This idea is being extended, and a daily
supplement in English is to be issued soon.

Two evenings spent at the theatre at Prague were curiously in contrast:
one at the German National Theatre, to hear "The Blue Mazurka," by
Lehar, author of "The Merry Widow," and other less entertaining
operettas. The imposing building of the Deutsche Theatre was crammed
with Germans who took pleasure in a characteristic sentimental
operetta. The other evening was at the Czech National Theatre to see a
performance of "Coriolanus," and was more interesting. The Czechs had
great difficulties under the Austro-Hungarian regime in obtaining a
national theatre. The Imperial Government was not anxious to encourage
Czech language and literature, and therefore refused to grant the State
subsidy on which national theatres usually depend. This, however, did
not deter the Czechs. It made them only the more determined to have a
national theatre. It should be remembered that drama has a much
greater national importance in the continental countries of Europe than
it has in England or America. Excitement over such a matter might seem
incredible to Anglo-Saxons, not so to Slavs or to Germans. The
proposed deprivation of the Czechs of a national stage stirred the
people to the depths, and it was not long before men and women were
busy collecting the money to build and sustain a Czech theatre at
Prague. The funds were raised, and the place was built, and the
Bohemian people inscribed over the proscenium the challenging words:
"_Narod Sobe_"--The people for itself.

"Coriolanus" was conceived of rather as a struggle with the
proletariat. Hillar, the producer, has effectually disenchanted the
footlights by putting steps down to the audience in the position of the
prompter's box. The characters frequently make their entrances as it
were from the body of the audience. This is especially striking in the
crowding up of the Roman Bolsheviks on to the stage in the opening
scene--a remarkable piece of life and action. However, though one
naturally thought of the Bolsheviks, there was nothing of the guise of
Lenin or Liebknecht in the appearance of the popular tribunes, who,
together with the rest of the citizens, were reduced to the level of
Dogberry, whilst the noble Coriolanus was perhaps exaggerated in his
nobility and his disdain. Menenius Agrippa was a Balfourian old fellow
who told the story of the Belly and its members well. What a story