POPULARITY OVERSEAS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 31 May 1930, Page 3

POPULARITY OVERSEAS

ENGLISH THEATRE IN HEALTHY STATE One of the pleasantest features of the present activity in the theatrical world is the preponderance of British plays both running in the West End now and due for production in the lieai future, writes a London critic. There are 26 home-made plays being performed at the present time, the great majority of them successful while the next few weeks will bring a number more. ".. ■ Even more satisfactory is the popularity which British plays are achieving abroad. Several of the biggest successes in New York at the moment have come from. London—indeed, they succeeded in breaking one of the most drastic slumps in American theatrical history—While in France, n Germany, and even Poland the works of British playwrights are beginning to boom largely on the bills. All this is naturally encouraging to our own dramatists; there is a remarkable spirit of activity in their ranks, and new plays are tumbling over each other on their way to the managers' offices. Altogether the theatre is in an extremely healthy state.