FROM BOOKS #5
On the evening of that day in Sheffield when Henry James read THE AMERICAN to the company he saw a performance of THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL. After the curtain had fallen he went round to my father's dressing room. For some minutes James sat in a contemplative silence. At last my father, in the way of the actor-manager, asked him how he had enjoyed Sheridan's comedy.
'A curious old play', said Henry James slowly. 'A very curious old play', he repeated in a tone that revealed his astonishment that such a play could still be put on the stage. And that was the only comment he made.
- COMPTON MACKENZIE, quoted in THE LEGEND OF THE MASTER: HENRY JAMES AS OTHERS SAW HIM by Simon Nowell-Smith (1947)
'A curious old play', said Henry James slowly. 'A very curious old play', he repeated in a tone that revealed his astonishment that such a play could still be put on the stage. And that was the only comment he made.
- COMPTON MACKENZIE, quoted in THE LEGEND OF THE MASTER: HENRY JAMES AS OTHERS SAW HIM by Simon Nowell-Smith (1947)