"--_American Paper._
We had always been told there was no accounting for them.
* * * * *
AT THE PLAY.
"CARNIVAL."
Those who imagined that they were to be given a dramatic version of Mr.
COMPTON MACKENZIE'S romance must have been shocked to find that the
entertainment provided at the New Theatre was just a variation, from an
Italian source, of the general idea of _Pagliacci_. But it was the only
palpable shock they sustained, for never did a play run a more obvious
course from start to finish. When you have for your leading character an
actor-manager, who plays the part of _Othello_, with his wife as
_Desdemona_ (how well we know to our cost this conjugal form of nepotism),
and discusses in private life the character of the Moor--whether a man
would be likely to indulge his jealousy on grounds so inadequate--speaking
with the detached air of one who is absolutely confident of his own wife's
fidelity, you don't need much intelligence to foresee what the envy of the
gods is preparing for him. The remainder is only a matter of detail--what
particular excuse, for instance, the lady will find for a diversion, and to
what lengths she will go.
[Illustration: _Simonetta_ (_Miss HILDA BAYLEY_). "ARE YOU PLEASED WITH MY
FANCY DRESS? IT WAS TO BE A GREAT SURPRISE."
_Count Andrea_ (_Mr. NEILSON-TERRY_).
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