[Followers] of Mr. Bentley's career will have guessed already from the somewhat ponderous title of his new volume ["What Is Theatre?"] that they are familiar with most of what it contains. Of the 104 journalistic articles which comprise its contents, 93 have appeared between hard covers before. All but 2 of the 93 are reprinted for the second time from the New Republic.

Mr. Bentley was, of course, a very good journalist, and his occasional pieces are shrewd and incisive. They have lost on their third or fourth reading none of their pungency and wit. But they are occasional pieces, and after more than ten years, few of the occasions seem important enough to warrant giving Mr. Bentley's impressions of them, however perceptive, yet another life in print.

Do we need to read again about the shortcomings of "Tea and Sympathy," "Picnic," "Sabrina Fair" or "Porgy and Bess"? Mr. Bentley's cool appraisal...