"The Plutocrats."

The "Plutocrats" was chiefly notable for its excellent costuming, and because it must have established an all-time record for the number of songs used in one revue.

Mr. Meek is to be congratulated for some appropriate conjuring tricks and the best imitation of W. J. Mount joy Jnr. we have yet heard. Mr. Henderson was always clear and distinct, but Mr. Simpson deserves most credit for his consistent clowning through the whole show. He and Mr. Christensen were on stage most of the time, and had some very dull patches to gloss over. In this they both worked hard and deserve our praise. The other "stooges," in contrast to the public figures they represented, were kept remarkably quiet. Miss Shorthall's little bit was one of the highlights of the evening.

Miss Cora Duncan deserves special mention for the ballet work and Mrs. Zenocrate Mount joy for the costume designing. These were the feature of the show and in these respects, and in the general production, this was of as high a standard as any revue yet.

The "Plutocrats" did not come anywhere near the best of "P.J." or of Redmond Phillips of the past few years, chiefly because it was cluttered up with songs and ballets. The basic idea was good, and had the show been run through with a time limit of three-quarters of an hour it would have been excellent. We seem to have progressed from the old Gilbert and Sullivan type of extrav. to something more modern. Our dancing and setting is in line with the best "talkie musicals" so let us take a tip from these shows and put a few original "swing" songs across with simple words easy for an audience to pick up. Some of the lyrics of this show are worth reading, but the length of the words prevented them from being understood while they were sung.

Next year we hope to see more extravaganza, more fooling, and less pointless singing and dancing, but above all, we hope the show will maintain the high standard of acting of 1937's revue.