Perhaps after this warning one ought not become agitated or angry with any of the productions of those showmen who are frankly in the business for the sake of revenue. However, when the "super"-showman, who is said by the press-agent to possess unconquerable ideals, does something that is supposed to be the uttermost of stage production--and fails--well, then one can't help becoming irritated. In a production of _Joseph and His Brethren_ which I saw recently there is evidence that he is aware of the presence of new ideas in the theatre. But nowhere is it perfect enough or fearlessly new enough to be satisfying. What new ideas are used are swamped under, in their imperfection, by the mass of "excellent mediocrity" that Mr. Soule speaks of. In every act is present that hideous compromise--rank mixture of the old theatrical devices with a cautious lifting of some daring modernists' best ideas. But the pictures received applause. Most came for the scene that jarred most. It was a moon-light garden scene. The backdrop and sense of distance were perfect, but stuck prominently in the foreground, on either side of the stage, were huge clusters of pink blossoms. The applause for that was great--just as Soule predicted. Mixing ideals--so-called--with the business of attracting the crowd for what it brings to the box-office may produce a super-showman and make of him a millionaire, but it does not advance the cause of the theatre. Not only is the production to be quarreled with, but the drama itself is of mongrel character. Everywhere is evident that catering to the ordinary theatrical taste:--entire speeches from the bible alongside those of modern idiom and thought together with re-arrangements and useless additions to the already satisfying detail of the scriptures. After a "smashing" finale with the gorgeously garmented multitude waving dusty palms in a private house I decided to dismiss the entire show as fruitless, so far as the "new note" was concerned. However, one critic writes that the German and Russian moderns were suggested in some scenes and that the chief female character might have been costumed by Bakst himself! That arouses one to the danger of the thing. Is this the final word in the theatre and what we are to expect as the best this season? _Marion Thayer MacMillan, Cincinnati_: