The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1896-08-28

THE PRODUCTION OF PLAYS WITH
OUT THE PRINCIPAL CHARACTER.

but Other Plays Have Bsen = John
Brougham's story Of the Absence Of Po-
cahont~s and How the Play wss Put On.
1t was Sir Walter Scott who furnish
cd the base for the proverbial express
sion, Hamlet with Hamlet left out. :"
In the introduction to his ''Talisman"
he wrote about ''playbill which il
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-
er was acted with the character Of the
Prince Of Denmark left out, though the
play has been acted in almost every 9TH
or way. In 1881. in London, the ver-
sion Of the first quarto, which was print
ed in 1908. was acted by amateurs.
They followed the customs Of the thea
ter Of Queen Bsss' time, using no seen
cry or decorations. and the actors were
CARRIED as Raleigh and his friends were
About the same time, too. Edwin
Booth and his company arrived at Hart
ford minus their trunks and gave three
acts of the play in their travelling cos.
tunes Probably, however, the effect
was not vastly different from Booths
ordinary production Of the tragedy.
Then the Count Joannes and James
Owen O'Conor acted the part of Ham,
let with two readers, man and woman,
to take the other parts; and Below
Kyrle Bellows father-read the play ut
u desk in 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 Scott's
omitted Prince Of Denmark must have
been the performances where women
played Hamlet; Charlotte Cushman,
Miss Marriott (who made q famous
prince). Adele Belgrade. Anna Dickin-
son, aud . round dozen Of others tried
the part.
But il 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 q play, and so
worked on John Kemble until he pro-
duced during the season Of 1919 her
five act tragedy 'Huniades." based ON
Hungarian history. Kemble played
Miss Brand played Agmunda,
the heroine. The play failed; and then :
Hannah Brand left out Kembles part
and produced the rest Of the play under
the name "Agmunda As before, she
played the heroine. and as before she I
heard the play Kissed and damned be-
yond redemption
John Brougham. however, really
played play with one Of the principal
characters left out. though. az he says.
lit was . frightfully dangerous expert
ment''
The play was his famous burlesque
'Pocahontas, produced ut Wallack's.
then ON Broadway. near Broome street.
IN 1866. Brougham played Powhatan,
Charles Walcot. Captain Smith; Miss
Hodson, Pocahontss; Peters, the Dutch
man; and the play worked its way up ,
In the public estimation. Let Brougham
tell Of his feat:
Zone evening Mr.. Lester Wallack
came into the dressing room where
Walcot and myself were preparing for
the performance. with the announce
ment that Pocahontas was missing and
could not be found anywhere in the city.
What was to be done under the cir
we couldn't conceive. All
sorts Of plane were projected, but none
would work. At last. in desperation, II
said to Walcott. Suppose we do it with
out Pocahontasi'
Agreed, said Charley. who was
always bright quick and witty. Wen
do it anyhowi'
Mr.. Wallack went ON the stage and
that, owing to the absence
Of Miss Hodson' (the truth was she had
eloped with somebody. the play would
be produced without her, Messrs Wal
cot and Brougham having kindly con-
sented to AL her part
For y moment dead silence reigned,
but directly the fun Of the thing was
taken in. and the people fairly screamed
We went on. First Charley would say,
Ahib 40 Wuub lulsS EOcoOOOt6S WOulO
II she were present. and then
be would talk TO himself. Where is
Pokey9 he would exclaim. to which / |
would reply: Lost among the icebergs
,f Broadway. But il she were here l |
know she would answer you in this
way, and then would give her speech.
''At the end. when il became neces
'ary to join their hands in matrimony,
NO didn't know exactly what to do but,
cooking around the stage. saw broom,
md. seizing it, boldly advanced to
The 'front.' saying, as / handed it to
Take her. my boy. and be
happy 1t brought the house down, but
{ was frightfully dangerous expert
nent"
The audience the next night wanted
pocahontas left out again, but Brougham
have il 80. Hamlet may be
eft out once. on the spur Of the mo-
nent. but not q second time. and never
when the man who makes the ghost
walk has time to put even gravedig.
ger in the princes place The history
4 the stage seems IT, prove that Scott's