Dr. Scannell is very charming in the way he illustrates the interesting sidelights he shows us by singing or imitation. To-day he sang for us one of the old Jacobite ballads, in which every second line was Irish, and the other English, the sense continuing in every alternate line. To-day, Pappie was down at Stockleys to meet Charles Doran ((Charles Doran, born in Cork in 1877, was a Shakespearian actor who founded his own Shakespearian company in 1920. In the 1950s he acted in several films and BBC Shakespeare TV performances. He died in Folkstone in 1964, aged 87.)) and he had a most interesting and delightful time with him. Mrs. Stockley invited Mam and me to-night to ‘Much Ado about Nothing’. I went, thinking it was one of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, and thus not so interesting. But I enjoyed every word from beginning till end. Every one of the characters was splendidly impersonated, Doran and Miss Christine Kilburn being outstanding. In such a character as Benedict, Doran seems to excel, and Beatrice was charming in her whimsical wit. There are some beautiful similes in the play. Came home absolutely disgusted with rotten houses. Nothing good can come to, or stay in Cork.
