acter misrepresented by her,
particularly if she is acting the part of a peasant or poor shopgirl and
the like, when her hair will show that it has been dressed by a coiffeur
at a cost that would be unpayable by the character. Things like this
destroy the illusion of the stage. It may be noted that in this respect
the French and German actresses behave better than ours, and accept,
doubtless with reluctance, a sacrifice of personal charm for sake of
character too rarely seen upon our stage. A last matter--why is it
supposed that almost all the characters in a play are wearing new
clothes on a first night?

Colour

Some time ago a musical comedy was produced the notices upon which were
a little amazing. Several were impolite about the book, others
unfriendly to the music; but almost all agreed that the scenery and
costumes were of remarkable beauty. Now, in the first act an excellent
opportunity for picturesque mounting had been wasted, and the setting of
the second act was deplorable. It was a great blaze of gold and yellow,
which endured for about an hour and a half, with, of course, some little
relief here and there, and it fatigued some eyes and caused some
headaches. No doubt we were in the minority.

It may be that most people are not sensitive to colour; any of our
senses may be irresponsive. A friend of mine puts a lot of cayenne
pepper and mustard and Worcester sauce on toasted cheese; obviously he
has a dull palate. There are people to whom nothing in the way of music
appeals except violent tunes. We know that colour-blindness in different
degrees is the common lot; very possibly what to the sensitive seems a
picture rich in tender colour, to the mass appears dull drab; and the
scene whose shrieking gorgeousness oppresses the eye and brain of the
artist is subtle to the Philistine--it is difficult to know. Who can
imagine a picture gallery as seen by the person who suffers even mildly
from colour-blindness? There are those who have a dull sense of smell,
and the case has happened of a girl only stopped by accident from going
to a ball decked in flowers that looked pretty and smelt abominably.

This raises rather a large question about stage-mounting; if the
majority are not sensitive, then business instinct demands that the
colour-scheme should be crude. Some time ago much admiration was
expressed in the press at the beauty of a ballet designed by Mr Wilhelm,
a real colourist, who is able not only to prod