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We cannot blame him then. But we can regret that he is allowed to own six different theatres. In Paris it is “one man, one theatre,” and if it were so in London then there would be less the matter with the English Drama. But, failing such an enactment, all that remains is to persuade the public that what it really wants is something a little better than Kiss Me, Katie. For Mr. de Lauributt is quite ready to provide Shakespeare, Ibsen, Galsworthy, modern drama, modern comedy, anything you like as long as it brings him in pots of money. And he would probably do the thing well. He would have the sense to know that the producer of Hug Me, Harriet, would not be the best possible producer of The Wild Duck; he would try to get the best possible producer and the best possible designer and the best possible cast, knowing that all these would help to bring in the best possible box-office receipts. Yes, he would do the thing well, if only the public really asked for it.

How can the public ask for it? Obviously it can only do this by staying away from Cuddle Me, Constance, and visiting instead those plays whose authors take themselves seriously, whenever such plays are available. It should be the business, therefore, of the critics (the people who are really concerned to improve the public taste in plays) to lead the public in the right direction; away, that is, from the Bareback Theatre, and towards those theatres whose managers have other than financial standards. But it is unfortunately the fact that they don’t do this. Without meaning it, they lead the public the wrong way. They mislead them simply because they have two standards of criticism–which the public does not understand. They go to the Bareback Theatre for the first night of Kiss Me, Katie, and they write something like this:–

“Immense enthusiasm…. A feast of colour to delight the eye. Mr. Albert de Lauributt has surpassed himself…. Delightfully catchy music…. The audience laughed continuously…. Mr. Ponk, the new comedian from America, was a triumphant success…. Ravishing Miss Rosie Romeo was more ravishing than ever… Immense enthusiasm.”

On the next night they go to see Mr. A. W. Galsbarrie’s new play, Three Men. They write like this:–

“Our first feeling is one of disappointment. Certainly not Galsbarrie at his best…. The weak point of the play is that the character of Sir John is not properly developed…. A perceptible dragging in the Third Act…. It is a little difficult to understand why…. We should hardly have expected Galsbarrie to have… The dialogue is perhaps a trifle lacking in… Mr. Macready Jones did his best with the part of Sir John, but as we have said… Mr. Kean-Smith was extremely unsuited to the part of George…. The reception, on the whole, was favourable.”

You see the difference? Of course there is bound to be a difference, and Mr. A. W. Galsbarrie would be very much disappointed if there were not. He understands the critic’s feeling, which is simply that Kiss Me, Katie, is not worth criticizing, and that Three Men most emphatically is. Rut it is not surprising that the plain man-in-the-street, who has saved up in order to take his girl to one of the two new plays of the week, and is waiting for the reviews to appear before booking his seats, should come to the conclusion that Three Men seems to be a pretty rotten play, and that, tired though they are of musical comedy, Kiss Me, Katie, is evidently something rather extra special which they ought not to miss.

Which means pots more money for Mr. Albert de Lauributt.