J.M. Barrie was a wonderful writer (and creator of Peter Pan). But this, his last play, is problematic. It tells a story of the biblical David and his friendship with King Saul, who both loved and feared him. A foreword by Harley Granville-Barker suggests that Barrie sought to anchor the story in a reality more conducive to drama than mythic or poetic King James Version language would allow. But Barrie's own formalized dialog is no more realistic than that he replaces, and thus the entire enterprise takes on the character of a fairy tale for children. Now, as the author of Peter Pan, Barrie was on familiar territory, but it appears not to be what he intended. There is possibly a dramatic potential for a stage version of the story of Saul, David, and Goliath, and, indeed, some elements of that potential are felt in reading The Boy David. But overall, it is a play far out of its time, with little of the verisimilitude and believable behavior its author purported to achieve. While the play is mildly interesting reading, it is perhaps not surprising that it is rarely, if ever, performed, despite the pedigree of J.M. Barrie. ( )