June 1928: The Masque Theatre – First Week’s Visit to the Lyceum, in Edinburgh

An article on page twelve of The Scotsman, on Tuesday the 19th of June, 1928, reads:

 

“The Masque Theatre.

 

Amongst the interesting movements with which Edinburgh has been brought into touch

to some extent in the dramatic world, the Masque Theatre should take an important place.

The Masque Theatre is an organisation of recent date, which fills its own place in the

widespread and growing repertory movement. Repertory companies in Edinburgh have

sought to bring before the public the plays of Shaw and of Shakespeare. The Masque Theatre

players aim at giving modern plays from a wide repertory, including authors both British and

foreign. It is, in fact, international in character. Plays produced by the company include those

by authors in the United States, Germany, Russia, France, and Spain, as well as in Great Britain.

Their first week’s visit to the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh has demonstrated the admirable

qualities of the players for repertory purposes. The repertory play may broadly be described as

taking a high place regarded strictly from the point of view of dramatic art, as owing nothing to

elements designed for notoriety as apart from genuine merit, or to the caprice of the public. The

repertory theatre gives an opportunity to intelligent audiences of seeing something other than a

second-hand presentation of a play which has appealed to the crowd in London. It seeks to put

before a discerning public something of high quality, performed by players of capacity. It is not

a case of the star actor surrounded by mediocrities. Every player in the Masque Company, one

felt from the performances last week, is himself or herself an accomplished artist. A feature of

their performances during their stay in Edinburgh is the presentation of a number of one-act

plays as curtain-raisers—a form of dramatic art which, like the short story, may reach a high

level of concentration and effectiveness, but which has been for some reason neglected in recent

years.”

 

 

 

The British Newspaper Archive.

 

 

 

George Fairfull-Smith, July 2024.