... . PARKER'S WHO'S WHO. Mr. John Parker, that indefatigable and scrupulously accurate annalist of stage doings, has issued, again through the firm of Isaac Pitman, at 3cS, net, the seventh edition of his invaluable book of record arid reference, Who's Who in ttoe Theatre. which has been enlarged and had new fea- j i tures introduced. j The biographical section alone i now occupies about 1 ...

... . A COURTNEIDGE NOVEL. Mr. Robert Courtneidge has drawn seemingly upon the store of his experiences in the capacities of theatrical manager and producer in the writing of what is justly styled an enthralling novel of the theatre; the book, entitled Judith Clifford, from tho name of the actress- heroine, being published at 7b. 6d. net by the firm of Hutchin son. Mr. Courtneidge, it will be ...

... . Circus Company. This is the attractive title of a fascinating and most engrossing account of Life on the Road with the Travelling Show. written and also illustrated by Edward Seago, and dedicated to the memory of Tommy Baker, who died as recently as December 7, 1932. It is published at 10s. 6d. net by the firm of Putnam, and has a most noteworthy introduc tion from the pen of John Mace ...

... A Handbook for Dramatio Authors. By a Dramatist. Priee 2a 6d by poat U d. The work just issued is so poo ...

... London SW1X 8ED, £6.75) An interesting and straightforward detailed history of the Arts Theatre, now perhaps not in the mainstream of the theatre but in the post-war years, under the guidance of Alec Clunes, an immensely important playhouse which was almost, in effect, a miniature National Theatre. It was, moreover, the theatre in which the National's present director made his first impact ...

... end, but the present one is far from being, in the words of the Scriptures, a weariness of the flesh. For one thing, the author tries hard though not very successfully to be impartial in judging his hero--or, more exactly, in letting the documents he has assembled and translated speak for themselves. The result is staggering and highly enjoyable throughout. It does not greatly alter the ...

... truth be said that pantomime is the only branch of the theatre which is always changing and yet somehow stays the same. Gerald Frow's book investigates the origins, chronicles the changes, but as one reaches the end one realises that it is a type of theatre in which the audience, not the author, is the most important factor. It started, of course, with the cam- media deli arte, an audience ...

... who achieved a respectable reputation at the Salon, but whose main interest was in costume. His volume Le Costume historique, published just over a hundred years ago, contained no less than 500 plates, of which an astonishing 300 were in full colour. This book contains 92 of them, slightly larger in size than the originals, and covers the period from the ninth century to the early 1800s, the ...

... first published 20 years ago which lists, first by titles and then by authors, those books and plays which reached the screen (now including the television screen) between 1928 the birth of talking pictures and the present day. Particularly useful when it comes to detecting those novels which changed their name en route to the screen. ...

... Day made the last of her 39 films, and in every one of them she had a starring role. But one would have to be a dyed-in-the-wool fan, which Eric Braun obviously is, to remember the names of more than half a dozen of them. Yet there is no douot sne does linger in the memory, but more, I would suggest, because of her singing, for her records are still played on the easy listening stations ...

... publishers claim, this is the successor to Ephraim Katz's International Encyclopaedia, last revised ten years ago. In that time, hun dreds of new actors and directors have arrived on the scene, and this book, compiled by the head of Baseline, which has a database of over 750,000 entries, contin ually updated, is obvi ously much more con temporary. It is also rather more arty than its ...

... examples of artspeak, leading one to the conclusion that the arts is still using words of the early eighties, or has set its face against such terms as can-do and enterprise cul ture, even though more and more arts organisations are having to observe (hem. Computer technology seems to be providing many of the new words, but show business, certainly in the pop sector, is playing its part, ...