The present production of "Macbeth" has many things which will cause it to be remembered as a great presentation of Shakespeare. The play has been wisely divided into two acts in which the scenes follow swiftly upon each other so that there is no loss of the power of the tragedy. This is made possible by a striking and very usable staging and by the use of music during the interludes of acting. This music was at first too loud and drowned some of the speeches, but that is the only large criticism of the production. To compensate for that, the treatment of the love of the Macbeths is handled admirably, making them more human and their deeds more plausible, while the inclusion on stage of the murders of Banquo and Lady Macduff intensifies the horror of Macbeth's evil deeds. All the scenes are excellently staged and the play never for a moment loses its terrifying force.

To the part of Macbeth, Maurice Evans brings his well-known talents and gives an energetic, dynamic presentation of the king, but he is often too tense to give the illusion of reality. His passions are towering but never quite convincing. On the other hand. Judith Anderson, in the equally difficult role of Lady Macbeth, the highly ambitions but not naturally bloodthirsty queen, has a quality of realism that Evans lacks. The passionate scenes where she goads Macberth on to his crimes and reviles him for his weakness, are topped off by the famous sleep-walk ag scene, which is played with touching pathos. The honors for this show go first to Miss Anderson, and then to Margaret Webster, who directed; then comes Evans and beneath him a large body of adequate, if undistinguished actors.