generally, and notably the comic ones, are not doing surprisingly well, and perhaps until our war news becomes more cheerful it would seem a little heartless were we particular]y active in the quest of merriment. But, fortunately, however actively we might took for big fun on the stage just now, we may make up our we ...

... ^ttr^CAPTIOUS CRITIC. irg aND THE BEANSTALK AT DRURY JACK A laNe theatre DRURY LANE is justifying its traditions-- drawing full houses in these not very flourishing times for theatres, and making its audiences laugh, not excepting the strong con tingents of young folk. Of course the Christmas productions here-- thanks to the big expenditure which is the rule, and the exceptional ...

... OUR CAPTIOUS CRITIC. THE MYSTICAL MISS. IS The Mystical Miss a miss fire? I do not know, but I fear that it is not quite the success which it ought to be. To my own taste it is, at least, as good a piece as The Belle of New York which it follows at the Shaftesbury, and certainly on the whole is better sung and acted. Nor is there any denying the character and vigour of Mr. Sousa's setting, ...

... OUR CAPTIOUS CRITIC A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. A Midsummer Night's Dream is possibly the worst play that Shakespeare wrote, if indeed-- which does not seem quite clear-- he ever intended it to he regarded as a play at all. It is more allied in many respects to the masque than to the drama, and its incongruous mixture of Greek legend and old English fairy lore has left it a conundrum to ...

... OUR CAPTIOUS CRITIC. SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER. SAID Johnson, apropos of She Stoops to Conquer, I know of no comedy for many years which has so much exhilarated an audience, that has answered so well the great end of comedy, making an audience merry. How did they then act the only one of Goldsmith's three plays which had a great deal of success with its contemporary public? That we shall never ...

... . THIS handsome and very interesting book¹ is the record of the first ascents of Aconcagua and Tupungato, the giants of the Andes of Argentina, and of explorations of the surrounding valleys. The volume, it may be added, is the outcome of seven months of desperately hard and trying work by all the members of the expedition. Mr. Fitzgerald, who will be remembered as the author of Climbs in New ...

... . IN this book' the author, who styles himself The Old Pioneer, gives an account of many rumblings in various parts of the world. He seems to have had a long and varied career-- sometimes engaged in sport and travel in different regions of South Africa; sometimes engaged as a trader among the Boers of the Orange Free State sometimes turning up in New Zealand in the character of a Remittance ...

... IT would seem, after all, that within a few years the theatrical hub of Western London will be found not far removed from that very Shaftesbury-avenue whose first experiments proved so unpromising. Mr. Lancaster and Mr. D'Oyly Carte were the pioneers, but others are reaping the profit of their pluck and enterprise, for the district has gradually be come recognised by the amusement-seeking ...

... OUR CAPTIOUS CRITIC. RUPERT OF HENTZAU AT THE ST. JAMES'S. Rupert of Henlzau is, I think, as good a play as The Prisoner of Zenda-- not to say that either niece is very good indeed. The fact is that Mr. Anthony Hope has yet to prove himself a sufficiently strong playwright to do full justice on the stage to his own books. It requires, we know, almost brutal force, sometimes, to change a novel ...

... OUR CAPTIOUS CRITIC. VT A REHEARSAL-- THE BISHOP'S EYE. THERE was a bishop-- an Irish bishop-- once who was also by turns a highwayman. Why then should not an arch deacon be an occasional burglar? I quote the precedent and ask tho question because hypercritical people may think that if we must have church dignitaries upon the stage at all, we ought to treat them better than we do usually. ...

... OUR CAPTIOUS CRITIC. MAGDA, AT THE ROYALTY THEATRE. MRS. PATRICK CAMPBELL is an actress-manager, and Magda is a play which a lady free to choose her own part can scarcely be blamed for selecting. All the glory goes to the heroine, and it is rather easily won glory, coming as it does chiefly from declamation, in which most women who are women can without great effort hold their own. I do not ...

... OUR CAPTIOUS CRITIC. DON JUAN'S LAST WAGER I do not want to see Don Juan's Last Wager a second time, nor do I wish again to hear the music-- I got a little tired of both. Was there any need of yet another version of the old Spanish legend, or of its latest orchestral associations? I think not; for the stage performance is not sufficiently in teresting, and, except for the dances, I should ...