wright may feel a little jealous, and
writers may sympathize with him. There are plays and plays, just as
there is acting and acting. In subtle modern pieces conscientious actors
of fair ability rarely fail, and success (within certain limits) is
common in _Hamlet_.

Mr Bourchier and "Max" on English Acting

Mr Bourchier has written rather bitterly about some remarks of Mr Max
Beerbohm concerning English acting. Apparently "Max" has asserted that
"the average level of acting is admittedly lower in England than in
France, Germany or Italy." Hence Mr Bourchier's wrath, which obviously
is unselfish, since remarks about the average level of acting have
nothing to do with him, for no country is rich enough in histrionic
talent to deny that Mr Bourchier is far above the average.

Is Mr Max Beerbohm's assertion well founded? The "admittedly" inspires
distrust. Experience teaches the middle-aged that as a rule people
allege that a proposition is admitted when they have no evidence to
offer of its truth, and are aware that it will be disputed. Does anyone
exist who knows really what is the average level of acting in the four
countries named? Such knowledge could only be based upon a first-hand
study of acting in all kinds of theatres in many towns of England,
France, Germany and Italy. A music-hall agent is the only kind of person
likely to have made such a study. Has Mr Max made it?

Probably the clever caricaturist and lively critic is really talking
about the so-called West End theatres and the foreigners who come to us,
and of occasional visits paid by him to selected pieces in important
Continental cities. If so, his observations are based upon quite
insufficient materials. Critics are wont to praise foreign acting
unfairly at the expense of our own performers, and they receive the
support of opinions expressed by some foreigners, notably French and
Italians.

Members of gesticulative races are apt to think English players very
wooden, because when representing British people our actors and
actresses are much restrained in movement. A French or Italian critic
can hardly appreciate some of the splendid "Stage Society" or Court
Theatre performances, such, for instance, as that of _The Voysey
Inheritance_, which could not have been surpassed in any theatre or
country.

The offensive comparisons often, even generally, are based upon
performances where our players are at a serious disadvantage. On what
may be called ne