26 JANUARY 1934, Page 6

The departure of the Private Life of Henry VIII film

from London to the provinces raises again the question of what the cause for the remarkable vogue of drama on the Tudor period is. In the last few weeks we have had in " the living theatre " Shakespeare's Henry VIII, The Tudor Wench, The Rose Without a Thorn, This Side Idolatry, as well as the Henry VIII film. And inci- dentally we have had; a month - or two- earlier, the Henry VIII Holbein discovery. Apparently it is all pure coincidence, like the sudden spate of Bront6 plays. But it would be interesting to know what the effect is-- whether the libraries and booksellers, for example, trace any fresh demand for books on the period. * * * *