2 JUNE 1939, Page 6

We are not doing what we should about William Shake-

speare. Russia is ; and Russians are astonished at our apathy. They have been inquiring of their English friends (not British ; this is not Scotland's business) what we are doing about it. The friends have been under the painful necessity of asking, About what? The answer is, of course, the 375th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth—which event took place in April, 1564. In this country we may deal only in centenaries ; in Russia's view that cuts too many generations out of the celebrations, so (in this case at least) they mark the quarter-centuries. Anyhow, Russia is cele- brating the occasion extensively, not only in Moscow, but all over the country. London has one Shakespeare play running.

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