International Notes

Summary

A selection has been made from the reports received from our correspondents, those which present material of a particularly interesting kind being printed wholly or largely in their entirety. It should be emphasized that the choice of countries to be thus represented has depended on the nature of the information presented in the reports, not upon either the importance of the countries concerned or upon the character of the reports themselves.

Canada

Shakespearian activities are now dominated by the Canadian Stratford Festival held in a little town of 20,000 people on Canada's River Avon.

In its second season, the Festival, under the direction of Tyrone Guthrie and Cecil Clarke, presented The Taming of the Shrew and Measure for Measure. The Taming of the Shrew had much of pantomime in it, and included such extraneous things as a motor car and a stage horse. The production did not please purists, but was widely accepted by the Festival audiences.

With James Mason as Angelo and Frances Hyland as Isabella, Measure for Measure was a much more satisfying performance, especially since Lloyd Bochner, who played the Duke, provided the strong central character often missing in this play.