Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-09-16
HAMLET LEFT OUT.
THE PRODUCTION OF PLAYS WITH
OUT THE PRINCIPAL CHARACTER.

out Other rays h9So been - John
Brouehan's Story of the Absence Of Po-
cahontas and How the Play Was Put On,
1t was Sir Walter Scott who furnish
cd the base for the proverbial express
sion, Hamlet with Hamlet left out. I"
In the introduction to his ''Talisman"
he wrote about q 'playbill which is
said to have announced the tragedy of
Hamlet, the character of the Prince of
Denmark being left out. - As in the
case of most modern proverbs, the fin
ished product differs in form from the
raw material
There is no record that Hamlet ev-
or was acted with the character of the
Prince of Denmark left out, though the
play has been acted in almost every 9TH
er way. In 1881, in London, the YER
SIGN Of the first quarto, which was print
ed in 1903, was acted by amateurs.
They followed TIE customs of the thea
ter Of Queen Bess' time, using no seen.
cry Or decorations, and the actors were
CARRIED us Raleigh and his friends We're.
About the same time, too, Edwin
Booth and his company arrived at Hart
ford MINIS their trunks and gave three
acts Of the play i'll their travelling cos.
TUNES. Probably, however, the effect
was not vastly different from Booth s
ordinary production of the tragedy.
Then the Count Joannes and James
Owen O'COror acted the part of Ham
let with two readers, man and woman,
to take the other parts; and Bellew-
kyrle Bellew S iather-read the play at
4 desk i'll front of the proscenium, while
the actors moved about the stage with
appropriate gestures and opened and
shut their mouths and said no words,
But most nearly approaching to SCOTS
omitted Prince Of Denmark must have
been the performances where women
played Hamlet; Charlotte Cushman,
Miss Marriott (who made a famous
prince), Adele Belgrade, Anna Dickin-
son, and round dozen of others tried
the part.
Bat if Hamlet" has not been played
without the prince. other plays have
been on occasion.
In the last century there was Han
nah Brand, schoolteacher. She
thought she could write Il play, and so
worked on John Kemblc until he pro-
duced during the season of 1912 her
five act tragedy ''Huniades," based on
hungarian history. kcmble played
Huniades; Miss Brand played Agmunda,
the heroine. The play failed; and then
Hannah Brand left out Eemble's part
and produced the rest of the play under
the namc "ASmunda. As before, she
played the heroine, and as before she
heard the play Kissed and damned be-
You'd redemption.
John BrOugham, however, really
played play with one Of the principal
| characters left out, though, as he says,
lit was a flishtfully dangerous expert
rnent
The play was his famous burlesque
"Pocahontas, produced ut Wallack's,
then on Broadway, near Broome street,
in 1886. Brougham played Powhatan,
Charles WalcOt, Captain Smith; Miss
Hodson, Pccahontas; Peters, the Dutch.
! man; and the play worked its way uu
in the public estimation Let Broughan
tell of his feat:
OiiC 'NtH!i9 MI. lIpSIEE Nalllck
came into the dressing room where
Walcot and myself We're preparing for
the performance, with the announce
mcnt that Pocahontas was missing and
could not be found anywhere in the city.
What was to be done under the cir
| cunstaHces we couldn't conceive All
| sorts Of plans were projected, but none
woilid work. at last, i'll desperation,
sand to Walcott, Suppose We Go it with
out Pocahontasn
Agreed, said Charley, who was
always bright, quick and witty Well
| do it ;nyhow!'
Mr.. Wallack Went on the stage and
announced that, owing to the absence
OF llss Hodson' (the truth WAS she had
cioped with somebody. the play would
be produced without her, Mcssrs. Wal
cot and Brousham having kindly con-
| scented TO fill her part.
FOR Il moment dead silence reigned,
but directly the fun Of the thing was
! taken IN, and the people fairy screamed.
We went on. First Charley would say,
| This Is what Miss Pocahontas would
A'1 - - JAY WIZ pitScut, siisl tiitLl
he would talk to himself. Where is
Pohey: he would exclaim. to which
would reply: Lost among the icebergs
| OF Broadway. But if she were here
know she would answer you in this
way. and then Iwould give her speech
AT the end, when it became neces
sary to Join their hands in matrimony,
we didn't know exactly what to do, but,
looking around the stage, saw 4 broom,
and, seizlng 1t, boldly advanced te
the front, saying, as l handed it to
Charley, Take her, my boy. and be
| happy. 1t brought the house down, but
1t was frlghtiully dangerous expert.
| nlent. >"
| The audience the next night wanted
| POcahoItas left out again. but Brougham
wouldn't have it so. Hamlet may be
left ont once, Gu the spur of the mo.
ncnt, but not second time, and neveI
when the man who makes the ghost
walk has time to put even q gravedig z.
ger in the princes place. The history
OF the stage seems to prove that Scott :
| playful was not actual, but, like his
quotations from "Oid PLAYS" merely
| yr.,HuFnI for tDa fr,..;1,, g., l.