The herald., 1897-03-06
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: FIT THE THEATERS :
70 u
4 OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES ~

LOS ANGELES THEATER.-Of all
the plays Of Shakespeare there is no one
that has given rise to more discussion
or that has excited flercer partisanship
than Hamlet. Whether Hamlet was re-
ally mad or was only sane when the
wind was nornor' west, or whether he
feigred madness Is q problem that will
continue to furnish inexhaustible fund
for argument. The play itself is per-
hsps better known to the theaterg going
public than any other in the Shake
speareGn repertory, and is certainly
the favor.te study of those who love
the works Of the immortal bard AS
1t Is written the tragedy is so lengthy
that certain excisions have been made
by common consent for modern repre-
sentation, and, without injury to the per-
eCrmance, the piece has been condensed
into shape that makes it come within
the limit OF the stage as 1t is today.
Mr.. James, who personated the melan-
choly Dane on Thursday night, has sue
ceeded in compressing the tragedy with
in smaller limits than has yet been at
| tempted by any actor with the fear Of
| the critic and an instructed public be-
| fore his eyes.
| In fact the excisions made by Mr..
James amount almost to a reconstruction
| of the play. The supernatural element
J is carefully subordinated. The ghosts
| entrance in the first scene of the play
| is altogether omitted, and his entrance
| in the closet scene is managed without
| any decent respect to the feelings of
good ghost. AS for the dialogue, Mr..
James has applied the pruning knife
| to such good purpose that whole scenes
! have been changed without interrupting
the action. The solloquy, ITO Be or
| Not To Be-" was carefully given, but
| the same attention was not devoted to
| the really great scliloquy of the play,
| beginning, "Oh what a rogue and peas
| ant slave am l." which was remorse-
lessly cut out altogether. Mr.. James
| does not attempt to portray the meta
| physics of Hamlet nor to delineate him a g
/ the man of inaction and irresolute pur-
| pose. His Hamlet is quick and sudden;
his passion for Ophelia is warmly ex-
| pressed, with more familiarity than rev.
| erence, and he treats his mother in an
| off-hand spirit that indicates a similar
| lack of respect. The advice to the play
| ers was cut to the limit of a short par
| agraph. and the pruning knife was so
| literally used that the remaining dia-
| logue, with Mr.. James stalwart, per-
| emptory and even eager Interpretation.
| changed the whole face of the tragedy
| to such an extent that 1t was hardly rec
| ognizable.
| In fact, the version given is a sort of
Hamlet up-to-date, according to the
ideas of a playwright or stage carpenter
| whose self-imposed task was to "cut"
| the tragedy so as to make 1t conform as
much as possible to the lines of a mod
| ern melodrama.
| Mr.. James Isl at his best in the Gladi-
| ator, in Othello, in Brutus. or in any
similar part, not requiring such intro
| spective qualifications as does Hamlet.
and while his reading Is always pleas
| urable to listen to. he is not convincing
| excepting only when he is engaged in
part where he can, as 1t were, turn him
self completely loose, and then he is
| superb
Last night "Spartacus" was repeated,
| and again was we'll worth seeing.