masterpieces of the Elizabethan drama upon the stage for which they were
written, so as to represent them as nearly as possible under the
conditions existing at the time of their first production--that is to say,
with only those stage appliances and accessories which were usually
employed during the Elizabethan period. "Everything," said Sir Walter
Scott, "beyond correct costume and theatrical decorum" is foreign to the
"legitimate purposes of the drama," and it is on this principle that the
work of the Society is based.
Although the actual life of the Elizabethan Stage Society began in 1895 it
may be said to have had its origin as far back as 1881, when a performance
of the first quarto of "Hamlet" was given in St. George's Hall, London, in
Elizabethan costume, and without scenery. The play was acted continuously,
and lasted two hours. Here, then, probably for the first time since
Shakespeare's day, was reality given to Shakespeare's words: "The two
hours' traffic of our stage." The success of this performance fully
justified the experiment. It was generally admitted by those present that
the absence of scenery did not lessen the interest, and that with
undivided attention being given to the play and to the acting, a fuller
appreciation and keener enjoyment of Shakespeare's tragedy became
possible.
This performance was followed by others of a similar nature, and with the
same results, and the advantage of representing the Elizabethan drama
under the conditions it was written to fulfil being thus demonstrated, the
idea was suggested of building a stage after the Elizabethan model, yet it
was not until 1893 that this long cherished scheme was carried into
effect. In the autumn of that year the interior of the Royalty Theatre,
Soho, was converted into as near a resemblance of the old Fortune
Playhouse as was possible in a roofed theatre. The play acted was "Measure
for Measure," and in commenting upon this revival the _Times_ said: "The
experiment proved at least that scenic accessories are by no means as
indispensable to the enjoyment of a play as the manager supposes"; and a
professor of literature at one of our London colleges wrote: "I don't
think I was ever more interested--nay, fascinated--by a play upon the
stage, and now I shall ever think the cutting up into scenes and acts a
useless cruelty and an utter spoiling of the story." A regularly
constituted society was now formed, and among the first to subscribe were
Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Gosse, Sir Walter Besant, Rev. Stopford A. Brooke,
Com. Walter Crane, Professor Israel Gollancz, Professor Hales, Sir Sidney
Lee, W. H. Thornycroft, Esq., R.A., Miss Swanwick, the Hon. Lionel
Tollemache, and Lady Ritchie. At the performance of "Twelfth Night" at the
Middle Temple in 1897 His Majesty King Edward, then Prince of Wales, was
present as a Bencher of the Inn.
At the annual meeting of the Society in 1899, Sir Sidney Lee, the
Chairman, said: "Speaking as one who has studied the works of Shakespeare
and his contemporaries with some attention, both on and off the stage, I
have never witnessed the simple, unpretentious representation of a great
play by this Society without realizing more of the dramatic spirit and
intention than I found it possible to realize when reading it in the
study."
Of the Society's more recent revivals, the interest aroused by the old
morality play, "Everyman," both in London and in many towns throughout the
country, and in America, was very marked. The last play given by the
Society under the present direction was "Troilus and Cressida."
LIST OF THE SOCIETY'S PERFORMANCES.
1893. "Measure for Measure" Royalty Theatre, London.
1895. "Twelfth Night" Burlington Hall.
" "Comedy of Errors" Gray's Inn Hall.
1896. Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus" St. George's Hall.
" "Two Gentlemen of Verona" Merchant Taylors' Hall.
1897. "Twelfth Night" Middle Temple Hall.
" Scenes from "Arden of
Feversham" and "Edward
III." St. George's Hall.
" "Tempest" Egyptian Hall, Mansion House.
" " Goldsmiths' Hall.
1898. Beaumont and Fletcher's
"Coxcomb" Inner Temple Hall.
" Middleton and Rowley's
"Spanish Gipsy" St. George's Hall.
" Ford's "Broken Heart" St. George's Hall.
" Ben Jonson's "Sad Shepherd" Courtyard, Fulham Palace.
" "Merchant of Venice" St. George's Hall.
1899. Ben Jonson's "Alchemyst" Apothecaries' Hall.
" Swinburne's "Locrine" St. George's Hall.
" Calderon's "Life's a Dream" St. George's Hall.
(Edward Fitzgerald's translation)
" Kalidasa's "Sakuntala" Botanical Gardens.
(Translated from the Sanscrit)
" "Richard II." Lecture Theatre, University of
London.
1900. Moliere's "Don Juan" Lincoln's Inn Hall.
(Acted in English)
" "Hamlet" (First Quarto) Carpenters' Hall.
" Milton's "Samson Agonistes" Lecture Theatre, Victoria and Albert
Museum.
" Schiller's "Wallenstein" Lecture Theatre, University of
(Coleridge's translation) London.
" Scott's "Marmion" Lecture Theatre, University of
London.
1901. Morality Play "Everyman" The Charterhouse, London.
" "Henry V." Lecture Theatre, University of
London.
1902. Ben Jonson's "Alchemyst" Cambridge Summer Meeting.
1903. "Twelfth Night" Lecture Theatre, University of
London.
" Marlowe's "Edward II." Oxford Summer Meeting.
1904. "Much Ado about Nothing" London School Board Evening Schools.
1905. "The First Franciscans" St. George's Hall.
" "Romeo and Juliet" Royalty Theatre, London.
1906. "The Good Natur'd Man" Cambridge Summer Meeting.
1907. "The Temptation of Agnes" Coronet Theatre, London.
" "The Merchant of Venice" Fulham Theatre.
1908. "Measure for Measure" Gaiety Theatre, Manchester.
" " " Stratford-on-Avon Festival.
" "The Bacchae of Euripides" Court Theatre, London.
(Gilbert Murray's translation)
" "Samson Agonistes" Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens.
(Milton Tercentenary Celebration)
" Ditto Owen's College, Manchester.
1909. "Macbeth" Fulham Theatre, London.
1910. "Two Gentlemen of Verona" His Majesty's Theatre.
" " " Gaiety Theatre, Manchester.
1911. "Jacob and Esau," and Little Theatre, London.
Scenes from "Edward III."
" Schiller's "Wallenstein" Oxford Summer Meeting.
" "The Alcestes of Euripides" Imperial Institute.
(Francis Hubback's translation)
1912. Kalidasa's "Sakuntala" Cambridge Summer Meeting.
" "Troilus and Cressida" The King's Hall, Covent Garden.
1913. " " Stratford-on-Avon Festival.
SHAKESPEARE AT EARL'S COURT.[17]
The obsolete but picturesque phrase "Ye Olde" has perhaps something
fascinating in it to the modern aesthetic temperament, but it would be just
as well if those responsible for educating public opinion at Earl's Court
about matters relating to the Elizabethan stage did not misapply the
words. To the Elizabethan the Globe was a new building; there was nothing
"olde" about it. What, then, the authorities mean is the Old Globe
Playhouse, a definition that can mislead no one. There are some merits
attached to the design, but also several errors, notably, on the stage, in
the position of the traverse, in that of the staircases, and in the use
made of the side boxes as approaches to the stage. These are details which
are not of interest to the general public, and it is not necessary now to
dwell upon them, though exception might be taken to the movement of the
costumed figures who are supposed to impersonate the "groundlings."
The programme tells us that the vagaries of the groundlings are drawn from
Dekker's "The Guls Horn-Booke," a satirical pamphlet published in
Shakespeare's time, which can no more be seriously accepted as criticism
than can a description in _Punch_ of a modern theatrical performance. The
evidence of foreigners visiting London in the seventeenth century gives a
very different impression to that which Dekker chose to admit; and we are
told of the staid and decorous attitude of those playgoers frequenting the
Fortune, and of the stately dignity of the representations given at the
Blackfriars. The handling of these incidents in the auditorium at Earl's
Court have the appearance of being planned by one who is only
superficially acquainted with the period and not in sympathy with the
conditions of theatrical representation then in vogue--a circumstance to
be regretted at an exhibition which was ostensibly organized to raise
funds for a memorial to Shakespeare. Apparently it is forgotten that
between 1590 and 1610 the finest dramatic literature which the world
perhaps ever has known was being written in London, a coincidence which is
inconceivable were the staging so crude and unintelligent as that which is
shown us at Earl's Court. Everything there appears to have been done on
the assumption that 300 years ago there was a less amount of brain power
existing among dramatists, actors, and audience than there is found among
them to-day, while the reverse argument is nearer to the truth, for a
Shakespearian performance at the Globe on Bankside was then a far more
stimulating and intellectual achievement than it is on the modern stage
to-day.
To illustrate this point it is only necessary to witness one of the
"excerpts" presented at Earl's Court, the one called "The Tricking of
Malvolio." Now, we may presume that attention is invited to the talents of
the chief actor by the publicity given to his name, for on one small
printed page it is "starred" five times in capital letters against the
parts he impersonates. We can find no record of a similar keenness for
publicity in any Elizabethan actor. But unfortunately this is the least
remarkable illustration of modesty at Earl's Court, and it is impossible
to suppose that so many mistakes could have been crammed into a single
scene of "Twelfth Night" by anyone who had carefully read the play. Of
Shakespeare's plays it was said, in his own day, that they erred from
being too life-like, and that in consequence they lacked art; that is to
say, there was nothing theatrical about them. The persons he put on the
stage, in their speech, costume, and manner, so exactly resembled those
the audience recognized in the town that it was difficult to believe that
the characters had not been transferred from the street to the stage. Now,
in "Twelfth Night" the central figure in the story, and the one round
which all the other characters revolve, is Olivia, a young lady who is
plunged in the deepest grief by the loss, first of her father, and then of
her only brother, and we are told that because of this grief--
"The element itself, till seven years heat,
Shall not behold her face at ample view;
But, like a cloistress, she will veiled walk
And water once a day her chamber round
With eye-offending brine."
We may presume, therefore, that, as in the custom of Elizabethan times,
Olivia is dressed in the deepest mourning, and wears a black veil to hide
her sorrowing face. Next in social importance, in Olivia's house, comes
her uncle, Sir Toby, who, as a blood relation--for Olivia's father may
have been his brother--also wears black, and, being a knight, should wear
velvet or silk, and a gold order. He is out of humour with his niece for
the way she parades her grief and shuts herself away from all company. To
relieve the monotony of his existence he brings a fellow-knight into the
house, calls back the clown who had run away out of sheer boredom, and
gives himself up to eating, drinking, and singing. Maria, who marries Sir
Toby at the end of the play, is a lady by birth and breeding, attending on
the Countess, and, therefore, as one of the household, is dressed in
black, and so also are the servants, including Fabian and Malvolio. These
latter would all wear black cloth liveries, and Malvolio, in addition, a
braided steward's gown, not unlike that worn by a beadle, with a badge on
his arm showing his mistress's coat of arms, and a plated neck-chain, as a
symbol of his office. It will be seen at once what a shock it would be to
Olivia's sense of propriety, in view of her recent bereavement, for her
steward to turn up unexpectedly in coloured stockings, especially when she
had reason to believe that he had more regard and compassion for her
sorrow than anyone else in the house, because of his staid and solemn
demeanour. It is not unlikely, besides, that Malvolio, in anticipation of
his certain promotion to the ranks of the aristocracy by his marriage with
Olivia, had donned, in addition to yellow stockings, some rich costume,
put on in imitation of those fashionable young noblemen at court who wore
silk scarves crossed above and below the knee, since without the costume
his own cross-gartering would not have been in keeping. And indeed in
anticipation of his social advancement he alluded to this change of
costume in his soliloquy, "sitting in my state ... in my branched _velvet_
gown." Here, then, was Malvolio appearing before the Countess in a "get
up" that was not so much comic as audacious in its daring imitation of the
only man suitable in rank to marry a rich countess--that is, an earl.
The environment, then, of the play is this: a house of mourning against
which all its inmates are in rebellion with the exception of the Countess
and Malvolio; the latter, who is a time-server, seizing his opportunity to
ingratiate himself with his mistress by his pious and correct behaviour
and the sternness with which he suppresses mirth within the house. All
this information Shakespeare gives us in the text of the play, and yet how
does the actor avail himself of this knowledge? Malvolio, the Countess's
head flunkey, so to speak, appears not in the costume of a servant, but as
if he were the best dressed person in the house. Had he been a peer of the
realm and the Lord High Treasurer, his apparel, with one exception, could
not have been more correct. Like Prince Hamlet, he is in black velvet,
doublet, and trunks, and wears a magnificent black velvet gown reaching to
his ankles, a gold chain and a gold order! Incongruous and impossible as
this costume is for the character who has to wear it, an element of
burlesque is added to it by the conical hat, a yard high, which never
could have rested on any human head outside of a Drury Lane pantomime! Of
course, when this initial error is made in the costume of the character
impersonated by the leading actor, it is not surprising to find other
mistakes made in regard to the costumes of those who appear on the scene.
Sir Toby is not in black, nor does he wear his order of knighthood, but
appears in a leather jerkin and stuffed breeches, as if he were an
innkeeper! Not only is Maria not in black, but she is not even attired as
one who is by birth a lady, attending on the Countess, since she wears the
dress of a kitchen-maid; nor yet is Fabian in black; while the Countess
herself appears in a yellow dress, that being a colour Maria tells us "she
abhors," and without a veil, her face beaming with smiles, as if she were
the happiest creature in the comedy! What would any modern author say if
such liberties were taken with his play? But equally unintelligent is the
reading of the text. For Malvolio to say that when he is Olivia's husband
he will ask for his kinsman "Toby," is to miss the humour of the
situation. It is the pleasure of being able to call Sir Toby a "kinsman"
that is flattering to Malvolio's vanity; while in the same scene the one
word in Olivia's letter (of Maria's composition) which is captivating and
convincing to Malvolio's credulity is unnoticed by the actor. Malvolio's
doubts as to whom the letter is written are entirely set at rest when he
comes to the words, "let me see thee a _steward_ still." From the moment
he gets sight of the word "steward," everything becomes as clear as
daylight to him, so that when he appears in his velvet suit before Olivia,
and cross-gartered--which does not mean the cross-gartering of the brigand
in Italian Opera, as the impersonator imagines--his assurance carries
everything before him, and makes him turn every remark of the Countess to
his own advantage, and this self-deception is kept up with unflagging
animation, until he flings his final words at his tormentors: "Go, hang
yourselves _all_! You are idle, _shallow_ things: _I_ am not of _your_
element; you shall know _more_ hereafter." But this rendering of the scene
entirely misses fire at Earl's Court.
It would be ungracious and invidious, under the circumstances, to indulge
in criticism of this kind without examining into the origin of the errors
we have tried to point out. They are nearly all traditional. The actor is
not the real culprit. If one appealed to him for an explanation, his
answer would be, "What is good enough for Sir Herbert Tree is good enough
for me," and Sir Herbert Tree might say, "What was good enough for
Macready satisfies me." In the production of Shakespeare on the modern
stage our actor-managers show originality and novelty. In the
interpretation of Shakespeare's characters, and in the intelligent reading
of his text, there seems to be no progress made and no individuality
shown. In these matters we are still in the middle of the eighteenth
century, the most artificial age in the history of Shakespearian drama. As
a consequence, Shakespeare's plays are not taken seriously by actors of
to-day. To them his characters are theatrical types which are not supposed
to conform to the conditions that govern human beings in everyday life.
They do not recognize that Shakespeare's art and his characters were as
true to the life of his day as is the art of Shaw or Galsworthy to our
own. Yet because the construction of his play is unsuited to the modern
stage, therefore it is contended that Shakespeare is a bad constructor of
plays, and any liberties may be taken in the matter of reconstruction that
are convenient to the producer. And because his plays are written in
verse, a medium we do not now use in modern drama, therefore it may be
spoken in a way no human being ever did or could speak his thoughts. So it
comes that there is always an apology on the actor's lips for
"Shakespeare's shortcomings" whenever the actor wants to take liberties
with this author. It is Shakespeare who is always in the wrong, and never
the actor. Ask the actress who impersonates Olivia why she is not wearing
a black dress, and she replies without a moment's hesitation that black is
not becoming to her, as if it were an impertinence on Shakespeare's part
to expect her to wear black. The havoc that is made with the
characterization and story is of no consequence. "Oh, hang Shakespeare!"
was what a popular Shakespearian actor once said to the present writer.
That is the normal feeling of many actors towards Shakespeare's plays, and
one which will continue unless public opinion can be roused to a sense of
its responsibilities and insists that a more reverent and loyal treatment
shall be bestowed on the work of the world's greatest poet and dramatist.
Unpleasant and ungracious as these remarks may appear to those who look to
the Earl's Court Exhibition as a means for raising money for a national
theatre, they are not unnecessary. From all parts of the country visitors,
comprising many teachers and their scholars, come to this exhibition
expecting to receive a correct impression of Shakespeare's playhouse and
of the Elizabethan method of staging plays. But what they see cannot
inspire them with confidence or belief that dramatic art at that time,
both in its composition and expression, was at its high-water mark. This
is because the spirit and the intellect of Elizabethan times are wanting.
These qualities do not appear in modern actors nor in their productions.
There is nothing to be seen but the restlessness of our own stage-methods,
which no more fit the Elizabethan stage than would the Elizabethan
methods fit the modern stage. In another of the excerpts given at Earl's
Court, which is entitled the "Enchantment of Titania," the costumes,
business, and action of the proscenium stage are wholly reproduced on the
open platform. In Shakespeare's time the actors did not scamper all over
the stage and in and out of the private boxes while they were saying their
lines, nor was music played during their speeches. Then, again, the
stage-management of the scenes from "The Merchant of Venice" in the
poverty and meanness of their appointments and costumes is a libel on the
old Globe representation. It is only necessary to consult the
stage-directions in the first folio to recognize the fact. Bassanio then
came on to the stage dressed like one of the Queen's noblemen, with three
or four servants. At Earl's Court he comes on unattended in a pair of
patched leather boots and worn suit, looking more like a bandit than a
nobleman. There is no indication given of his superior rank to which so
much importance was attached in Shakespeare's time. Indeed, those who are
anxious to revive an interest in Elizabethan staging, and who urge its
claim for recognition, are justified in making their protest against this
travesty of Shakespearian drama.
A STUDENTS' THEATRE.[18]
1. _Miss Rosina Filippi's Project._
This project, advocated by one who is herself an able exponent of dramatic
art, both as an actress and a teacher, is worthy of careful
consideration, nor can Miss Filippi's strictures on actors and managers
be read with indifference or passed over in silence. It is asserted that
acting is no longer a profession, but a business, and that it will
continue to be a business until the actors themselves take the necessary
steps to give their calling the status of a profession. This is true,
because even if the public can be roused to demand that acting shall be
treated as an art, it cannot manufacture artists, nor control the choice
of the talent which is submitted to its judgment. Miss Filippi believes,
moreover, that the thinking portion of the British playgoer is beginning
to learn that English theatres need "something" before they can rank in
reputation with those on the Continent, an assumption which cannot be
denied; although Miss Filippi will hardly expect that all well-wishers of
the drama will agree with her as to what that "something" should be. In
this, indeed, lies the difficulty, for the divergence of opinion among
actors on questions connected with dramatic art is so bewildering that
both the public and the profession become indifferent to the controversy
from mere weariness.
The question for consideration at the moment is the "Students' Theatre,"
and whether Miss Filippi's project is one more practical and more
promising than the many rival suggestions now claiming attention and
support from the public; and here, at least, there is room for criticism.
In the first place, it may be doubted how far the public would support the
theatre by buying stalls, even at the reduced price of 4s., in order to
see students act plays which can be seen acted elsewhere under more
favourable conditions. Let a novice be ever so well coached, yet the
ordeal of facing a theatre full of human beings who all stare at him from
the auditory deprives him of the power to control and move that audience.
This is a drawback which can only be removed by long practice. Then, as a
rule, youth possesses too eager and confident a temperament to appreciate
the meaning of restraint. Students must wonder what chances they get by
acting in a theatre where no reputations are allowed to be made, no
personal ambition can be gratified, and no names may be inserted in the
programme! And after reading about these severe impositions, which are to
give artistic stability to the "Students' Theatre," it is a comfort to be
told by Miss Filippi that it is not her intention "to serve the interests
of any particular set of faddists, but to present good plays by a picked
company of young actors." Let us hope, then, that Miss Filippi does not
intend to limit her players to those who are students in the ordinary
sense of the word. And, indeed, might not the co-operation be obtained of
those artists who, being temporarily out of an engagement, would be
willing to join Miss Filippi's enterprise in support of the cause she
advocates, which is, in effect, a devotion to art for art's sake, and the
still more praiseworthy desire to obtain for the art of acting some public
recognition of what constitutes the standard of excellence? Such a
combination of forces, under artistic control, would have far-reaching
results.
And, after all, it should be possible for those actors who claim to take
their art seriously to agree upon a certain standard of qualification
which should be considered indispensable to everyone wishing to become an
actor. The late Sir Henry Irving in a speech once said: "I think there is
but one way to act, and that is by impersonation. We hear the expression
'character-acting.' I maintain that all acting is character-acting--at any
rate, it ought to be." But we live in an age when personality is valued by
the public at 50 per cent. more than is the talent of impersonation. As a
consequence, it becomes more and more the practice among managers and
dramatic authors to select actors for parts for which they are naturally
fitted by age, face, voice, and temperament, with the result that the
character is played by one who succeeds tolerably well, and even may excel
in certain scenes, in the only part in which he is ever likely to excel.
Yet such a one is not an actor at all in the legitimate sense of the word,
and if he is without vocal or physical flexibility, he is limited to the
business of impersonating his own personality. Then if he happens to
appear in a play which becomes a success, he may hope to continue acting
his own personality throughout the English-speaking towns of the two
hemispheres for a run of four, or even seven, years, after which he will
have the pleasure of "resting" until another part can be found for him as
much like himself as was the last one. And while this method of casting
plays has the advantage of distributing more equally the chances of an
engagement in a profession which has always a larger supply of actors than
is required, it has the distinct disadvantage of depriving the character
actor of the opportunity of learning his art.
Now, it is evident that Miss Filippi's object in forming her "Students'
Theatre" comes very near in its aim to the one the character-actors
should have in view, that of removing the attention of playgoers from
personality, and concentrating it on the art of impersonation. And this is
an art which no novice can hope to excel in. The training for this kind of
art requires a long apprenticeship, and the actor cannot hope to reach the
topmost height as an impersonator until he has had many years of
experience on the boards. In fact, he will have passed into the meridian
of life before he can become a fine character-actor. May it not, then, be
put forth as a practical proposition that Miss Filippi and her youthful
enthusiasts should join forces with the character-actors, and try to run a
theatre with some small public endowment for a common cause? In this way
there would be a possibility of the public being attracted, and willing to
pay for its seats, having the assurance that both talent and experience
would be seen at the "Students' Theatre."
The initial difficulty in such a scheme would, of course, be the admission
of candidates, whether students or actors. And while it would be essential
to ask for the willing co-operation of those actors who already possessed
undoubted reputations as character-actors, a test qualification would have
to be found which would inspire confidence both in the public and in the
profession, that those who were elected members had in them the necessary
material for the art of impersonating character. In fact, the reputation
of the theatre should be built upon the knowledge that only those who had
passed the test qualification were admitted to the rights of membership.
The following kind of test might be tried, perhaps, to ascertain the
ability of the candidate as an impersonator. He might appear before
twelve of the members, and during the space of half an hour, without
leaving the platform, impersonate three different characters all of the
same type. If the candidate wishes to qualify for juvenile parts, then he
must satisfy his judges that he is able to impersonate three young men who
may have some resemblance to each other in appearance, but who are all
different in character, in voice, and in deportment, or he may decide to
be judged by his impersonation of middle-aged city clerks, bumpkins, or
pedants; but in every case he should be able to satisfy his judges that he
can show three distinct characters of the same type. In this way mere
vocal dexterity, mimicry, and "make-up," would not insure election. The
best character-acting is, of necessity, limited in its extent. The "light"
comedian cannot and should not appear as the "heavy" father, nor the lean
beggar as the fat boy. Some actors can include a larger range of parts in
their repertory than others. But the real test of character-acting is in
having the ability to reproduce subtle shades of characterization in
certain recognized types.
In putting forth this plea for an enlargement of the scope of the proposed
"Students' Theatre" it is hoped that, by some such suggestion, the
difficulties in raising the necessary funds for the endowment which Miss
Filippi at present experiences, may disappear. There is no doubt that the
money would be forthcoming as soon as the public had a scheme presented to
it which was the "something" needed. And the profession, on its side,
should remember that, while it has established many associations to
protect its business interests, it has not yet thought it worth while to
devote either time or money to the by no means unnecessary part of a
professional career, which shall provide actors with the opportunity of
perfecting themselves in the study of their art.
2. _Mr. Gordon Craig's Sketches._
Shakespeare has long since failed to hold his own against modern staging,
and the possibility of bringing more taste, skill, and naturalness into
the art of the scene-painter does not remove the difficulty, but rather
increases it. When a dramatist is not on the spot to rewrite his play to
suit the altered conditions of mounting, the question then arises as to
whether the play or the scenery is the thing of most value. Mr. Sargent
does not ask leave to repaint Raphael's canvas because the draperies in
which the Italian artist has clothed his divine figures are conventional
ones. The advocates for modernism demand that new wine shall be put into
old bottles. No doubt there are some old stone jars that will bear the
strain, in the same way as there are some old plays which will stand a
good deal of decoration; but the business of the producer is to know what
kind of decoration is becoming to the art of the dramatist, and what is
derogatory to it. Mr. Craig's art may help us to derive additional
pleasure from the theatre, but will it help us to understand Shakespeare's
tragedies? If not, let him make his experiments on the plays of some less
gifted dramatist. The inappropriateness of scenery for Shakespeare lies,
mainly, in its unreality, and Mr. Craig tries to make it still more
unreal. Such properties, or scenes, as were in use in the poet's lifetime
were suggestive of immediate, and not remote, objects, because what is
distant in place and time has less actuality than what is near at hand. To
see in an Elizabethan playhouse built-up doors, windows, caverns, arbours,
ramparts, ladders, prepared the minds of the audience for action, and
brought the actors into closer touch with life.
Now, Mr. Craig's art resembles that of Turner. He has a sense of beauty
and restraint, with a poet's insight into the meaning of landscape and
atmosphere which stamps him as an artist, and distinguishes him at once
from the scene-painter of Globe Alley. With him, as with Turner, it is the
sun that is the centre of the universe. His passion is for airy landscape,
unsullied by the presence of the concrete; and Turner's palaces, boats,
and men seem shadowy things beside the splendour of Turner's sunshine. But
the central interest of drama is human, and it is necessary that the
figures on the stage should appear larger than the background, or let the
readers of Shakespeare remain at home. To see Mr. Craig's "rectangular
masses illuminated by a diagonal light" while the poet's characters walk
in a darkened foreground, is not, I venture to think, to enjoy the "art of
the theatre." There must be some sane playgoers who still wish to see in
the playhouse Juliet smile upon Romeo, and Othello frown on Iago. "What a
piece of work is man!" says the poet; but there is no room for man in Mr.
Craig's world.
It is because Mr. Craig's art exposes to view a background which is
effective and suggestive apart from the needs of drama, that it fails in
its purpose. Had he studied the methods of Rembrandt, instead of those of
Turner, something practical for the stage might have been forthcoming.
With Rembrandt, whether it is a windmill, a temple, or a man, it is
always the object, not the landscape, that arrests attention. The light
coming from the front, and not from the side, first illuminates the
objects before reaching the background. The spectator, as it were, turns
on a bull's-eye lantern, and is thus able to see the story written on the
men's faces. Then the artist contrives that the mind shall pass by an easy
transition from the faces to the more sombre background. But unless this
transition is gradual and the background is sombre, interest in figures is
proportionally weakened.
* * * * *
Now, Mr. Roger Fry's sympathetic appreciation of Mr. Gordon Craig's
designs for "Macbeth" may predispose his readers to believe that they form
a suitable background for a representation of Shakespeare's tragedy. Some
years ago I saw Mr. Craig's production of "Acis and Galatea," followed by
a masque. It was a stagery of great beauty, and seemed to initiate new
possibilities. But then both were musical entertainments which gained
appreciably by a picturesque background. The action never clashed with the
quaint setting. Unlike the demands of tragedy, the representation made no
direct appeal to the reason, and no obvious attempt to purify the
emotions. Its main business was to delight the eye.
Mr. Craig, in his foreword to the printed catalogue of his exhibition at
the Leicester Galleries, remarks that the designs and models "speak for
themselves." This admission is a merit if the designs are intended for
book illustrations. A picture which arrests the attention and stirs the
imagination gives a pleasurable and legitimate emotion when it does not
clash with the emotions aroused by the poet or the actor. Mr. Fry tries to
answer this criticism, but not altogether successfully, since it must be
remembered that Shakespeare, in his day, had no other way of approaching
his audience except through the actors, and so he was obliged to construct
his plays with this means in view. It is only necessary to quote from Mr.
Craig's notes to his sketches to show that the poet and the designer do
not always pull together, and that it is doubtful if Mr. Craig's scenery
is more appropriate than any other kind of scenery when it is used as a
background for a Shakespearian play.
"No. 2.--The aim of the designer has been to conceive some background
which would not offend whilst these lines were being spoken."
But eight lines further on Macbeth says: "Liar and slave!" This arouses
quite another kind of emotion from that of "To-morrow and to-morrow,"
etc., and one for which Mr. Craig's scene is not suitable.
"No. 3.--... So I conducted the lady to her bedroom, which is hung
with red, and altogether a mysterious room, the only fresh thing
being the sunlight which comes in...."
There are three movements in this scene which stir varying emotions. The
entrance of the lady with the letter, the return of the husband, the
arriving of Duncan. The last two incidents are more dramatic than the
first one; but Mr. Craig never allows the spectator to forget the bed, the
window, the light, and the letter. By the way, is it not moonlight which
comes in at the window?
"No. 11.--This is known as the 'Murder Scene.' I hope it is vast
enough...."
It is not the vastness of the scene, nor the huge door leading to the
little room where Duncan lies murdered, which can show the terror in
Macbeth's soul at the thought of what he has done, and this terror is the
central idea of the scene.
"No. 16.--... As it is there is great need for scenery, and therefore
the better the scenery the better for the play...."
These words might be interpreted thus: "The more of Gordon Craig's scenery
the better, because Shakespeare and his actors are very little good
without it." But this is not at all what a producer should say.
"... Her progress is a curve; she seems to come from the past into
the present and go away into the future...."
Shakespeare makes Lady Macbeth come from her bedroom to speak a soliloquy
about past events, and then sends her back to her bedroom. But Mr. Craig
seeks to impose another idea upon the attention of the audience, which is
not Shakespeare's idea at all.
"No. 17.--... As the sleeping woman descends the stairway with her
lamp, she feels her way with her right hand, touching each figure,
lighting them as she passes ... and when she has gone from the scene
all life has gone from the figures--once more they have become cold
history...."
A pretty idea, but absolutely at variance with the text. Shakespeare
restates in this scene what led to the undoing of this unhappy but
fascinating woman. Before the murder it was the material side of things
only that appealed to Lady Macbeth. She thought it was as impossible for a
murdered man to come out of his grave to torment his murderers as it was
for a man who died a natural death. The dim consciousness that somehow
she was mistaken begins to prove too great a strain for her energetic
little brain. It was also her misfortune, because not her fault, that she
was without imagination. She was a devoted wife, and possessed sweet and
gracious manners; and Shakespeare, in this last scene, in which she
appears before the spectators, asks them to pity her because of all that
she is now suffering. But what has this throbbing emotion, aroused by the
author, to do with these "dead kings and queens" in the cold statuary
which has been superimposed by the artist?
Mr. Gordon Craig seems to think that Shakespearian representation at the
present moment is unsatisfactory, because of our miserable theatres, with
their low proscenium and unimaginative scenery, which cannot suggest
immensity! Shakespeare would tell us that the fault lies in our big scenic
stages and our voiceless, dreary acting; and two men with such different
ideas about the theatre are not likely to prove successful in
collaboration.
THE MEMORIAL SCHEME.[19]
"_Doesn't that only prove how little important we regard the drama as
being, and how little seriously we take it, if we won't even trouble
ourselves to bring about decent civil conditions for its
existence._"--HENRY JAMES.
Does the present scheme appeal to the nation? Will it supply the higher
needs of the nation's drama? These are questions on which light should be
thrown. Personally I should like to see every theatre in the country a
national one, only the claims of the actor-manager and the syndicates
stand in the way. Certain it is that the imagination of the public has not
yet been touched by this Whitehall scheme; but then the executive
committee has not made the best of its opportunity. It is two years and
three months now since the first appeal for funds was made, and so far the
response has not been encouraging. In March, 1909, the scheme was launched
and priced at half a million of sovereigns; we are now within five years
of April, 1916, and the total amount of money raised for the project is
about L10,000, excluding the gift of L70,000 given by Sir Carl Meyer, and
the amount raised by entertainments. Unfortunately, the cost of collecting
this L10,000 has been very considerable, although it is not possible to
quote the exact amount, because no accounts have been published during the
three years the executive has been in office. In fact, the attitude
adopted by the executive towards the general committee is what most calls
for explanation.
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.
The movement began so far back as the year 1900. It was then proposed by
myself to present to the London County Council a petition for the grant of
a site for the erection of a memorial in the form of the old Globe
Playhouse, so as to perpetuate for the benefit of posterity the kind of
stage with which Shakespeare was so long and intimately associated. The
outcome of this proposal, which remained in abeyance during the anxious
period of the war, was a meeting organized by T. Fairman Ordish, F.S.A.,
and held in the hall of Clifford's Inn on "Shakespeare Day," 1902. The
chair was taken by Mr. Frederic Harrison, and two resolutions were passed
by the meeting, one establishing the London Shakespeare Commemoration
League, the other recommending that the proposed memorial of the model
Globe Playhouse should be considered by the committee of the League. It
was ultimately found, however, that a structure of the kind could not be
erected in a central position in London owing to the County Council's
building restrictions. In the following year an interesting development
arose in connection with the League in the formation of a provisional
committee for a London Shakespeare Memorial. The movement was made
possible by the generous gift of Mr. Richard Badger to the London County
Council of the sum of L2,500 to form the nucleus of a fund for the
erection of a statue, and the Council offered a site, if sufficient funds
could be collected to insure a worthy memorial. The League then formed a
provisional committee composed of a number of influential people, among
whom were eight members of their own council, including the President, the
late Dr. Furnivall. But the idea of a statue was not the only scheme
offered for the provisional committee's deliberations. Some were in favour
of a "Shakespeare Temple" to "serve the purposes of humane learning, much
in the same way as Burlington House has served those of natural science."
This suggestion, however, called forth a protest, and on February 27,
1905, a letter appeared in the _Times_ in which it was stated that "any
museum which could be formed in London would be a rubbish heap of
trivialities." The letter was signed by J. M. Barrie, Professor A. C.
Bradley, Lord Carlisle, Sir W. S. Gilbert, Mr. Edmund Gosse, Mr. Maurice
Hewlett, the Earl of Lytton, Dr. Gilbert Murray, Lord Onslow, Sir A. W.
Pinero, Sir Frederick Pollock, Mr. A. B. Walkley, and Professor W. Aldis
Wright. On the next day was held a public meeting at the Mansion House,
with the Lord Mayor presiding. No special mention of a statue was made,
nor of a "Shakespeare Temple," while Mr. Bram Stoker pointed out the
difficulties and expense of a National Theatre. On the proposition of Dr.
Furnivall, seconded by Sir H. Beerbohm Tree, the following resolution was
passed:
"That the meeting approves of the proposal for a Shakespeare Memorial
in London, and appoints a general committee, to be further added to,
for the purpose of organizing the movement and determining the form
of a memorial."
On this general committee I was asked to serve and was duly elected.
On Thursday, July 6, 1905, the general committee was summoned to the
Mansion House to receive the report of the special committee appointed to
consider the various proposals. This committee, which was elected by the
general committee, was as follows: Lord Alverstone, Lord Avebury, Lord
Reay, Sir Henry Irving, Sir R. C. Jebb, Sir E. Maunde Thompson, Mr. F. R.
Benson, Mr. S. H. Butcher, Mr. W. L. Courtney, Mr. Walter Crane, Dr. F. J.
Furnivall, Sir G. L. Gomme, Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins, Mr. Bram Stoker, Dr.
A. W. Ward.
The recommendation made by this committee, which was unanimously adopted,
was that "the form of the memorial be that of an architectural monument
including a statue." But it was also recommended, if funds permitted, as
a possible subsidiary project, "the erection of a building in which
Shakespeare's plays could be acted without scenery." This part of the
scheme met with strong opposition from some members of the general
committee, and Sir Herbert Tree, as representing the dramatic profession,
declared that he could not, and would not, countenance it.
Finally, by the narrow majority of one vote (that of the chairman, Lord
Reay) it was decided that this part of the report should be dropped, as
well as the proposal to use, as a site, a space near the new London County
Hall, recommended for its proximity to the locality of the old Globe
playhouse.
On March 5, 1908, the general committee were again summoned to the Mansion
House to receive the further recommendations of the executive committee
after their consultation with an advisory committee consisting of seven
persons, five of whom were members of the Royal Academy. The meeting
confirmed the recommendation that a statue be erected in Park Crescent,
Portland Place, at a cost of not less than L100,000, and an additional
L100,000, if collected, "to be administered by an international committee
for the furtherance of Shakespearian aims." What was remarkable to me
about this meeting was the small attendance. There could not have been
more than two dozen persons present. I believe I was the only one there to
raise a debate on the report, and, my objections being ignored, letters
from me appeared the next day in the _Times_ and the _Daily News_
attacking the constitution of the committee selected to approve of the
design. Among those chosen there was not one Shakespearian scholar, no
poet, and no dramatist. What, then, would be the effect upon the designers
of having to submit their models to a committee of this kind? Instead of
the artists giving their faculties full play to produce some original and
great piece of sculpture worthy of Shakespeare's genius, they would be
striving to design something specially suited to meet the limited and,
perhaps, prejudiced ideas of their judges (the professional experts),
while the general committee, responsible to the public for the National
Memorial, would be handing over its duties to an academy which had never
shown any special appreciation of the poet and his plays; for, so far as
my experience goes, there never has been a Shakespearian picture exhibited
on the walls of the Royal Academy which was not, as to costume and in
idea, a burlesque of the dramatist's intentions, always excepting those
painted by Seymour Lucas, R.A., who, strange to say, was not one of the
judges selected.
But it soon became evident from correspondence in the newspapers that the
project of a statue in Portland Place did not satisfy the wishes of a very
large number of influential men, and of a very important section of the
public. Accordingly, a public meeting took place at the Lyceum Theatre,
under the presidency of Lord Lytton, on Tuesday May 19, 1908, when a
resolution was carried in favour of a National Theatre as a memorial to
Shakespeare. Steps were then taken to amalgamate the existing Shakespeare
Memorial Committee with the National Theatre Committee. A new executive
was nominated, and again, for the third time, the general committee was
summoned on March 23, 1909, to receive and sanction the report, which
recommended the raising by subscription of L500,000 to build and endow a
theatre in which Shakespeare's plays should be acted for at least one day
in each week.
This, then, is the history of the movement, we may almost call it of the
conflict, which for seven years centred round the great event that is to
happen in 1916. And, alas! this scheme, like all the others, is now found
to be impracticable, because the amount of money asked for is far more
than the country is able to give. The executive did not grasp the fact
that there is so large a demand made upon the public's purse to fight
political battles and to fill the Government treasury, that half a million
of money cannot now be raised both to build and endow a theatre. The
executive is obsessed with the notion that you cannot have a National
Theatre without building a new theatre, while as a fact you cannot have it
without an endowment. It is by protecting the art of the actor, so that
the poet's words and characters may be finely interpreted, that the memory
of Shakespeare can be best honoured.
THE EXECUTIVE'S REPORT.
We now have to consider what seems to me to be the chief flaw in the
National Theatre scheme as it is at present initiated, and that is the
report which was brought before the general committee on March 23, 1909,
and which was accepted by them, but not without protest--at least, from
myself. The Lord Mayor's "parlour" was crowded with at least a hundred men
and women, consisting of the general and provisional committees of the
two rival schemes, now amalgamated, all of whom were meeting together for
the first time; and it was evident to me that with the exception of the
executive, those present had little idea of what they were called upon to
do, or were aware that they were conferring powers upon the executive as
to the management of our National Theatre which, when once granted, made
it impossible for the general committee to reopen any point, to revise
their decisions, or to alter them. It is true that the executive stated in
their report "that the time had not arrived for framing statutes in a form
which could be considered final," but so far as the general committee was
concerned what they once sanctioned they could not withdraw. On the other
hand, what modifications or additions the executive afterwards made in the
report should naturally have come again before the general committee for
its approval, a point overlooked or ignored by the executive, as will
appear later on. But the fact is that the report is a mistake, and should
never have been passed by the general committee, for it either states too
much or too little, and can please nobody. Since the executive had decided
that they must purchase a site and build a new theatre (an altogether
unnecessary proceeding, in my opinion), it would have been better to
report on this part of the scheme first, and to leave the question of
management for future discussion; for the financial question alone might
well have received more careful consideration. As the report now stands,
subscribers are not protected in any way. The executive may begin building
whenever they choose, and incur debts, and mortgage both land and
building as soon as they possess either. They can spend on bricks and
mortar all the money they receive to the extent of L250,000, without
putting by a penny towards the endowment fund. In fact, no precautions
have been taken to avoid a repetition of the disaster that befell the
building of the English Opera House, which soon afterwards became the
Palace Music-Hall.
But more inexplicable still are the clauses referring to the management of
the theatre, to which, unfortunately, the general committee have pledged
themselves. We have decided that "the supreme controlling authority of the
theatre" shall be a body of governors who will number about forty, but
apparently their "supreme control" is limited to nominating seven of their
number as a standing committee, some of whom, and under certain
eventualities all of whom, may be elected for life. This standing
committee, however, is to hand over all that is vital in the management of
a theatre to a director over whom it has no control beyond either
confirming all he does or dismissing him, so that the National Theatre in
reality becomes a one-man's hobby. So long as the director is clever
enough to humour four out of the seven members of the standing committee,
he can run the theatre for the amusement of himself and his friends. He
may choose the plays, arrange the programmes, engage and dismiss the
artistes, and can even produce all the plays himself; the only thing he
cannot do is to act in them; and yet so little have the framers of the
report grasped the realities of the situation that, in their other
clauses, they refer to the governors dispensing pensions and honorary
distinctions on the actors, forgetting that the unfortunate players are
the servants of their servant the director, who can dismiss them three
days before the honours and pensions become due, so that even in
dispensing favours the voice of the director is supreme. As the report
stands at present confirmed there is no elasticity allowed to the standing
committee to give permanency to those parts of the director's management
which are evidently successful and efficient, and to restrict and finally
abolish what is unsatisfactory. There is no choice between dismissing the
director, or tolerating his defects for the sake of what he does well. But
the director should be the chairman of the standing committee; he should
have power to engage the producers of the plays, because more than one is
wanted; and each producer should be given sole control over the cast and
the staging of the play for which he is specially engaged. Then in the
case of failure there would be always a remedy. Producers, authors, and
actors who showed that they were unskilful in the work they were called
upon to do would not be again invited to help in the performances of the
National Theatre; but in regard to those who had shown exceptional talent,
steps would be taken to gradually add them to the permanent staff, while
the fact that the director was chairman of the standing committee would
add to the dignity and importance of the artistes' engagements, and would
insure respect and fair treatment for their labours. As the position is
now, no talent can come into the theatre except at the will of one person,
who would occupy no higher post there than that of a salaried official.
This means that outside talent, however admirable of its kind, would
never be seen in our National Theatre if it is not to the liking of the
director; and it may be taken for granted, as the clause now stands, that
no artist would accept dismissal from the director without appealing to
the standing committee, hoping to prejudice the director in its eyes, and
thus to create friction between the standing committee and its director.
Now, in regard to the choice of new plays. Here the standing committee
apparently has the final word, which, as a fact, has no real value
attached to it, because all new plays have first to be reported upon (that
is, recommended) by the director and the literary manager, and if a new
play is chosen against the wishes of the director, its fate is none the
less sealed, since he has sole control over the casting of the play and
its production. But before a new play can be produced at the National
Theatre it ought to be submitted to the opinion of the three parties
interested in its production. Experts know that a dramatic success depends
upon (1) the quality of the play, (2) the ability of the actors who
interpret the play, (3) the intelligence or taste of the audience;
therefore the play, to be fairly judged, should be read before a tribunal
consisting of the director, two dramatists (who have contributed plays to
the repertory), two of the theatre's leading actors, and two members of
the standing committee. Authors would then know that their work would be
judged by experts representing every department of the theatre.
Then there is the question of what plays, other than new ones, should be
included in the repertory. Here, again, the choice rests with the
director, and if his taste is not catholic, what confusion he will make of
it! For instance, are such plays classical as "Still Waters Run Deep,"
"The Road to Ruin," and "Black-Eyed Susan"? In one sense I think they are,
because they represent the best examples of types of English plays at a
certain period. But some men might not think so. It is too large a
question for one man to handle.
The fault, then, of the constitution of the National Theatre, as it is at
present framed, is that all the direction of what is vital to the dignity
and permanency of the institution is put under the control of one man,
when no single person can possibly have the knowledge and experience to
cover so large a variety of work. Discrimination has not been shown
between what is required of a Repertory Theatre and a National Theatre.
The former is purely an experimental theatre, where courage and freedom is
an advantage in a director. We look upon him as the pioneer to
revolutionize existing conventions which have had their day and lost their
use. He is an innovator, and we forgive his failures for the sake of his
successes. Far different is the position of the National Theatre. Its
mission is not to make experiments, but to assimilate the talent which has
already been tried and found deserving, and to rescue from oblivion good
plays for the permanent use of the community. Besides, its proceedings
must be carried on with decorum. It has State functions and duties to
consider; it has all shades of political and religious differences to take
into consideration. One mistake might alienate the support of Royalty or
of the Government; of Parliament, of the Clergy, or of the Democracy.
Surely the direction of such an institution can be more efficiently
carried on by a committee than by an individual!
Now, I sympathize with a National Theatre as a memorial to Shakespeare,
because I think the highest honour that can be rendered to our
poet-dramatist is to provide English actors--and Shakespeare was himself
an actor--with a permanent home where dramatic art as an art can be
recognized and encouraged; and a National Theatre can give dignity to the
dramatic profession and inspire emulation among its members by conferring
upon them honours and rewards, provided always that the actors are the
servants of the institution and not of a salaried official in that
institution. Personally, I do not care to see Shakespeare acted in a
modern theatre, and I do not think his plays can ever have justice done to
them in such a building. But, none the less, I look upon a National
Theatre as an imperative need if the drama is to flourish, and I believe,
if Shakespeare were living to-day, he would say so too. The executive of
the present Memorial, to my mind, made a false start by concentrating
public attention on the building as the primary object, instead of on the
institution, and then by ignoring the claims of the dramatic profession to
recognition. The labour, the anxiety, the expense of providing the public
with plays in this country has been hitherto, and is still, borne by our
actor-managers. They at present are the people's favourites, and all have
individually a large public following. It was but just to these men to ask
them to come into the scheme as honorary members of the institution, in
the hope that they would associate themselves with those parts and plays
of more than ordinary merit which undoubtedly have a claim to be admitted
into the repertory of a National Theatre, and with which they individually
were specially identified. But while I appreciate the wisdom and justice
of inviting those gentlemen who have hitherto borne the burden of
theatrical management to contribute the best of their talent to the stage
of a National Theatre, I fail to see the advantage of their help on the
executive. However eminent as an expert a man may be, his use on the
executive entirely depends on the confidence he inspires among his
fellow-councillors, and it is only necessary to read the names of those
who constitute the executive to realize that there is no possibility of
any one personality dominating the council. As a consequence, the
committee breaks up into groups whose aims are more political than
practical. The second urgent matter for consideration by the executive was
the provincial Repertory Theatre. Where is the advantage of a National
Theatre in London unless there are existing at least six Repertory
Theatres in the provinces which may serve as training grounds for actors
and for the experiments of dramatists? Every encouragement, then, should
have been given to our leading municipalities to interest themselves in
raising money to endow local Repertory Theatres, and the executive of the
London Memorial would be doing more good to the cause of drama by spending
the interest of its capital in helping these local theatres to come into
existence than by wasting their money in the way they are doing at the
present time. Indeed, it seems as if the only hope of a National Theatre
becoming a reality will consist in the assurance that the capital already
raised shall be set apart for the endowment fund, and that only the
interest of this capital shall be available for expenditure by the
executive committee.
INDEX
Acheson, Mr. Arthur, on "Troilus and Cressida," 100
Act-drop, the, 119
Acting and stage illusion, 7;
rapid delivery, 17;
Heywood on, 19;
as a business, 217;
character acting, 219 _et seq._
Actors: Elizabethan, 8, 9, 20, 21;
prosperity and position of, 22;
apprentices, 24;
qualities of, 24;
in double parts, 25;
relations between authors and, 44;
hired players, 45;
Elizabethan, and the construction of Shakespeare's plays, 51, 53;
elocution of, 56
Actors, English: and English tragedy, 177;
personality of, 219
Agincourt, representation of, 48
"All is True," 87
Alleyne, Edward, 79
Apprentices, actors', 24
Archer, Mr. William, and popular taste in drama, 193 _et seq._
Bacon and the writing of drama, 39
Bacon-Shakespeare controversy, 38
Badger, Mr. Richard, 229
Barker, Mr. Granville, 194, 202
Barrie, Mr. J. M., 195
Bell's edition of Shakespeare, 51, 58
Blackfriars Theatre, 45, 68, 115, 208
Boy actors in women's parts, 9
Boyle, Robert, and "Henry VIII.," 93
Brandram, Samuel, 166
Bronte, Charlotte: and a high forehead, 137;
and English tragedy, 176
Brooke, Arthur, 133, 151
Browning, Robert, on "Henry VIII.," 93
Brydges, Mary, 110
Burbage, Richard, as actor, 20, 86, 166
Busino's visit to the Fortune Playhouse, 13
Capell, Edward, as Shakespeare editor, 37, 44
"Castle Spectre, The," 196
"Cesario," 39
Chapel Royal, children of the, 45
Chapman, George: and "Troilus and Cressida," 100 _et seq._;
opponent of Shakespeare, 102
Character-acting, 219 _et seq._
Chorus, the, 12
Christians, Marlowe's, and Shakespeare's Jew, 69 _et seq._
Claretie, M., 198
Clowns, 21
Coleridge, S. T., on "Henry VIII.," 89
Collier, J. P., on the effect of theatrical absence of scenery on
dramatic poetry, 8
Comedie Francaise, the, visit to London, 198
"Comedy of Errors," 31, 42
Congreve, William, 196
Craig, Mr. Gordon: sketches, 222;
inappropriateness of his scenery for Shakespeare, 222;
comparison with Turner, 223;
criticism of his art, 223;
designs for "Macbeth," 224-227;
his "Acis and Galatea," 224
"Curtain" in theatres, 120
Curtain Theatre, 7, 111, 115
"Cynthia's Revels," 21
Davenant, Sir William, 144
Dekker, Thomas: as player, 103;
"Gul's Horn-Booke," 208
Diderot's "Pere de Famille," 197
Digges, Leonard, on a Shakespeare performance, 13
Dolby's "British Theatre," 53
Dowden, Edward, 145, 147, 153
Drake, Dr., on "Henry VIII.," 88
Dramatists and the public, 194 _et seq._
Dramatists: the Elizabethan, and the contemporary theatre, 5, 10;
topical plays, 15;
moral aim, 16;
and the printing of plays, 18;
supervision of acting, 25;
Puritans and, 26;
relations between, and actors, 44
Duncan (in "Macbeth"), 62
Earl's Court: Shakespeare at, 208;
staging at, 209;
"The Tricking of Malvolio," 209;
star actor, 209;
"Twelfth Night," 210;
performances misleading, 215;
"Enchantment of Titania," 216;
"The Merchant of Venice," 216;
a travesty of Shakesperian drama, 216
Edwards, Thomas, 91
Elizabeth, Queen, 62, 63;
Lord Essex and, 108-112
Elizabeth's, Queen, Chapel, boys for, 10
Elizabethan Stage Society, the, 203;
its origin, 204;
"Measure for Measure," 205;
"Twelfth Night," 205;
list of plays performed (1893-1913), 206-207
Elocution: of Elizabethan actors, 19, 56;
modern, in Shakespeare acting, 57, 58, 59
Elze, Dr. Karl, on "Henry VIII.," 91
Emerson, R. W. on "Henry VIII.," 91
Emphasis, faulty, in rendering Shakespeare, 59
English Opera House (now Palace Music Hall), 235
Essex, Earl of, 101;
in "Troilus and Cressida," 108-112
Euripides, 195
"Everyman," 206
Falstaff: Sir John Oldcastle as, 112;
effect of character of, on Shakespeare's position, 115
Faustus legend, 68
Field, Nathan, 21;
anecdote of, 23
Filippi's, Miss Rosina, project for a students' theatre, 216
Flecknoe, Richard, on the drama after Shakespeare's death, 16
Fletcher, John, and authorship of "Henry VIII.," 92
Fleury, M., 79
Folk-songs, Elizabethan, 44
Ford, John, 180
Fortune Theatre, 11, 12, 13, 40, 205, 208
Frohman's, Mr., Repertory Theatre, 193, 199
Fry's, Mr. Roger, appreciation of Mr. Gordon Craig, 224
Furnivall, Dr. F. J., 38, 229
Garrick, David: as exponent of Shakespeare, 5;
version of "Romeo and Juliet," 140
"George Barnwell," 196
Gervinus, G. G.: on "Henry VIII.," 90;
on "Troilus and Cressida," 107
Globe players' rights in "Troilus and Cressida," 116
Globe Playhouse, memorial in form of, 228, 231
Globe Theatre, 7, 11, 45, 48, 54, 57, 58, 68, 86, 98, 102, 104, 115,
116, 180
Globe Theatre at Earl's Court, 208
Goethe, 194
Gonzalo dialogue in "The Tempest," 55
"Gorbuduc," 40
Gosson, Stephen, 21
Gray's Inn, 42
Green, J. R., on Queen Elizabeth and Mary Stuart, 63
Greene, Robert, "Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay," 79
Greenwich Palace, 40
Halliwell-Phillipps, J. O., on the Shakespearian theatre, 7, 11
"Hamlet": clown referred to, 22;
early quartos, 31, 47;
breaks in, 42;
stage directions in first quarto, 50, 53, 54;
alterations, 54, 160;
acting edition and Globe edition, 156;
omissions, 156, 157, 161-175;
Fortinbras, 157;
French's acting edition and Globe edition compared, 158 _et seq._;
stage directions, 159;
entrance of Hamlet, 159;
Cumberland's version, 160, 163, 164, 168, 171;
the period of the play, 163;
Oxberry's edition, 164;
the Dumb Show, 166;
the exit of the King, 167;
changes suggested, 170;
Ophelia and flowers, 172;
her burial, 173;
the poison cups, 174;
the conclusion, 175;
suggestions for an authoritative acting version, 175;
performance of first quarto, 204
Hart, H. C., 112
Heine, Heinrich, on Shylock, 69
Heminge and Condell: and the first folio, 32;
and divisions in the plays, 41;
and "Henry VIII.," 87;
and "Troilus and Cressida," 99
"Henry IV.," 115;
epilogue to Part II., 101
"Henry V.": choruses, 7, 40;
the early quarto, 48;
produced, 115
"Henry VIII.": the authorship of, 85 _et seq._;
earliest mention of, 86;
criticisms, 88 _et seq._;
stage directions, 94;
summary of the arguments as to its genuineness, 96
Henslowe's "Diary," 15
Hertzberg, Professor, on "Henry VIII.," 90
Heywood, Thomas: on the English stage, 13;
in defence of acting, 19;
of plays, 27;
reply to the Puritans, 107
Historical dramas disapproved, 45
Homer, Chapman and Shakespeare renderings, 100
Hugo, Victor, on "Henry VIII.," 89
Impersonation in acting, 219
Ireland in Elizabethan drama, 16
Irving, Sir Henry: as Shylock, 71;
on acting, 219
Jew: Shakespeare's, 70;
Christian ideas of, 73.
_See also_ Shylock
"Jew of Malta, The," Marlowe's, 72, 80
"John Bull's Other Island," 200
Johnson, Dr.: on Shakespeare, 36, 38;
and continuous performance, 43;
on "Henry VIII.," 88;
and "She Stoops to Conquer," 197
Jones, Inigo, 18, 96, 141
Jonson, Ben: and double story in plays, 14;
and simplicity of representation, 17;
and a good tragedy, 19;
a "poet with principle," 23;
and Latin comedy, 40;
and "Sejanus," 41, 102;
"Poetaster," allusion to Shakespeare in, 100 _et seq._;
relations with Shakespeare, 102;
"Every Man Out of His Humour," 112;
and Inigo Jones's scenery, 141
"Julius Caesar," 13
Kean, Edmund: delivery of, 58;
and Hamlet, 164
Kemp the clown, 21, 22, 24
"King John," 39
"King Lear": breaks in, 41;
Steevens's comment on dialogue, 56;
Rossi's rendering, 177;
its period, 178;
its modern production, 179;
anachronisms and costumes, 179;
excisions, 181, 184;
Edmund's speech, 181;
the putting out of Gloucester's eyes, 182;
sympathy with poor, 183;
its modern dramatic presentation, 185-189;
misrepresentation of Lear, 186;
and of Edmund, 188
"King's Company, The," 9, 27
Knight, Charles, 94
Lady Macduff, 61
Lamb, Charles, 196
Lee, Sir Sidney, 205
"Leicester's, Lord, Servants," 9
Lessing, G. E., 155, 194
Lewis, L. D., 196
Lillo, George, 196
London Corporation and theatres, 25
London County Council and Shakespeare Memorial, 228, 229
London life in Elizabethan drama, 15
London Shakespeare Commemoration League, 229
London theatres, seventeenth century, 13
Lord Chamberlain's company, 9, 12
Lorkin, Thomas, 86
"Love's Labour's Lost," 42
Lucas, Mr. Seymour, R.A., 232
"Lucrece," 113
Lyceum Theatre, 71
"Macbeth": perfect in design, 13;
breaks in, 41;
Bell's criticism of, 52;
Garrick's version of, 52;
when written, 68;
Mr. Gordon Craig's designs for, 224-227
Macbeth, Lady: the character of, 61 _et seq._;
Mrs. Siddons as, 61;
her femininity, 65;
the character misunderstood, 68;
part overacted, 69
Macready, W. C., and the ladder, 43;
Charlotte Bronte on his acting, 176
"Madras House, The," 201
Maeterlinck, M., 202
Malone, Edmund, as Shakespeare editor, 37
Marlowe, Christopher: "Barabas," 72, 80, 84;
Jews and Christians in "Rich Jew of Malta" and "Merchant of Venice,"
78;
"Faustus," 80;
and Christianity, 79-81
"Marrying of Ann Leete, The," 202
Marston, John, 103
Mary Stuart, 62, 63
Massinger, Philip, 93
Maugham, W. S., 195
"Measure for Measure," revival of, 205
"Merchant of Venice": breaks in, 42, 43;
the early quarto, 47;
story of the play, 123-133;
the Prince of Morocco, 126;
the Prince of Arragon, 128;
the trial scene as now acted, 131.
_See also_ Shylock
"Misalliance," Shaw's, 199
Moneylenders in plays, 75
Mozart, W. A., 194, 200
Munich, Court Theatre, 177
Music in the Elizabethan theatre, 11
Nash, Thomas, "The Isle of Dogs," 112
National theatre, a, 198
New Shakespeare Society, 94
Noblemen and the maintenance of actors, 9
Oldcastle, Sir John, 112
Opinion, change of, effect on plays, 70
Ordish, Mr. T. Fairman, 228
"Othello," 13
Othello, Nathan Field as, 21
Painter, William, 133
Perfall, Baron, 18
"Pericles," 31
Personality in acting, 219
Playgoers, intolerant, 196
Plays, Elizabethan: not divided into acts, 11;
lost, 15
Pollard, Mr. A. W., 98
Pope, Alexander: as Shakespeare editor, 33;
and "The Tempest," 55
Popular taste in drama, 194
Portia, 81
Portland Place for Shakespeare Memorial, 231, 232
"Prattle," 57
Prompters, 24
Puritans, the: and actors, 21;
and theatres, 25
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 112
Reformation, the, 68, 69
Renaissance, the, 69
Repertory theatre, the, 193;
and a national theatre, 198
Restoration, the, drama, 196
"Richard II.," political significance of, 112
Robinson, Dick, 21
Roderick, Richard, on "Henry VIII.," 91
"Romeo and Juliet": second edition of, 31;
breaks in, 41;
early quarto, 47, 49;
Garrick's version, 53;
earliest acting version, 53;
Shakespeare's prologue and change in the motive, 134;
stage representation, 135;
story of the play, 135-155;
hostilities between the two houses, 135, 156;
Rosaline's character, 137;
Irving acting version, 137, 141, 146, 147, 151, 153, 155;
Mercutio, 138;
Capulet's character, 139;
Garrick's version, 140;
"balcony scene," 140;
Shakespeare as Benvolio, 144;
the Friar, 146;
Juliet as wife, 147;
her part overdone on stage, 148;
scenes omitted, 149;
"potion scene," 150;
the catastrophe, 153;
Cumberland version, 155;
mixed nature of the play, 155
Rose Theatre, 40, 112
Rossi, Signor, as King Lear, 177, 187
Rowe's, Nicholas, edition of Shakespeare, 33
Royalty Theatre, Soho, 205
Ruskin, John, on poets and their courage, 5
Salvini as Othello, 127, 185
Sand, George, on popular taste, 194
Scenery: disadvantages of, 7;
Mr. Gordon Craig's designs, 222-227
Schiller, J. C. F. von, 194
Schlegel on "Henry VIII.," 88
"Sejanus," 41, 102
Shakespeare: and contemporary representation, 3;
effect of absence of theatrical scenery, 8;
avoids interruptions in his plays, 12;
and double story in plays, 14;
interludes, 15;
representations of to-day, 18;
and acting, 20;
and extemporization, 22;
opinion of his comedies, 26;
dramas to-day and discrepancies, 31;
mistakes of editors, 31;
plays published in his lifetime, 31;
the early quartos, 31;
the first folio, 32;
divisions in the plays, 32, 41-44;
Rowe's edition, 33;
Pope's edition, 34;
Steevens's edition, 36;
Capell's edition, 37;
Malone's edition, 37;
Shakespeare as dramatic writer, 39;
arrangement of characters, 41;
plays without intervals, 43;
need of re-editing without divisions, 44;
his income, 45, 96;
dramas ahead of his day, 46;
interpretation of his plays, 46;
acting versions (the quartos), 47;
Bell's edition of 1773, 51;
interference with his dramatic intentions, 53;
shortening of plays, 54;
faulty elocution in modern rendering, 57;
causes of present-day want of appreciation, 59;
need to edit the early quartos for acting, 60;
actors interpret to suit change of opinions, 71;
writes of plays and not of masques, 96;
satire, 107;
his affinities as reflected in his plays, 107;
political allusions, 112;
innovations of the stage, 119;
how modern representations are produced, 120;
contrast between Shakespeare and modern drama, 122;
and prologues, 134;
his tact, 145;
the star actor and mutilation of the plays, 154;
acting editions and the author's intentions, 175;
authoritative acting versions suggested, 175;
should be produced as written, 180;
Shakespeare and democracy, 183;
as revised at Earl's Court, 208-216;
as rendered to-day, 214.
_See also under the names of the separate plays_
Shakespeare Memorial Scheme: raising of funds, 227, 228;
history of the movement, 228-233;
the executive's report, 233-240
Shakespeare statue, projected, 231
"Shakespeare Temple," 229
Shaw, Mr. G. Bernard, 194; his "Misalliance," 199;
"John Bull's Other Island," 200
Sheridan's "The Rivals," 197
Shore, Emily, on "Henry VIII.," 89
"Shylock": controversy, 48;
Heine on, 69;
the character of, 70 _et seq._;
as usurer, 72, 75;
paraphrase of the character, 73;
as an old man, 125;
the worsting of, 132
Siddons, Mrs.: and Lady Macbeth, 46, 61;
and rendering of Shakespeare, 58
Sidney, Sir Philip, and scenery of plays, 6
"Silas Marner," George Eliot's, 125
Simpson, Richard, 108, 114
Spedding, James, on "Henry VIII.," 92
Stage: the Elizabethan, and its contemporary dramatists, 3;
ignorance concerning the relations between the theatre and the
dramatists, 14;
quality of the performances, 5;
colour, 6;
scenes, 6;
disadvantages of scenery, 7;
construction of theatres, 10;
quality of the plays, 13;
performance continuous, 14, 43;
Flecknoe on changes after Shakespeare, 16;
length of performance, 17;
opposition, 25;
educational value, 27;
"business" on, 50;
movement on, 95.
_See also_ Theatre
Stage: the modern, and Shakespeare, 119;
how plays are now produced, 120
"Stage Player's Complaint," 57
Stationers' Register, the, 15, 98
Steevens, George: as Shakespeare editor, 36;
comment on "King Lear," 56
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 18
"Stranger, The," 196
Students' theatre, a, 216
Swinburne, A. C., on "Henry VIII.," 93
Symonds, J. A., on the Elizabethan theatre, 7, 9
"Tempest, The," 41;
the Gonzalo dialogue, 55
Tennyson, Lord, on the authorship of "Henry VIII.," 92
Theatre, National: as Shakespeare Memorial, 230, 232-240;
its proposed management, 235-240
Theatre, the repertory, 193;
and a national theatre, 198;
a students' theatre, 216
Theatres: Elizabethan, construction and small size of, 10;
musical interludes, 11, 40;
length of performance, 17;
the City Corporation and, 25;
the Puritans and, 25.
_See also_ Stage
Theatres, English and Continental, 217
Tragedy, English, and the English stage, 176, 177
Tree Sir Herbert, 214, 231
"Troilus and Cressida": early quarto, 47;
the mystery of, 98, 115, 116;
in the first folio, 99;
Jonson and, 100 _et seq._;
Chapman and, 100 _et seq._;
dislike of the play, 106;
its satire, 107;
and the Earl of Essex, 108-112;
when written, 113, 114;
Troy story in, 113;
the word used in, 114;
Globe players' rights in, 115
Troy story in "Troilus and Cressida," and in "Lucrece," 113
"Twelfth Night": constructive art in, 39;
revival of, 205;
mistakes in, at Earl's Court, 210-213;
traditional errors, 214
"Two Gentlemen of Verona," 40
Ulrici on "Henry VIII.," 90
Valentine, 39
Venetian theatre in 1605, 12
Viola, 39
"Voysey Inheritance, The," 201
Ward, Dr. A. W., 73, 106
Webster, John, 11
Women players, effect of their introduction, 61
Women's parts, boy actors for, 9
Wotton, Sir Henry, 86
Wycherley, William, 196
THE END
BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD
Footnotes:
[1] Part of a paper read before the Elizabethan Literary Society, November
1, 1893.
[2] _The National Review_, August, 1890.
[3] See "The Topical Side of the Elizabethan Drama" in the Transactions of
the New Shakspere Society, 1887.
[4] The first three articles of this chapter appeared in _The Nation_,
March, 1912.
[5] Sir Sidney Lee, "Dictionary of National Biography."
[6] See quotation on p. 21.
[7] _The Westminster Review_, January, 1909.
[8] _The New Age_, September 15, 1910.
[9] _The New Age_, November 28, 1912.
[10] Part of a paper read before the _New Shakspere Society_ in June,
1887.
[11] Read at the meeting of the _New Shakspere Society_, Friday, April 12,
1889.
[12] Read before the _New Shakspere Society_, June 10, 1881; published in
the _Era_, July 2, 1881.
[13] _The New Age_, September, 1909.
[14] _The New Age_, November, 1910.
[15] _Fortnightly Review_, October, 1910, "The Theatrical Situation," by
William Archer.
[16] "The Paradox of Acting," translated by Walter Herries Pollock.
[17] _The New Age_, August 22, 1912.
[18] _The Nation_, August, 1912.
[19] _The New Age_, June, 1911.
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Transcriber's Notes:
Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.
Punctuation has been corrected without note.
The following misprints have been corrected:
"reponsibilities" corrected to "responsibilities" (Page 26)
"Shakespeares's" corrected to "Shakespeare's" (page 152)
"Shakepeare" corrected to "Shakespeare" (Index)
Other than the corrections listed above, inconsistencies in spelling and
hyphenation have been retained from the original.
End of Project Gutenberg's Shakespeare in the Theatre, by William Poel