The Theatre: Revival in Manhattan: Dec. 2, 1940

Twelfth Night (by William Shakespeare; The Theatre Guild-Gilbert Miller, Producers) was first produced on Candlemas Day, Feb. 2, 1602, in London's Middle Temple Hall, which a few weeks ago was struck by a Nazi bomb. Neither bombs nor centuries seriously alter Shakespeare's comedy. It can be richly indecent as in Measure for Measure, swift and slapstick as in The Taming of the Shrew. It can also be very mild, very mannered—as in Twelfth Night. The Guild production of the play is exquisite, but the net effect is that of a high ritual of antique jokes.

If the play's humor is weak, its...

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