More human and wholesome is the satisfaction derived from the revelation of amateur foibles, for here we are laughing at ourselves, as in _A Pantomime Rehearsal_. In _The Show Shop_ this element was supplied by a young plutocrat who took a small part with a travelling company in order to be near his _fiancée_, the leading lady; and continued in it as _jeune premier_ because she refused to be made love to on the stage by anybody else. In assuming a _rôle_ for which he was incredibly ill-qualified he seemed likely to facilitate the achievement of his purpose, namely to make the play a hopeless failure and so secure the deliverance of his lady from the thraldom of her mother's ambitions and set her free to marry him. However, the failure failed to come off, and although he forgot to remove his overcoat (containing the stolen bonds) at a critical juncture on which the Great Situation turned--the error was so deadly that the mother, who had stage-managed the thing and was witnessing the first performance from a box, actually rose in her seat to correct it--the play was a roaring success; and there was nothing for it but a secret marriage, marred by the prospect of a two years' run "on Broadway." Mr. A. E. MATTHEWS, as the amateur, made extraordinarily good fun for us; and there was something fresh in the idea of following up the dress rehearsal with a first night. It not only gave the amateur his chance of making the big mistake against which he had been thoroughly warned, but our own applause allowed the company to put into practice the lessons they had learned in those sacred conventions which regulate the taking of a call. There are those who say that Transatlantic humour should be interpreted exclusively by a native cast, and that an Anglo-American alliance is a mistake. I trust President WILSON'S recent policy will not be affected by this view. Certainly, though the combination was responsible for the noisiest fun of the farce, the purely American performance of Miss MARGARET MOFFATT at the opening of the First Act was as good as anything in the play. But happily this is not one of those imported creations that overwhelm my uninstructed intelligence with exotic colour and exotic slang. Mr. EDMUND GWENN, as _Max Rosenbaum_, impresario, was in irresistible form. Miss MARIE LÖHR, in the part of the leading lady, was at her lightest and therefore her best; but Lady TREE (her designing mother), though she played very hard and incisively, could scarcely have satisfied her own very nice sense of humour with what was to be got out of a character that resembled nothing on earth (or the Eastern hemisphere anyhow).