Excerpt from Pure Folly: The Story of Those Remakable People the Follies They had come to stay to create and establish in England a new school of humour, a new interpretation of the art of burlesque, a form of entertainment worthy of something more than the term entertainment, a vogue which has gradually developed into an institution. To-day, instead of touring seaside towns, staying a night here, two nights somewhere else, or at the most a week in one place, the Follies have from month to month been drawing crowded audiences, representing all classes, to one of the principal West End theatres of London. While other playhouses suffer from the effects of temporary adverse influences, the Follies defy the effects of trade depression, the usual summer exodus from town, heat, snow, and fog. Theatre managers and playwrights, who regarded them with tolerant approval two years ago, have now discovered in this company of nine a real power, the influence of which cannot be ignored and has to be reckoned with. While serious comedies by clever authors, in managerial parlance, fail to attract, distinguished politicians weary of debates and elections, leading lights of literature and art in search of mental relaxation, as well as Society folk who take nothing very seriously except the pleasures of life. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.