In defence of the indifference for poor spelling the Archbishop recalled that Shakespeare spelt his name in four different ways. It lis just possible that the near future may see the final clearing up of the old controversy whether "Shakespeare" was really written by Bacon. The tomb of Edmund Spenser, the Elizabethan poet, in Westminster Abbey is to be opened in order to(see if it contains a farewell signed poem by Shakespeare. There is 'a fairly well authenticated story that when Spenser was buried, the poets of the time stood round and dropped their "tributes" (as Emmeline Grangerford would have called them) in the tomb, and presumably Shakespeare would have been among them. There are several difficulties in the way. It is known that Spenser was buried in Westminster Abbey, but there is no record of the burial nor of the precise spot where he was buried, though one may suppose jit was under or near the Spenser Memorial. Further, unless the poems were hermetically sealed up, or written on parchment, they will be dust by now. But even A very curious exhibition opens tomorrow in London organized by the British Puppet Guild. From time to time we have puppet shows at some West End theatre, but it will be newts to most people that so many persons all over the country are so much interested in this type of theatricals that they form a, guild. Some 25 puppet companies, showing neon 300 puppets, from Great Britain alone, are taking part in the exhibition, besides companies from France where puppetry has long been studied, and has created a number of (classical characters, just as the old harley quinade of pantomimes has done. Visitors will be allowed to try their hand at working the strings, but this is obviously a matter of great skill and practice. The charm of puppetry is said to be that the manipulating actor is at last able to play every part in the programme, and that the puppets never "answer back" and are never late for rehearsal.
Another display next week on decidedly more realistic' Jines is a pageant of drama in Lewisham Town Hall, in which 300 children will perform. This is the work of the Lewisham Children's Theatre Guild, Which includes 72 local schools. Not only is the pageant played entirely by children, but they have painted all the scenery and made all the dresses. The guild was formed two years ago and is a deliberate undertaking to build up a permanent school of acting by British children. A fund has been opened to which all the proceeds of the pageant are to go, with which it is hoped at some future time to build a Children's Theatre. Me hile the Lewish:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.