CRITIC'S OUTCRY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22206, 8 March 1934, Page 9

CRITIC'S OUTCRY

VULGARITY IN THEATRES : LONDON, February 27. Vulgarity in the London theatres, at {tresent has surpassed all'outbreaks. i» iving memory, says the, dramatic critic of the Daily Mail. A joke which shocks may be legitimate humour, but a joke intended to shock, and lamentably failing, is clearly improper, he says. , ,; Actresses are made to appear looking like something out of a West End shop window. ' Playgoers are practically demanding, s«Take off your frock for our amusement, or find another profession.' ' Plain speaking on the stage might be permissible if indulged in by adult minded authors, but, unfortunately, at present it is the result of that variety of arrested mental growth usually expressed in chalking pavements and walls. Authors must realise that many playgoes .remain whose attitude to the theatre is not similar to the Victorian child's towards the penny-in-the-slot seaside pier advertising, " What the butler saw. "I prefer authors, to write about what they understand instead'of writing about life which is so far a closed book to them," he concludes.