I have written to Knoblock to give him my thoughts on the play, and I may as well set them down here also.
Laughton had a great triumph as Mr. Prohack, after being very bad and wrong at all the later rehearsals. The second act didn't go very well but that was a fault of the production rather than of the play. The third act undoubtedly went very well indeed. Sidney Bernstein (the film man) one of our directors, had not cared much for the play when he read it, but he was positively enthusiastic about it when he saw it performed. There were laughs throughout. Advance booking is vey bad, but I do not see how it can be anything else. I think the play will take some time to reach the public consciousness, but I think that it will succeed in doing so.
One or two of the morning notices were bad, especially that of The Times, but some of the others were decidedly good, and the rest decent. The notices in the three evening papers are all admirable. Laughton was the focus of most of the notices. I am told that he was made up to look like me and that he copies some of my gestures etc. Whether this is true or not I do not know. It is in nearly all the papers, so I suppose there must be something in it. He took care not to do this in rehearsals. I don't know if I should feel flattered or aggrieved.
Dorothy got some decent notices which will be good for her self-esteem.
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