CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA. Who was the dramatic critic who looked forward apprehensively to the time when he would have to review a really good production—apprehensively because he had already exhausted all his superlatives ? We should like to meet him, if only to remind him how much greater is the need for apprehension in the reviewer of school productions ; for him there are so many extenuating circumstances luring him into extravagance—the youth of this boy, the inexperience and enthusiasm of that, the lack of time for rehearsals, and the usual " Of course, all the women were played by boys !" Nevertheless, looking back upon "Caesar and Cleopatra " with a mind as free as possible of these prejudices, we can quite honestly spare a superlative or two for such a beautifully finished production. Let us beware, however— we may need some more next year ! The experienced critic of school plays would, we are sure, have looked in vain for the flaws which have served him so well in the past. As usual, he would decide before the curtain rose, which boys he must watch for pegs on which to hang his epithets. His knowledge of the play (or of the title) would tell him that in the Dench brothers rested the responsibility for most of the dialogue and action, and his experience would remind him that they would doubtless represent the best talent at the disposal of the producer. By concentrating on them, therefore, he would be able the more honestly to overlook the well-meaning flounderings of the enthusiastic but less talented " supporting cast." With our Csar and Cleopatra " he would not have been far wrong in his first assumption,—but how much he would have missed in the second. For here, if ever, was a play which was completely good, in which the very " walkers-on " were as conscious of their responsibilities as the principals themselves. They were confident and polished. The unhurried dignity of the Major Domo and his inscrutable " bottle-holders " contributed their considerable share ,
tohesucfClpatr'sbnque;hwildrmnta determination to do-his-duty-as-he-saw-it of the Sentinel were those of a real Roman soldier; the grovelling of the Porters and the virtuosity of the Harp-Girl were as carefully rehearsed as the hundreds of lines which Csar and Cleopatra had to remember. We felt relieved when Cleopatra chased away her giggling attendants, for their giggles had been annoying us, too. 28
