There is a wealth of spectacular grandeur, color, magnificence, in Sir Herbert Tree's version of Shakespeare's "Henry VIII," which opened at the Hollis Theatre last night. The parts, are in the main, well played, the costumes highly effective, and it is indeed a great pity that better settings could not have been designed, for many of the otherwise impressive scenes. Why in a play so impressionistic as this, a play where the attention is focused not upon the scenery, but on the players, should this attention of ours be diverted by a wavering tree trunk, grotesque lillies jutting out from a still more grotesque grass plot, and other little details too numerous to be mentioned. Yet this is only a mild form of censure, the entire performance as a whole is more than satisfying.

There is a power and vitality in Shakespeare's play that reminds one somewhat of some modern drama. Here we see the eternal triangle, in this case King Henry, Queen Katharine and Anne Bullen; here we have the noble here, condemned to death by the wily villain, heroically bidding the crowd goodby. Here, too, is the court room scene, but (Heaven be praised!) no one recognizes the prosecuting attorney as a long lost father, or vice- versa. There is a ball room scene, a garden scene--who says that Shakespeare isn't modern? The lights and shadows of King Henry's Court are all displayed before our eyes and through them all stalks the "red chancellor," Cardinal Wolsey.

As portrayed by Sir Herbert Tree, Wolsey is the shrewd, stern, diplomat of history, quick to see the turn of the tide, arrogant in his power, forward even in his fall. Miss Mathison's Queen Katharine was good, as her parts usually are. She is best, as always when subdued, tending to become theatrical when roused to any great pitch of emotion. Miss Mackay's Anne Bullen could hardly have been bettered, portraying as it did the willful, attractive personality of Henry's second wife. But the master characterization of all was Lyn Harding's King Henry. The easy going, blustering, good-natured king, slow to anger, but strong in his wrath when aroused, was played to perfection by an actor who should be used to playing parts that way. The remainder of the cast, with the unfortunate exception of the Duke of Buckingham, were no more than adequate.